


Find the right one

by FreakyPseudWriter



Series: Find the right one-Universe [1]
Category: Naruto
Genre: (Wasn't even aware I was doing one...), Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Police, Angst and Fluff and Smut, Developing Relationship, F/M, Flashbacks, Hacking, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Male Homosexuality, Minor Character Death, Mostly they are not even Canon, Murder, Murder Mystery, Neighbors, Nightmares, Out of Character, Rape Recovery, Running Away, Secret Identity, Slow Burn, Strangers to Lovers, Very Minor, Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-11-23
Updated: 2018-08-23
Packaged: 2018-09-01 19:50:44
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 78
Words: 445,470
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8635927
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FreakyPseudWriter/pseuds/FreakyPseudWriter
Summary: Hiko Kobayashi. Small. Witty. IT-ler at the KPD - the Konoha Police Department.She's also extremely scarred, but thanks to her family she lives now a mostly normal life.Kakashi Hatake. Tall. Secretive. A detective at the KPD, freshly transferred from the Special Forces Unit.He's not happy about being degraded, but appreciated the change in environment.She has walls to protect herself, but he has too. Soon they will be thankful for the presence of the other, as friends and lovers. Because not only Kakashi has some secrets, but Hiko too and her's are probably much bigger than his.





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Hello, dear fellow enthusiasts of Fanfiction ^^  
> First, this story will be long. Currently I have over 30 chapters written down and it's only the middle, but I try to get this to an end. Not that I want the story to end :D It's a bit of my little baby and I want to nourish it properly, but certainly there are mistakes in between, if now content or misspellings. Anything, please point it out, so that I can correct it.  
> Second, I appreciate every comment or other form of encouragement/support/suggestions/critic. But no hating. Pretty please?  
> And third, thank you very much for reading this. All of you are great people, I'm sure (50/50). 
> 
> All mentioned bands, songs and movies don't belong to me, but their respective creators. Also all Naruto charakters are not mine, but Hiko and the storyline are.

Kakashi ran through the dark hallway. His breath hitched heavily and his legs felt like iron, but he still chased the dark shadow that fled from the cop.

“STOP! POLICE!” he screamed, but the shadow didn`t even twitched. Instead his prey even doubled his effort to get away from Kakashi and jumped over a pile of trash. The grey haired man huffed angrily and followed after the man.

‘Why does this always happens to me? Why can’t Gai get the one who runs away, but no! Always it’s mine who flees!’

The shadow got to a crossing, turned first left, then stopped abruptly and decided to run the right way down. Kakashi wondered what caused the man to decide otherwise, but just shook his head and followed the little thief around the corner.

A dead end. Weakly smiling the cop looked at the little man who desperately tried to find another way out, but the narrow passage was rimmed by cold flat stone walls without any chances to escape.

“Seems like you have chosen the wrong way.” said Kakashi and got closer to the runaway. The man had the face features of a rat, with the harsh lines that only formed from constant hunger and the life on the streets. “Now please come here and we can solve this matter peacefully.”

“Wrong way?” screamed the rat-man and giggled madly. “Only you are on the wrong way if you believe that I’m the wrong one!”

“What? Could you repeat that, I couldn’t quite follow you.”

“You’re wrong here you stupid police-bastard!”

“I don’t think so.”                                                      

The rat-man smirked triumphantly. “Then why do you believe that I’m trapped?”

Suddenly Kakashi was attacked by a mountain of a man, who tackled him from behind. It felt like a train crashed into him as the second attacker pushed him into the right wall. Pain exploded in Kakashis back and head when he hit the wall and a little grunt escaped his lips. The hands of the troll, big like shovels closed around his neck and pressed the essential air out of his lungs. Up to close even the face of the troll was ugly and his breath ghosted over Kakashis surgical mask and creeped under the fabric.

            ‘Uuurgh. Too much garlic.’

The cop struggled, digged his fingernails into the soft flesh of the armpits, but the troll didn’t even flinch. Instead he laughed sickening and closed the strong grip even further. Dark spots appeared in Kakashis vision. He gasped heavily, desperate searching for air, but nothing came. He heard the rat-man stepping closer while he intensified his attempts to get free. “Stop your struggle you poor thing. Just let Toru press your life out of you.”

Toru grunted in agreement.

            ‘Guess I have no choice than to use this…’

Kakashi stopped every movement. His arms fell to his sides like he gave up, what caused the rat-man to snicker evilly. “Told you it is easier this way.”

While the little thief continued his happy self-praising, the cop tried to maintain his limp state and searched innocently with the tips of his fingers for his secret weapon. He didn’t worry about Toru, he was too dumb to actually realize that his prisoner was clever like a lynx and almost as dangerous as one. He felt the cold metal of his taser in his right pocket. Fast like a snake he tugged at it and pressed the contacts into Torus fat arm. “Sleep tight.” Kakashi rasped and activated the weapon. 30.000 volt ran through the troll of a man.

Immediately Kakashi could breathe more freely and as Toru loosened the grip around his neck, the cop shocked him again.

            ‘Just to be sure.’

“What!?” Rat-man couldn’t believe his eyes when his companions’ orbs rolled backwards and got on his knees, knocked out by the electricity. “How could you..?”

“Never underestimate the police.” Too exhausted to fight with the leftover, Kakashi just jumped at the man and knocked him with a straight jab to the jaw out. The rat fell to the ground like a puppet which strings were cut and the grey haired man dusted lazily his uniform off.

At this moment his partner on this trip decided to appear. “I’M COMING KAKASHI! DYNAMIC ENTRY!”

“No Gai, wait!”

But too late. Gai, in a bright green uniform of the Konoha Police Department, attacked like Bruce Lee the tired cop with a high kick. He blocked it and snarled annoyed at his comrade. “Could you please open your eyes Gai? It’s me!”

Gai blinked sheepishly, then crocked his head. “Ooh.” The energetic blackhead stepped back, sweating heavily. Kakashi knew what would come and sighed inwardly.

“I’m so sorry my dear rival! Please punish me any way you like and I will take it with every ounce of youth that I have in me!”

The masked man hold his hands up in a defensive position. “Maa, everything is alright. Just attack me not out of the blue anymore.”

“Such passionate and yet forgiving words! Kakashi, you deserve to be my eternal rival! And even today you beat me at our challenge!” Crying Gai took out of his vest a little notebook and scribbled the changed score down. Meanwhile the unwilling eternal rival shook his head, but smiled under the face mask, when he handcuffed the two attackers. “You’re now officially arrested. Everything you say will be used against you…”

Just a typical Thursday evening for the man.

 

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

“Hey, Itachi! I’m done with the restauration of the HDD. There’s something really interesting in a hidden file.”

“Show me.”

Hiko turned the pc monitor to her supervisor and pointed at a marked line in the document. “Read this.”

The black eyes raced through the words and one of his small rare smiles tugged at Itachis lips. “... Prize: 100.000 Dollar for one faked painting, special requests: from 50.000 Dollar upwards… Finally we got him.”

The short woman pushed her thick glasses up and smirked. “It was very well hidden, but not good enough for me.” She turned the monitor into the original state, while Itachi returned to his own desk.

“Write a report and then you can leave. Don’t believe I didn’t notice that you pulled an one-nighter at this.” The Uchiha sat down and began to work on his own task, while Hiko rolled her iceblue eyes.

            ‘Damn perceptive Uchihas with their over the top intelligence!’

“I saw that eye roll. Hurry up or I make you work as the charwoman again.”

“No! Not that! That’s just too cruel!”

To work as a ‘charwoman’ meant that Hiko had to help all the officers in the Konoha Police Department who were too dumb to handle their electrical devices, including the paper jam at the printer or deleting any viruses when one of the cops found a porn site all too interesting. She had to do it nearly twice a week because of her loose mouth, but she also knew that Itachi didn’t mind it like he acted. They were friends and it was for him a way of showing his friendship.

“I heard that your little brother starts tomorrow.” said Hiko while typing her report. “Wasn’t he the best in his class?”

Her supervisor nodded, to fixate on his pc to respond with words.

“How is he, I mean, as a human? Like you or even more friendly? Or is he even worse?”

“Worse. But he has his good days.”

“Oh no. A second icy Uchiha-prince, how will the ladies in our office survive that?” snickered Hiko.

“Probably not at all. He has a girlfriend right now.”

“What? A girlfriend? At least one of your family can continue the bloodline…”

His black eyes stared at her. “Tomorrow you are the charwoman.”

Feigning despair, Hiko slumped in her chair and pouted. “You meanie! Just because I dared to make fun of your sexuality. How is Kisame, by the way?”

“Good, good. It seems that I was wrong and the fishing business isn’t dead yet. His shop had to hire a temporary help and the boot cruises are doing great. He asked if us four could meet up again.”

“Do you have a date in mind?”

“How sounds Saturday for you?”

Hiko smiled and finished the last paragraph of her report. “Perfect. I will make my special banana bread. Do you want to message Obito or should I?”

“You can do it. If you text him he actually responds… Sometimes.”

The woman rummaged through her black backpack and found her cellphone at the very bottom. Grunting she unlocked it and typed fastly a message for the fourth of her close friends.

_Hiko: Wazz up? Time @ Saturday?_

The answer came almost immediately.

_Obito: U bake banana bread?_

_Hiko: What do u believe?_

_Obito: U are a goddess in kitchen. Count me in._

“He will come.” said Hiko and chuckled at Obitos blunt compliment. “Do we meet at your place?”

Itachi nodded that the loose strands of his black hair swayed in the movement. “Yes. It’s for the best. Tell him that he is responsible for the drinks, Kisame and I work on the entertainment and you can bring whatever you like to eat.”

She placed her cellphone again into her backpack and searched for her headphones in the depths of this black hole. “Got’cha. Let me say that Kisame and his interpretation of “Girls just wanna have fun” was really really funny to watch. I actually want to see this or something else like this again.”

“Understood.” Impatiently the Uchiha waved at her when she finally got out of her chair and exited the office. “Don’t forget that tomorrow will also come the new puppies.”

“You said that I had Charwoman-duty. You have to lead them around and explain everything.”

“Damn. I knew that it had a downfall.”

Wildly laughing Hiko left the office of the IT force of KPD. Shaking her head she turned her Mp3-player on and rummaged through the songs.

            ‘Mhmm… Today I feel very Hollywood Undead like.’

Weakly humming to the song “Another way out” Hiko made her way to the exit of the beautiful police department building. Light flooded nearly all day through the wide windows and made the white walls shine in a mysterious light. She loved to work here and not only because the building was good-looking. It felt like she actually could DO something in the world, not just sit around and wait for death like others did.

‘I couldn’t be someone who works in a boring job with no real sense. I have to see the impact my work does and when I work with the police I can see it everyday.’

Hiko was a short woman of 29 years. She didn’t cross the 1, 60m mark, but had the self-confidence of a 2 meter giant. Her chocolate brown hair was hidden under a black beanie and together with her thick glasses it gave her the aura of a true nerd. She liked video games and mangas, yes, but she wasn’t a hardcore fan to death. She could also enjoy a good book or old movies, some inline skating or a doing judo.

But her true hobby, her one and only favorite subject was hacking. The thrill of working for months on a single firewall, searching for breaches in the codes and then the victory when she successfully invaded her target.

‘As long as they don’t catch me I will keep doing this. At least I don’t hurt someone with my actions, not like others.’

Hiko left the Konoha Police Department just when two police officers leaded three subjects inside. The woman sweatdropped because she recognized one of them: Maito Gai, an enthusiastic hyperactive screamer, who loved to surf on social websites, but kept forgetting his passwords for his mail-account. Hiko had to reset it already six times in this month. However she couldn’t recall the face of his partner and he was a truly outstanding appearance.

He was tall, at least two heads bigger than Hiko. His gravity defying hair gave him additionally a few more centimeters and she wondered if it was colored. Because nobody had natural grey hair like this.

            ‘Maybe he is already in his sixties…’

But she forgot fastly about this when she saw his body. The young slender figure of someone who trains nearly every second day without looking pumped up. Under the darkblue and black uniform his muscles moved and Hiko was reminded of a wild animal, like a wolf or another carnivore.

She made room for the group and listened to the last sentence that Gai muttered under his breath.

“…The score is now 49:52! I will catch up to you in no time, but until then I have to train with the power of YOUTH!”

A man, handcuffed and with the face of a rat whimpered. “Not that again…”

The grey haired man only smiled weakly at his partner, but Hiko couldn’t see his whole face. A face mask covered the mouth area and made it impossible to identify the features. His curved eyes gave away that he listened to Gai.

Before he spoke, Hiko continued her path home, in her mind already the next firewall that she would attack.

            ‘So many bad boys out there and so little time…’


	2. About harpies and chat rooms

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They meet, they talk, they don't think much.  
> That's all.

Punctual like always Hiko returned to her workplace at Friday morning, wearing a black tight jeans with cuts at her knees, red chucks and a darkblue short vest over a black longsleeved shirt. Together with her beanie, the glasses and her backpack she calmly walked through the entrance of the station, aware that today it would be more crowded than usual. New graduates from the police academy would be coming in and two of them were interested in the IT office. Hiko just hoped that they had at least some experience in working with computers, not like the last student who thought he could use his personal work station as a porn location (that he had found a girl to willingly film her like this was amazing).

“Hey! Hey you!”

Hiko didn’t flinch at the yell, but suddenly someone spun her around and dragged her to the group of young people around twenty years, who waited at the information desk in the lobby. “I didn’t know that an extern would join us! Lucky for you that I have the eyes of a hawk!”

The one who had gripped her forearm with the strength of a gorilla beamed at her. His bright blond hair was spiky and short and as he opened his eyes again Hiko could see that they were of an incredible blue, like the ocean itself. He had three whiskers-like marks at his cheeks that gave him a quite an impudent aura, but his smile was sincere. When he loosened his grip, Hiko decided to stay a bit with the group, just to see his face when he would realize that she already worked here.

 

“My name is Naruto Uzumaki!” said the blonde still smiling and stretched his hand out. “I’m a graduate from the Konoha Police academy. Where are you from?”

“Originally I came from Sunagakure, but moved here when the time was right.”

“Oh man!” Naruto whistled impressed and looked down at her. “Suna? This is impressive! I heard only few of the students make it through the tests.”

Hiko nodded and pushed her glasses up. “You heard right. But I was able to make it and here I am.”

“You must be a genius, like my friend Sasuke.” He pointed at a black haired young man who reminded Hiko heavily of Itachi.

            ‘So the black hair and black eye color runs in the family…’

“He was the best in our class! And he told me that his older brother is already working here, but in the IT force! Totally boring, right?”

Hiko grunted and hoped that he would talk more about the IT.

Naruto, unaware of the plotting schemes his “comrade” had, crossed both arms behind his head and yawned. “I probably would kill myself if I had to work there. Nothing to do all day and no action at all! But two of my classmates want to join them, this weird guy Shino,” he gestured to a thickly covered boy with brown hair who wore indoor sunglasses, “and the gorgeous girl there.” This time he pointed at a petite girl with pale lavender eyes, black silky hair and a figure Hiko would kill for. Her chest was the biggest from all the girls here (even Hiko had to lower her eyes in shame, but was content with her C) and the hips curved in an adorable and female way. “She’s called Hinata Hyuuga! Once I tried to ask her out, but she fainted before I could actually ask her.”

Narutos happy voice became a bit sad and disappointed when he looked at the young girl, but Hiko also saw the determination in his eyes. The boy wouldn’t give up so easily on his crush, that was for sure.

 

The doors that leaded to the main office opened and to Hikos surprise Obito stepped out, in his hands a clipboard.

            ‘Probably lost at Rock-Paper-Scissors or something.’

He didn’t look up and the woman used the opportunity to hide behind Naruto before her friend could question her presence openly.

“Good morning everyone!” Obitos voice was calm and friendly when he greeted the young police officers. “Today is an important day for all of you. The first day at your new workplace for the next months or even years. My Name is Obito Uchiha, I’m a Lieutenant and work here now for nearly seven years and for today I will be your guide. Follow me!”

“This is so exciting!” whispered Naruto into Hikos ear when the group entered after Obito the main office.

Personally she liked the calm and peace down in the IT more. At the main office a lot of policemen ran around, exchanging brief notes or thick files. Phones seemed to ring everywhere and in between sat bad guys in handcuffs and waited to be brought down into the cells.

“This will be mostly your place of work from now on.” stated Obito and gestured around, while the young people only widened helplessly their eyes at the little chaos that reigned here. “Don’t worry, it seems a lot more hectic than it really is. All of you will be assigned to an officer who will teach you a few things about your work from now on, but before we come to the fun part I will show you the rest of the building. Please walk fast and stay together, on my first day a guy out of my group managed to get lost.”

            ‘That was so funny. Why aren’t you telling them that it was actually you?’

 

The tour lasted nearly until nine a.m., before Obito paced down the hallway to the IT forces. With blinking eyes he turned around and looked at the nine people that followed him.

“Now we will visit a very important part of our department: the IT crew. I advise you to not mess with them, they can held very long grudges against someone and it isn’t funny if your keyboard turns every ‘and’ into ‘anus’. But the people here allow us to work smoothly and have a significant role in bringing us proofs and evidence, for example decoding a HDD or rebuilding erased data.” 

He opened the door to Hikos office and hold it until everyone got in. “Hi Itachi.”

The Uchiha looked briefly up and nodded at his cousin. “Obito.”

“Do you know where your coworker is? I wanted to introduce her to them.”

“She send me a message that it would get a little bit later because, and now I quote: “the idiot guide who got lost at his first day takes so long”.”

Obito blushed a little bit, while the new recruits snickered behind him. “What? But I…”

Realization hit him and he turned to the group. “You’re in there, aren’t you?”

Hiko burst into a laugh and raised her hand. “Sorry my friend, but I had to do it. Someone in here,” she winked at Naruto who slightly paled, “said that the IT force is boring, so I had to prove him wrong.” Finally she walked over to Obito, spun around and friendly waved at the rest of the young police officers. “Hi there. For the ones that didn’t get my name, it’s Hiko Kobayashi. I’m 29 years old and started together with Obito here. As he correctly informed you, you will have the hell time of your life if you look down on us just because we don’t do the “real” work. And the trick that he told you about is nothing in comparison to accidently crashing your pc or messing with your reports. But if you behave and treat us sometimes to coffee,”

“You mean bribe.”

“Then we will have no problem with being really nice to all of you. And believe me, you want us to be nice.”

Obito laughed and ruffled over her head. “Don’t worry too much. Hiko here seems like a harpy, but inwards she is as soft as a marshmallow.”

“Now you destroyed my image. Good work mister.”

“No need to thank me. And this is the end of the tour. The ones who will work with the officers come again with me, so the forensic students. Orochimaru is probably already waiting for you. The two students who want to work with the IT will stay here and get the first instructions. Good luck.” whispered Obito finally into Hikos ear as he exited the office with the rest of the recruits.

 

She waved smiling at him and placed her backpack under her desk, while Hinata and Shino inspected warily the room. Five tables with PCs, a big window that showed the river that streamed through Konoha and various shelfs that were plastered with cables, batteries, electronical devices and other small things beside files and stacks of paper.

Itachi stood up and shook first Shinos hand, then Hinatas. “Welcome in the IT force. Please give me your name and your experience with computers.”

“Shino Aburame. My first PC I deconstructed when I was 8, afterwards I became only more interested in the build of those machines. I’m great at debugging programs or finding errors.”

“M-my name is Hinata Hyuuga. I o-only got in contact w-with computers recently, but my teacher a-at the academy said t-that I’m really talented. My strong p-point is probably finding hidden f-files and s-such things…”

“Good. At least we can work with that.” Itachi returned to his desk and tapped lightly the wooden board. “You can choose to sit wherever you like but I have one last question for you. Is anyone planning to film a movie with R-rating here?”

Hiko gulped her laughter down when she saw the heavy blush on Hinatas face. Pitying the shy girl she stepped in before one of them answered. “You see, the last student we got didn’t use his time for working, but for shooting a porn. We cleaned all the desks after we found out, but in our hearts we know that they are deeply traumatized and we don’t want to further scare them.”

The girl shook wildly her head and Shino grunted negatively. Hiko clapped happily her hands. “Then everything will be fine. Today my boss Itachi Uchiha will instruct you or do you have anything else planned for them?”

The serious man scratched his chin, the eyes set on the two recruits. “I think we could split the work. Take Hyuuga with you and I will start with Aburame on some of the basics.”

“God idea. Come on Hinata-chan. You don’t mind if I call you that, or do you?”

“N-no…”

Together the two females set off to the main office, chatting about trivial things that is typical for a first talk between comrades.

 

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

Kakashi looked up from his book and stared at a clipboard that was waved in front of him. “What’s that?”

Obito Uchiha sighed, but decided to explain it to him. “The Chief told you. You have to take a minor under your wings, or he will send you to the most boring place he can find.” Again he waved with the clipboard. “You have Sasuke Uchiha, the black haired one.”

“One of your cousins?”

“Yes. He was the best in his class, but beware: in his file was the note that he can’t work well with a team.”

“Got it.” Kakashi gestured the little Uchiha to come closer to his desk, while Obito wandered around and told the other officers about their luck to have students. Today he had no patrol shift, so he decided on some simple blue jeans and a black turtleneck pullover.

‘Finally it’s warm enough to drive with my motorcycle again. End of April and only now it stopped to freeze over.’

“So,” he said when the genius stood at his desk, “My name is Kakashi Hatake. From now on I will be your superior and we will work together until you are ready to get your own partner. Maybe you could tell me something about yourself.”

The raven scowled lightly. “What, for example?”

“Your name, likes, dislikes, your hobbies, dreams. Something like that.”

“My name is Sasuke Uchiha. I like tomatoes and Onigiri, but I dislike sweets and Natto. Hobbies of mine are training and, I guess, taking a walk. My dream would be to become one day part of the Special Forces Unit.”

“A noble goal.” Kakashi leaned back into his chair and watched his partner Gai from afar talking with a hyperactive blonde boy. “Today we will do just some trivial things like registering you in the system, taking photos for your ID and applying a badge. You have a uniform, do you?”

Sasuke nodded. “Yes. Is somewhere in here a storage room to store them like a locker?”

“You will get one in a few days, this is also one of the things you have to apply for. The bureaucracy is pretty fast, so it won’t take long. Do you have any questions before we start?”

 

Suddenly a smirk appeared on the ravens face. “Is it true that the people from the IT mess sometimes with the officers if one of them was insulted?”

Kakashi grimaced uncomfortable. “Let’s say it like this, after Gai made the mistake to lose his mail-password for the sixth time this month, the IT-ler threatened him that she would come back and carve it into the back of his hand if it would ever happen again. I wouldn’t mess with them if you can avoid it. Why do you ask?”

“My friend there said to one of them that the IT is boring. I believe now that he is in her visor.”

“Then he should hurry up and buy her a coffee or a cake. The longer he waits, the worse it gets.”

“I will tell him.”

Kakashi thought that Sasuke would text the blonde, but it seemed like the boy preferred a more direct approach. “DOBE!”

The blonde looked up and scowled. “What is it, teme?”

“My superior says that you should hurry up and apologize to Kobayashi-san!”

“Kobayashi-san!?” Gai paled and stared wildly around, like he expected the little woman to appear right behind him. “Is she here? Does she have a knife?”

Kakashi chuckled lowly. “She isn’t here, but maybe you can accompany your student to the coffeeshop around the corner and buy something for her.”

“Buy what for who?”

The woman they talked about stood abruptly right between them and Gai was so surprised that he jumped backwards into Narutos arms, who also looked like he saw a ghost. Smirking the shorty crossed her arms and turned to the recruit beside her. “As I just said, nothing can beat a good entrance.”

 

Kakashi looked mildly interested at Kobayashi-san. He saw her once or twice in the main office, only quick glances though. Now he had the time to watch her properly. She was really short, even the girl at her side was taller than her. He guessed that her scalp was at the same level as his chest. But it gave her a quite cute presence, until she opened her mouth. Then her sharp tongue ruled over her appearance and her witty remarks and sarcastic comments found just the right spots in the mind of a person to make them wince under her sharp and on-point views. Not that he met her often, but the other officers spoke with fear in their eyes about the short woman.

            ‘But even if someone tried to hurt her I guess he would get the shock of his life.’

He noticed her stand, well balanced and secure. She must train some martial arts like Judo or Aikido and must also be very good at it. Her vivid blue eyes darted around, always searching for an opening in the defense of Gai, who got on his knees and bowed in front of her. Her brown hair was mostly covered by a black beanie and together with the thick glasses she gave off the vibes of a geek.

“It’s okay Maito-san.” said the woman just now and snapped Kakashi out of his thoughts. “You only forgot your password. It was just a lesson that you finally would write it down somewhere, you don’t have to fear for your life.”

“YOSH!” Gai got up faster than anyone expected and hugged the female tightly. “Thank you very much for forgiving me! I, Maito Gai, swear on my pride as a police officer that I will never again lose my password!”

She evaded his outstretched arms and scratched the back of her head. “As long as you understand…” The weak blush on her face made her quite attractive and Kakashi wondered for a moment if she had a boyfriend. But then he remembered the last time he had a relationship with a colleague and dropped the thought instantly.

“H-Hiko-san…” stuttered the black haired girl and fondled with her fingers, “Maybe we s-should start now…”

“Naturally. Thanks for reminding me, Hinata-chan.” Hiko turned to the office and spoke up. “HEY! I’M RESPONSIBLE FOR EVERY REGISTERING TODAY, SO IF THERE ARE ANY QUESTIONS, COME TO ME!”

 

For a moment every present police officer stared at the short woman who stood in the middle of the room, with the hands confidently staying at her well-rounded hips and with amused blinking eyes. Then hell broke loose.

“My student needs to be registered!”

“Mine too, mine too!”

“Hi-chan, you will do it for me right?”

“Alone for the “Hi-chan” you will be the last, Obito.” growled Hiko annoyed. “You can apply for everything else in the meantime, while I manage this here. You,” she turned to Kakashi, who raised asking an eyebrow. “I will start with your youngster.”

“Why?”

“Because you’re the only one who didn’t scream immediately up.” With a deep sign Hiko worked her way through the little crowd that build around her and dragged Hinata with her to the desk of the grey haired police officer. “Besides, Itachi is my friend and I have to admit that I’m a little bit interested in his Mini-Me.”

Kakashi chuckled lightly at the reference. “Indeed. They look very similar.”

“Similar? If he decides to grow his hair out and get those wrinkles than not even their own mother could tell who is who.”

Sasuke rolled his black eyes, but also seemed a bit proud about the comments. “Hn.”

“Don’t grunt like that. It makes you look like an old man who hates every person he encounters and goes for laughing into the basement.”

Naruto laughed loudly. “Ha! Teme, she figured you out! I can’t wait to tell this Sakura-chan!”

“If you do that I visit the restaurant you’re so fond of and free a rat there.” Sasuke smirked when he saw the pouting face of his friend. Hiko shook weakly her head and pushed the glasses up her nose before leaning over the crammed desk of Kakashi. “You probably got my name, but I’m sorry that I don’t know yours. You’re new here, right?”

 

Kakashi stood up from his chair and gestured her to sit down. “Yes. I came here only two months ago from the Special Forces Unit. My name is Kakashi Hatake, nice to meet you.”

“Special Forces Unit?” echoed Hiko and shook the offered hand. “I’m surprised. I thought that no one of those crazy bastards would leave his post if it could be avoided.”

“There were some… difficulties that prevented me from doing my job any longer.”

“Aah.”

The woman gave him one last look before turning to the PC and typing fast like a machine gun at the keyboard. While she explained her actions to the shy girl, Kakashi was glad that Hiko didn’t dig any further in this matter. It was still something like an open wound for him that he had to leave the SFU and return to being a normal cop. He was proud that he could serve the city in one of the most exciting and challenging ways and now he had to hunt after little thieves and parking violators again like he was still a piglet at the start of his carrier.

If at least a serial killer or something like that would show up… Kakashi knew that those ill fuckers weren’t a reason to dance wildly around, but he would probably exactly do that if something like that happened. Murder crimes were in the end more interesting than searching for the lost cat of the ex-majors’ wife (the animal fled on a regular basis).

“… and now your identification number.”

“It’s 1-5-4-8-9.” Calmly Sasuke stated his number.

Satisfied Hiko typed the last information down and clicked at a button. “You’re finished. Now you’re officially registered in the data base and can read through files, write your own reports, use the intern chat from the police station… If you have any questions please don’t hesitate to send a message.”

Kakashi tilted his head. “The station has an own chat?”

“Yeah, but it’s kind of new.” Hiko got out of the chair and smiled at the taller man. “Before there was a confusing and unreliable system of letters and notes that flooded the secretaries here. Sometimes even important files got lost on the way from one cop to another. Now every file is saved two times: one time in the original paper form and one time in the data base. It’s easier to send a link to the corresponding case to your colleague than first ordering the file to your desk, then ask around to find him, only to leave him a note that you have something.”

“But a chat?”

Hiko waved lazily. “We from the IT thought it would make also the communication easier. Cops have to wait always for important phone calls and this way it’s guaranteed that the lines are free for emergencies.”

Naruto jumped excited up and down. “Could you show it to me, Kobayashi-san?”

“Now the IT isn’t so boring anymore, huh?”

“EEH, Kobayashi-san… It was only a joke, a joke! I didn’t mean it!”

Hiko chuckled at the sight of the nervous recruit. “I also don’t mean it. Ok, then watch closely now.”

 

The young police officers crowded around Kakashis desk, where the short woman sat and showed them the mysteries of the intern police chat. Also the grey haired cop listened to her instructions and was surprised that she managed to explain the difficult technical things even for someone like Naruto, who didn’t seem like the brightest candle on the cake. Interested he looked over the shoulders of the young people while Hiko talked about the system. “We have different chat rooms for the different parts of our station, for example the main office, the forensic office or the IT office. There’s also a big chat where the chief can inform us about meetings or else. Then you can also create new groups with a bunch of people, let’s say that all of you young cops don’t want to hear anything from the old bones here…”

She clicked a few times with the mouse on the monitor and typed fastly a short command, then turned to her audience. “And now you have your own chat room only for the puppies that came today. I inserted for now only Sasuke-san and Aburame-san, but I will show Hinata here how she can add other members. It’s very simple, just like Facebook or any other social media. Did you get all of it?”

The young ones nodded slowly and Naruto poked Hinata weakly with his elbow. “Seems like you are the admin for us!”

The girl blushed heavily and for a moment Kakashi thought that she would faint instantly, but she managed to hold herself up. With a bright red face Hinata hid her eyes behind her long hair and only nodded. Like that she couldn’t see the short blink of sadness that showed in Narutos orbs, but the older cop recognized it immediately.

‘Hopefully she soon overcomes her shyness. Like that he will only get frustrated over her attics.’

Hiko seemed to notice it too, because she turned to her apprentice. “Hinata-chan, maybe you could start with the registration process of Uzumaki-san here. You would be a great help for me, okay?”

“B-but, Hiko-san…”

“No buts. You are a clever girl and if you have any questions you can ask me anytime. Now go on.”

 

The woman watched Hinata as the girl sat down on Gais desk and started the registration process of the blonde. Over the minutes her blush faded away and with growing confidence she talked with Naruto, who registered the change in his crush and joked around.

Kakashi leaned to Hiko and murmured lowly. “That was nice of you.”

With blinking eyes she turned to him. “I know that the people say that I’m a harpy but I also have my soft spots, like any other human being.”

“A harpy?”

“You know, the women out of the greek mythology with wings and fangs and a temper similar to that of a drama queen.”

“I heard of them. Who calls you that?”

“Only Obito, the idiot.” Hiko smiled when she pointed to the officer, who just worked his way through a stack of documents together with his young partner, a boy with tattooed red fangs on his cheeks. “But I guess that in the main office chat it’s kind of my nickname.”

“I can check it for you if you want.” offered Kakashi, but she only waved at him. “Don’t you believe that I could check it myself? I’m the admin for the whole system and could easily look through the protocols, but I don’t want to know what people talk about me behind my back. If they have a problem they can come straight at me and say it into my face.”

Kakashi liked the way the woman thought. He also had nothing left for shit-chatters and preferred to be criticized out in the open, but nevertheless he would today take a look into the main office chat and search for the nickname.

Hiko stretched a bit and yawned in a very ladylike way. “I guess I’m going to work a little bit. It was nice to meet you, Hatake-san.”

“It was also nice to meet you, Kobayashi-san.” The man watched the shorty leave and sat down at his own desk. For a moment he stared at the still open windows, then he sighed and closed them one by one. The faint scent of vanilla and raspberries trailed into his nose.

            ‘She smells good.’


	3. It's a kind of funny story

“Bye Itachi! See you tomorrow!”

“Bye. Don’t forget your banana bread.”

Hiko laughed while she opened the door to the hallway. “How could I when all of you remind me the whole day?”

“Kisame is the one who texted me about it.”

“Yes, he and Obito. Five messages only this afternoon, all with the reminder to make the bread.”

The raven shrugged and returned to the inspection of the cameras that showed different parts of a street. Thousands of people walked by and Itachi shortly analyzed every single one of them, before his eyes switched to the next. “It’s not my fault that it is good.”

The brunette turned her Mp3-player on and exited the office. “Next time I will use some laxatives, then you will leave me finally alone.”

‘God, I love it when they act like little kids. Adult men and all of them get excited over a simple treat of mine. They can be so sweet despite their scary appearance.’

Hiko smiled the whole way to her car, a small but fast vehicle in her favorite color red. It was for someone of her height quite spacious, but Kisame, who nearly crossed 2 meters had always problems to get in or order his long legs into the lower area.

But to her anger someone had parked like the last asshole in the world. She could get into her car without problems, but driving out of her parking spot was impossible. The other car, a big and expensive looking SUV blocked the road and not only Hiko was troubled by it.

Hatake-san stared annoyed at the car, his hands in his pockets and a leather jacket thrown over his shoulders. He stood beside a black Yamaha, a helmet on the seat as Hiko greeted him. “It seems that not only I could kill somebody right now.”

He turned to her and his wrinkled face relaxed a bit. “I can’t believe that someone seriously thinks its okay to park like this.” He nodded at his own parking spot and Hiko saw that he had nearly the same problem as her: his motorcycle was blocked by the wall behind it and the SUV prevented him completely from getting out.

She gestured to her car and sighed. “As you see I also can’t get out.” The fat back of the car stopped halfway from her parking space, but it was enough to block her vehicle.

Kakashi shook his head that his grey hair became even more untamed. “I just hope that the owner gets back soon.”

“I wouldn’t count on that. Just look through the windows. See the expensive thing dangling from her rearview mirror? It is probably the car of a rich middle-aged woman who went to the luxury shops in the center of the city. And today all the shops are opened until midnight.”

“Great. Just great.”

 

With an annoyed huff Kakashi leaned on his bike and crossed his arms. Meanwhile Hiko opened her car and sat down on the drivers seat. Then she stuck her head out of the still open door. “You can sit down while we wait.” she offered.

“Sure?”

“No, I joked around and risked that you rip my head off. Naturally I’m sure.”

“Then thanks.” The tall man walked around the small vehicle and got on the spot of the co-driver. Grumbling he adjusted the position of the seat, while Hiko couldn’t help but to snicker at the nervous fidgeting of her colleague.

“Do you have a date today Hatake-san or why are you troubled by the SUV-ass?”

“In fact I do. But I assume that I can cancel that now.”

“Is she nice?”

“I don’t know. It’s a blind date, Gai arranged it without my knowledge.”

“Then just walk.”

“The restaurant is on the other side of town, it would take hours to get there.”

Hiko shrugged her shoulders and fondled on the CD-player of her car. “Do you have her number?”

Tapping on his left knee, Kakashi unlocked his phone and typed a short message. “Yes. And now I’m free.”

The brunette smiled. “You didn’t like the idea of your partner.”

“Indeed. But she seemed nice so I thought I could try it. We talked a bit on the phone and-! Oh no.”

Kakashis cellphone started to buzz wildly and the melody of “X Gonna give it to ya” resounded through the abrupt silence. Apologizing he looked at Hiko. “Sorry, I have to get this. It’s her.”

“No problem, go ahead.”

“Thanks. Hello Ayame-san.”

The following words were so loud that Hiko had no difficulties to understand them.

“Are you serious!? Do you know how long it took me to beg for a free evening? My workplace isn’t generous with free time, you know!!?”

Kakashi turned away from the woman beside him and tried to explain himself. “I’m very sorry,” he said into the speaker, “but I was blocked by some asshole-parker and I don’t know when the owner of the car comes back.”

However the woman at the other side was now in a rage. “Really!? That’s the most stupid story that I ever heard! The last man was at least creative and said to me that his dog died! You fucking liar! If you don’t want to meet then just say so and don’t make up stories that are unbelievable!”

“Ayame-san…”

“Don’t! Don’t you dare right now to try to calm me down! It took me two hours to get ready for this date and now everything is down the drain! Thanks for nothing, you stupid prick!”

“Ayame-san? Hey…”

 

Kakashi stared confused at the silent phone in his hands. “She hang up.”

Giggling Hiko took his phone and shoot a photo of the situation outside. “Send her this.” she said and gave him his handy back. “Maybe Ayame-san will calm down when she sees the proof.”

“I don’t even know if I want an apology from her. Her raging fit destroyed my picture from the sweet calm woman that I had.”

“Get accustomed to that, Hatake-san. Women may seem nice and collected but if you lie to them they all become beasts that claw into everything that is in their reach.”

“Now my picture of all women is destroyed.” Shaking his head, Kakashi typed another message for Ayame and send it with a click of his tongue.

Hiko turned the radio on and searched her favorite radio station. “Just imagine if this didn’t happen today. Maybe you would discover her attics only in your honeymoon.” She found the channel and was satisfied, because one of her preferred bands played a live version.

Half curious, half wondering Kakashi leaned closer to the speakers and listened to the music. Hiko watched amused the changing expressions on his half covered face as the song played. First there was amazement, then unbelief and at the end his eyes curled into his weak smile. “How do you like it? I mean, the band?” asked Hiko when the song ended. She turned the volume down while she waited for an answer.

Kakashi crooked his head. “I think I like them. The song has a good rhythm and the text is easy, but catchy. How are they called?”

“Set it Off. And the song is called “Why worry”. I also like it.”

“Hm.” Suddenly his handy buzzed again and immediately Kakashi took the call. “Ayame-san?”

This time the woman at the other end of the line was much calmer than before and Hiko had no chance to hear her words, but the way the cop beside her smiled underhanded behind his face mask made it clear that she apologized deeply.

“No, that’s not a problem at all. Yeah. Then maybe another time. Bye.”

 

“You aren’t calling her again, aren’t you?”

“Hell no. If she reacts like this everytime when a real problem for example at work occurs, then I wouldn’t have a calm minute.”

“Exactly my opinion.” Hiko leaned back and stretched in her seat. Because of her actions her shirt slipped up and revealed her flat stomach to Kakashi. “She sounded like a hysterical person, easily scared and emotional. Too much of a hassle.”

Then she recognized his stare at her belly. Feigning indignation she covered the bare skin with her shirt again. “Hatake-san! You’re a dog!”

His amused black eyes shifted to her face. “I was never called a dog before. Wolf or sometimes a tiger, but never a dog.” He chuckled lowly when Hiko waved her index finger playfully before his orbs.

“Then you should maybe not stare at me like I’m a lamb on your platter!”

“Maybe you shouldn’t move like one, Kobayashi-san. Besides, had you anything planned today?”

            ‘At least he avoids the topic. Good.’

“Not really. Just some grocery shopping for tomorrow. I meet up with some friends and they forced me to cook for them.”

“Someone I know?”

“Obito Uchiha and his cousin Itachi. A lot of food, drinks and bad jokes. Perfect for a Saturday evening.”

Kakashi also leaned back and closed his eyes. “Sounds fun.” he murmured.

“It will be.”

For a while no one said anything. The radio played silently rock music and Hiko listened to it, waiting for the owner of the SUV. She didn’t think that the presence of Kakashi could be so relaxing. At first he seemed like a strange person, a little bit aloof and lazy, but he was fun to be with. Also the talking with him was easy, but to keep quiet and just sit there in her small car was also nice.

 

Then Hiko looked out of the window and discovered a large breasted woman with bags all over her arms. The woman directly moved to the SUV and began to place her bags inside the car, while she talked over the phone with someone. Hikos blue eyes grew even colder and growling she opened her door. “I’ll be right back.”

Abruptly the tired cop got up and stared at the short female, who had a dangerous expression on her face. “What are you going to do?”

“I will _discuss_ things out.” The brunette got out of her car and stomped to the tall woman, who blabbered still into her cellphone. “Excuse me!”

The female waved warily at Hiko, who glared with a murderous intention back, but the parker continued her shit-chat with her friend without caring about the problems she caused.

“Excuse me! Your car is in the way!” tried Hiko again, but the stranger only gave her a disgusted look and turned to the purchases.

‘I hate such women! Just because you’re tall you think you can look down on me, but I will fucking be damned if something like this will stop me!’

It was enough. Hiko reached up and snatched the phone from the woman. “Sorry, but your friend has won her drivers license in a tombola. She will call later.” Then she hang up and turned to the large breasts. “Excuse me, but I really want to go home!” Her voice only showed a hint of her anger, but the offended woman acted like she screamed at her.

“Who do you believe you are!?” With fury the woman took her cellphone back and glared at Hiko, who didn’t back down. “This was an important talk!”

“Sure. And I’m one of the Spice Girls. Now get your car out of the way before I call the police or something else that moves such an ugly thing.”

“You little-!”

Kakashi used exactly this moment to get out of the car and act as a moderator between the two females. “Please. I’m sure that we can solve this matter without any further problems when all of us stay calm now.” He stepped behind Hiko and smiled apologizing at the parking violator. “I’m Detective Hatake and you, Miss…?”

“Miss Senju. Tsunade Senju.”

“Miss Senju, at some point it must’ve occurred you that something like this…” Kakashi pointed at the impudent act of violation of parking spots, “Isn’t called parking. It’s an uncouth act of infraction, if I may say so. So would you be so kind to move your vehicle out of the way that my colleague and I can start into our earned weekend? Naturally you won’t get a parking ticket.”

 

For a moment Tsunade looked like she wanted indeed to discuss a little bit with Kakashi, but then she huffed annoyed and closed the trunk of the SUV. Without a word she hopped into her car and drove fastly out of the car park, while Kakashi turned to Hiko and chuckled at her. “See? Sometimes it’s good to stay calm and bribe your enemy.”

“I was doing fine!” growled the shorty and pushed her glasses up. “It was just a matter of time until this cow had given up!”

The cop chuckled and took his helmet. “Alright alright, you nearly got her. Thanks for letting me rest in your car, Kobayashi-san.” He get on the black motorbike and turned it on. Balancing the heavy machine out, the grey haired man tugged the also black helmet over his head and waved lazily at the female, who rolled her eyes, but returned the greeting. With a loud roar Kakashi drove out of his parking spot and Hiko watched the man disappear in the streets.

‘I think I can accept him. But he hast to stop showing up on his motorcycle. He looks damn hot when he sits on it.’

Shaking her head she climbed back into her car and finally started to take off into her ‘well earned weekend’. On her way home she rolled the car windows down and sang wrongly with the radio, not caring about the amused or confused stares she got whenever she stopped at a crossing. As she entered her street, Hiko noticed that dark clouds appeared on the once clear blue spring sky. Parking her little beetle at a reserved park slot, the woman got out and greeted friendly her neighbors who just exited the clean and light-flodden tenement.

“Good evening Konan-san. You too Chief.”

The blue haired woman smiled at Hiko, while the redhead Nagato, the chief of the KPD watched his subordinate with sharp eyes. “I thought that you left the station in time? Why are you late then?” His voice seemed cold, but the way how he squeezed his lovers hand betrayed him.

The brunette scratched the back of her head. “There was park violator who blocked me and Hatake-san. We had to wait for her and when she finally showed up it was a loud and very rude woman. You know how it is. But now everything is fine and I’m at home.”

Nagato nodded at her and gave Konan a loving gaze. “Then I will say my goodbyes to you, Kobayashi-san. Nice weekend.”

“Nice weekend for you two also.” The pair walked in the direction of the city center, holding hands and exchanging light touches from time to time, while Hiko smiled happily for them.

‘When I think back it was kind of my doing that brought the two together. Before Nagato-san was so unemotional and didn’t care about another person and Konan-san didn’t trust anyone. Lucky for them that they found someone where they can be themselves. A home.’

 

Still smiling Hiko opened the heavy white door to the tenement and entered the wide hallway. Her flat was at the second floor and the house had no elevator, but she was okay with that. She didn’t like elevators that much and would always prefer the stairs over such a hanging death-trap. Without working a sweat she reached her floor. Four flats were located here, two at each side, one of them was Hikos, one belonged to Konan. At the left side lived a man called Genma, who worked as a firefighter and currently tried to stop smoking, so he sucked all day on strange metal needles. The last flat was empty, but the landlord Kakuzu informed them that next week a new inhabitant would arrive. Hiko was curious how the person would be, but just hoped he or she wouldn’t try to use her Wifi-spot. It was one point where the shorty was very picky and that all of her neighbors learned to respect.

            ‘Na. Soon he –or she!- will learn where this special line is.’

Whistling the female unlocked the door and stepped into her home.

Inside she slipped out of her shoes and yawned loudly. “Finally…” A small entrance area, packed with a shoe rack, a corkboard cladded with notes like “Wednesday: trash day” and a tiny carpet in darkgreen with beige swirls at the edges. The walls were painted in a light cream and the floor was designed with cold white tiles.

To her right was the door to the bathroom, a small stall with a toilet, a sink and a bathtub with an integrated shower in it. Additionally the washing machine was in there. The room was very cramped, but for Hiko it was no problem to move in it. All of the interior was white, so Hiko decided on colorful towels and décor to lighten the coldness of the bathroom.

            ‘And I believe I managed to do well…’

In front of her the entrance area opened to the biggest part of her flat: the living room with an American-styled kitchen. Hiko was extremely proud that she was able to get the balance between comfortable furniture and a good-looking appearance right. In her eyes the living room was just like herself: on the outside practical and comforting, but if you look deeper you can see the little confusing details that marked her life.

Stripping her tight shirt of and throwing it on the ground, the woman walked through the room, passed by a two-seat sofa in grey, accentuated with some blue and red pillows, an also grey armchair where her fluffy blanket for movie nights laid, an entertainment station; complete with TV, PS4, different games and a radio, where she could dock her Mp3-player on. A big shelf with lots of movies, games and books stood beside the TV. At the creamy walls hung a few posters of old movies like “Ghostbusters” and “Back to the Future”, but also some pictures of distant places like a mysterious rainforest jungle and a lonely island in the Caribbean sea.

            ‘Maybe when I have again holidays… And the money to travel there.’

She walked into the kitchen and opened the fridge, only cladded into her tight jeans and a black lacy bra. The coldness ghosted over her face and warily Hiko closed her eyes and enjoyed the fresh breeze. Then she got a cold lemonade out, opened it and sighed contently when the cold liquid flooded down her throat. Today she didn’t want to go out anymore, so she planned her grocery shopping for tomorrow in the morning while going into her bedroom.

 

It was the second-biggest room in her flat. The bed took the most space, but also the wardrobe and a bookshelf, packed with books of different weight and topics (from fantasy novels to thrillers and psychological books everything was covered) used some expanse. Only one nightstand was beside the bed, in which two people could lay easily together, but Hiko wasn’t the woman for one-night stands. She liked her freedom more than some short lived fun with the risk of getting weird rashes or diseases, so instead a body pillow comforted her during the night. She placed her already half emptied bottle on the nightstand and slipped out of the rest of her clothing until she stood in her birthing suit before the wardrobe. Hiko rummaged rashly through it and tugged a winered sweatpants, a sport bra, the oldest panties she could find and a loose black top out and changed into the comfortable attire. “God,” she groaned, “this feels like heaven.” Sipping on her drink she got back into the living room and turned to the shining star of hers, a modern PC, tuned and modified until Hiko was satisfied the way the mechanics worked.

‘Tonight is a special night. I will get through the firewall of this company, I can nearly feel it!’

“Come on baby, don’t let me down now.” she murmured. For weeks the shorty worked on the security of the bank “Sabaku Savings”, a young company that seemed on the outside like a promising establishment with a bright future. The manager was a man called Gaara Sabaku and together with his siblings he had established a policy of fair treats inside the structures. But Hiko didn’t trust the rumors and wanted to see herself if the new path was as good as the stories promised. Smirking she started the program that was masked as a calculation help. Green symbols ran over the monitor and washed the usual background away. Then a window popped up, asking for a name and a password. Without an ounce of concentration Hiko typed into her keyboard and pressed Enter.

            _tRuthseekEr_

_gargoyle5762_

Two tabs appeared. One of them showed the progress of the investigation on “Sabaku Savings”, the other was a chat for hackers that used the same tool as Hiko. A hefty discussion was going on when she started to read.

           

_GinGerGeneral: you’re an idiot to believe that you could do it!!_

_strikingSWORDs: and you’re a little bitch. Why not risk something from time to time?_

_GinGerGeneral: because there is something like PRISON waiting for idiots like you!!_

_strikingSWORDs: i’m not scared. Besides I tested it beforehand…_

_GinGerGeneral: and what_

_strikingSWORDs: success_

_GinGerGeneral: …_

Hiko nibbled at her lower lip, but decided it wouldn’t hurt to ask.

           

_tRuthseekEr: what’cha talking about?_

_strikingSWORDs: hi truth. Haven’t seen you in a while :)_

_GinGerGeneral: TRUTH! TELL THIS IDIOT ITS TOO DANGEROUS HE WILL LISTEN TO YOU!!_

_tRuthseekEr: quit the capslock gin. Again what’cha talking about_

_strikingSWORDs: about the KPD firewall_

_tRuthseekEr: … what_

_strikingSWORDs: think about it. Troubling the government would be fun and most stations haven’t a good security. I already tried something like this before in another country and it worked fine_

_GinGerGeneral: and I told him it was stupid. You don’t mess directly with the police. Its suicide_

_tRuthseekEr: sword, I have to agree with gin. Its stupid_

_strikingSWORDs: not you too. I seriously thought that at least truth would believe in me, but NO_

_tRuthseekEr: I already tried it before just for fun. The firewalls are impossible to hack even for me. They change over the day numerous times and every approach is recognized. I barely could erase my traces before an alarm was set off_

_strikingSWORDs: … even you??_

_GinGerGeneral: told you so sloppy_

_strikingSWORDs: who you’re calling sloppy bitch_

_tRuthseekEr: stop this shit. Got the message sword? DO NOT TRY TO HACK THE KPD_

_strikingSWORDs: ok ok. Got it. No hack at the police here. Got it_

_GinGerGeneral: see? Truth agrees with me and hes the best around. Why not working with me big T? theres a nice little firewall at the hospital…_

_tRuthseekEr: already hacked it. But they strengthened the walls after I visited, so I’m not sure if you should try to get in._

_GinGerGeneral: WHAT? No no no, not again… :(_

_strikingSWORDs: truth has seriously too much time on his hands_

_tRuthseekEr: I’m only good at what I’m doing ^^_

_GinGerGeneral: now I have to find something new to work on_

 

A ‘pling’ drew Hikos attention to the left window. A little figure resembling a reaper laughed evilly before he kicked a door in and walked through it. The woman smiled and emptied the bottle before her. Then she typed a brief message for the other hackers.

 

            _tRuthseekEr: besides I have a thing on my own right now :P_

_I’ll report later_

_strikingSWORDs: yeah yeah. Just destroy the fun that we could have ;)_

_GinGerGeneral: thanx for saving swords ass from rotting in prison_

_tRuthseekEr: no thanx needed. And in prison his ass wouldn’t rot, the other mates would surely have their way with him xD_

_strikingSWORDs: UUUUURGH!!!_

_GinGerGeneral: rofl xD_

Smirking Hiko shook her head. The young ones were funny to write with. At least she thought that they were young, but they could also be fifty years old. The animosity of the dark web or the internet in general allowed everyone to be someone else, with new character traits and new chances to be themselves. But criminals also discovered the possibilities and found ways to rob people over a great invention meant to connect people all over the world. One of the various reasons why Hiko decided to improve the technical security of the Konoha Police Department shortly after she started working there. It wouldn’t be good if someone messed with ongoing investigations or troubled the officers more than it was needed. However she liked strikingSWORDs and so she warned him. He was not evil, only searching for a thrill and fun, much like GinGerGeneral. Hiko also hacked sometimes for fun, but mostly she searched for the truth behind rumors, like her alter ego gave away.

‘But I never found the truth behind _this_ incident. The one that caused me to turn to hacking. After all those years all traces are gone and will probably never appear again.’

With a sigh the shorty concentrated again on the information in front of her. Pushing the glasses up her nose, she started to systematically go through all possible intern files of “Sabaku Savings”. There were many and it would take Hiko more than one night to control every single one of them, but she wanted to be sure not to overlook something. She tried to find signs of corruption, of any criminal activities like fraud, stealing or exploiting of the subordinates, but tonight she didn’t find anything.

“At the first look they seem clean…” murmured Hiko and yawned. “However I will not stop. Tomorrow… Wait, not tomorrow. At Sunday I will continue.”

It was an hour after midnight when the brunette turned her computer off and went to bed, thinking about the meeting with her friends and the data that she would control.

‘I will not allow a higher up to treat other people like trash anymore. Not as long as I can find a breach in a fucking firewall.’


	4. Dance or die

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The meeting of Hiko and her brothers! I had much fun while writing this... :D

When Hiko knocked at Itachis and Kisames door, a fresh and still hot banana bread and a tightly filled basket in her arms, it took the Uchiha a minute to answer her. “Thank god you’re finally here.” he murmured as a greeting. “Kisame wouldn’t stop ranting about that he hasn’t seen you in ages.”

“Hello also to you.” grinned the woman and followed her friend inside the house.

“Yes yes.” Itachi waved at her and vanished fastly in the spacious living room, where the loud laugh of his boyfriend resounded.

Hiko loved the house of her superior. It was in a nice district in the suburbs of Konoha and a lot of families with little children lived here. From the outside laughter could be heard and voices telling the young kids to be careful, but the warnings were ignored. But also the house itself was beautiful. Itachi inherited the half of the Uchiha fortune and was the silent partner of various companies in the city, so the act of buying the estate was no problem at all. But Hiko knew that he fought hard to get Kisame to accept his love for the raven and it wasn’t uncommon for her to drive here only to find Itachi drunk and stumbling over his love declarations. But then she had enough from seeing her friend suffer and talked some sense into the tall proud man and from this day onward the relationship of Itachi and Kisame blossomed like a sweet little sunflower. Only a year after they started it Kisame moved into the little house and Hiko never saw Itachi happier as this day.

The interior was a mix between the two different personalities of the inhabitants: once there were modern and cool furniture that marked the influence of the Uchiha and then there were a few colorful and sturdy pieces, like the couch or the dinner table and belonging chairs, representing the boyfriend.

“Hi-can! Good to see you again!” Kisame walked towards the short woman when she entered the living room after stripping her jeans jacket and shoes off. He hugged her tightly and lifted her up with ease without caring about the basket in her arms. The shorty returned the hug with all the might she had, but it was nothing in comparison to the tall and strong man with a lightly blue skin color. After all he worked as a fisher before and lived for months at sea, only to start his own fishing business when he begun to see Itachi.

 

Obito sat at the brown leather couch and pouted with crossed arms. “You don’t want to greeted by me like this, so why is Kisame allowed to do so?”

Kisame placed Hiko again at her own two feet and smiled with his sharp shark-like teeth at the other man. “Because she is worried about your weak spinal cord.”

Now the brunette glared at the ex-fisher. “Hoshigaki, do you want to indicate that I’m _fat_?”

“No, not at all! I only wanted to say that little Obito is not as strong as me!” Kisame sweatdropped when Hiko pressed her lips into a thin line.

“This was close for you.” she declared finally. “For one moment I seriously thought about not giving you any from my food.”

“Thank god you decided otherwise.” murmured Itachi and rolled his black eyes. “He would have whined the whole evening about it.”

“Not the _whole_ night… But a big part of it.” Kisame strolled over to his boyfriend and possessively laid an arm around the thin waist of the smaller man. Hiko found it extremely cute how the rough looking Kisame cared about the cold Itachi and made the Uchiha more approachable than ever before. She watched her superior lean into his boyfriend and closing his onyx eyes, before she turned to Obito and playfully hit his shoulder. “You big crybaby.”

“Ow!” He rubbed the slightly stinging spot. “That wasn’t necessary you know?”

“It was. Now come here, ‘cause I will only accept it tonight.”

Smiling Hiko hugged her surprised friend, but let go of him after a few seconds. “So, what have you planned for us? Board games? Shots? Karaoke?” she asked and turned to the still snuggling pair.

“Neither of this.” answered Kisame. “What do you think about an evening at the penny arcade? You know, with the multiplayer games and such.”

“A penny arcade? Does something like this still exists? I thought they all died down after games became more home-based.”

Itachi shook his head. “This arcade not. It’s old and located in the north. Maybe half an hour, plus fifteen minutes when the rush hour begins.”

“And what am I going to do with the food?” Hiko raised lightly the heavy basket.

“Just place it inside the fridge. We come back here when we are satisfied.”

“Seems good to me.” Obito stood up and walked into the entrance area, closely followed by Kisame and Itachi, who finally let go of each other. Grumbling the shorty brought her freshly cooked food into the modern kitchen and returned to her friends, who waited for her when she slipped into her chucks again.

 

“My car or yours?” Hiko asked when Itachi closed the main door and locked it properly.

“Itachis.”

“Nobody asked for your opinion, sharky.”

“My head and legs did. One drive in the red tin can of yours and I can’t move enough to actually compete with you in the arcade.”

“I said ‘nobody’. Your head and legs don’t really matter to me.”

The Uchiha dragged his pouting boyfriend to the luxurious car that he owned. “They matter to me.” At those words Kisame beamed brightly, before showing his tongue to Hiko.

She elbowed Obito and nodded at the lovey-dovey couple, who turned to the car and whispered sweet sugar-coated words into each others ears. “Such lovesick fools. Seems we have to team up against them tonight. Are you in?”

But her friend didn’t answer immediately. Instead he looked with his deep and caring eyes at the short woman, until she shifted nervously under his stare.

“Uurgh, Obito! Stop staring at me like that, it gives me chills!”

He took gently her hand. “Are you really alright? I know that this special day of the year is next month… And I’m worried about you.”

For a moment Hiko thought that she could tell him what she was doing, that she searched for the one who destroyed her life and the lives of so much other woman, but then she decide against it. He would only try to talk her out of her plan, but the woman didn’t needed his discussions. “There’s nothing to worry about. Promise.”

“Sure?”

“100%. Now come on, I really want to see what Itachi and Kisame planned for us.” Smiling at her best friend, Hiko tugged at his sleeve and dragged him to the waiting car, where Kisame smirked confidently at her. “You can back down anytime, Hi-chan. It would be humiliating for you to be beaten by me.”

Hiko got in the back row of the car and watched Obito buckling his seat belt. While doing the same, she turned to the blue giant at the co-driver seat.

“You know what the people say, yes? Too much confidence breaks your neck sometimes.”

 

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Desperate Kisame stared at the still rising counter at the right corner of the monitor. “I can’t believe she already broke the record…” he murmured before shaking his head in defeat. “I guess I have to sing again.”

Itachi slipped his arm around the waist of his boyfriend. “I will prepare earplugs for everyone.”

“But how does she do that? I mean, she is only an IT-specialist at the police, not a fucking sniper!”

Hiko laughed when she heard the grumbled remark of Kisame. While shooting the digital zombie who approached her right between the eyes that the blood splattered over the monitor, she started to do an awkward dance on the platform. “It’s because I’m awesome!”

She turned around and took in the movement another undead creature down before continuing her victory dance.

Obito looked up from his racing game. “Fine. Now she won’t get down from her high horse all evening.” He cursed silently when his car crashed at the pier of a bridge and exploded.

The dark eyes of Kisame returned to the short woman. Following her body warily he leaned down to Itachi who was still pressed against his stomach. “Do you think she is okay?” he whispered into the ravens ear. “You know, because of next month…”

“If all of you would stop reminding her about that she wouldn’t even think about it right now. We will help her when she comes to us.” Kisame could feel the weak words ghosting over his cladded skin when his lover spoke.

“I only want her to be happy. And since this incident Hiko has some moments when I don’t know her anymore, so distant and cold that it scares me. She seems to be okay and tells us that everything is fine, but…”

“I know. I feel the same as you, Kisame. But you know her. She won’t come to us unless it’s nearly tearing her apart. So we can just wait and hope that she will be alright until then.”

Unable to say anything back, the blue man hugged Itachi tightly. He hoped that he could show his lover what he felt through his embrace and he got this special bubbly feeling when he felt the raven react to it.

 

Not knowing that her friends talked about her, Hiko still played “Zombie Massacre 3”, smirking and shooting every danger on the way.

‘They don’t know that I train in a shooting park when I have time, also that I take again Judo lessons. I don’t want to worry them too much. They don’t need to know that I still have nightmares, that sometimes I jolt at a voice resembling _his_ , that I have the urge to shower in the middle of the night because I still feel dirty. That I play it cool that nobody will see that I’m deep down shattered into tiny pieces and unable to put them back together.’

“I believe I win, sharky!” laughed Hiko when she finished the level shortly after. “Next time I want to hear you sing again!”

Obito got up from the car seat and joined the group again, while Hiko typed proudly her name into the high score list. “It was a good idea coming here.” he whispered to the couple.

The arcade was in fact old, but the old-fashioned games with bad graphics awoke memories in all of them, even in Itachi who was never allowed to play games like this in his childhood, but sneaked out of his home to go nevertheless to the nearest penny arcade. When they arrived in the worn-down district Hiko first wondered how a small business like an arcade could survive on his own out here, but to her surprise the building was nearly full. It was a typical 80s-styled room, complete with the milkshake bar and chairs, but the sounds of electronical devices filled the air. Light wasn’t really appreciated here, so she bumped her shin a few times on edges and rims of slots, but soon the pain was forgotten when the four started playing.

“It’s probably the most exciting place I’ve ever been!” Hiko stated. She hoped down from the platform where she played at and beamed at her close friends. “How did you find it?”

“An old friend of mine is the owner.” answered Kisame. He pointed at a slender man with long blonde hair who just wrecked a young boy in a game. “He came yesterday into my shop and wanted to speak with me about the good old times, all nostalgic and such. We chatted a little bit and then he mentioned that he owns this establishment. I talked with Itachi and here we are.”

“How do you know him?”

“Deidara once worked with me on the same boat, but the captain fired him when he found out that blondie stole food. We had to leave him behind and Deidara told me that he travelled alone with his feet back to Konoha, all the while thinking about a new job. Then he stumbled one day about this and decided to build an arcade out of a sudden.”

“Quite sudden. Such a change…”

Kisame smirked as he watched the blonde man jumping up and down and rubbing his victory into his opponents face. “He was always an… unstable kind of guy.”

Itachi pinched his boyfriend and bewildered the giant stared down at the Uchiha. “What was that for?” he asked, but deep in his mind he knew the angry spark in the onyx eyes. Kisame felt it too often, whenever Itachi spoke with another man that he valued or idolized (the second didn’t happen often) and was on top of that good-looking. “You know…” he hugged the raven and crouched down to place his forehead against the others, “That you’re the only one that I see _that_ way.”

 

Hiko acted like she wanted to puke and turned to the other, not romantic Uchiha beside her. “Come on, I think I need to kill some more Zombies or other monsters that deserve their fate rather than watching the overly sugary scene.” She pointed at the couple who hugged each other tightly and whispered sweet little things, surely.

Obito chuckled when they set off to strive for another gory game that would satisfy the needs of the short woman. “You’re the one at fault here. Shouldn’t have talked some sense into the thick skull of sharky.” he said.

“I did it for myself. Itachi was such a wreck and even at work he became hopeless and to save the rest of my sanity from any other blabber about the love of his life…”

“Yeah, yeah, you’re a cold blooded harpy with a heart of steel, got it. Nevertheless it was nice to do it.”

“Mhmmm…” Hiko could almost feel the blush creeping over her cheeks and embarrassed she pushed the thick glasses up. Her iceblue eyes fogged slightly.

Suddenly Obito yanked at her shoulder and spun her around. “I can’t believe they have something like this!” Jumping up and down he pointed at a game and Hikos stare shifted to the machine and grimaced.

“No way.”

“Absolutely, my dear friend.”

“Obito, NO.”

“It will be fun!”

“I can’t do this, do you think my clothes are easy to move in?”

He looked at her black loose jeans, the long-sleeved turtleneck shirt in darkgreen and the vest that Hiko was cladded in. “In fact, I think so, yes. Oh, come on, you just are too engrossed at the mere thought that I could beat you!”

Growling the woman took the bait and stormed to the large screen, where big bold letters showed the title of the game: Dance Revolution 2016. “We will see that Uchiha! I will never back down from a challenge!”

She knew that he quite obviously managed to bait her, but she didn’t care.

‘Just because he took those annoying dancing lessons in order to infiltrate a gang some time ago! I will wipe that confident smile off his face, even if I have to use the most stupid songs against him!’

“Are you chickening out or what?”

The Uchiha chuckled again and followed her on the platform, where for each contestant was an area designed. Colorful plates blinked hectically and reacted to the added weight of the now two facing-off friends, the one looking down with a smirk in his face, the other still grumbling and throwing various glances at the man.

 

“How do you want to be beaten?” Obito scrolled through the songs and stopped from time to time, reading the titles and shaking his head. “We can go for a classic one, see? “Kung-Fu Fighting”, “Another Ones bite to Dust”, “Thriller”… Or maybe something more new? I let you choose.”

“How generous of you.” murmured Hiko, but eyed the list with the stare of a hawk on a little mouse. Finally she saw a title that was appealing to her and she tapped Obitos shoulder. “This one.”

First he continued to smirk, but when he saw the track she had chosen his smile dropped fastly. “Are you sure?” he asked and his voice trembled a little bit, unsure if the woman was now crazy.

“Absolutely. Or are you too scared to be beaten by a shorty?”

“Never. Just thought about your ridiculous defeat in a few minutes.”

Hiko snorted and rolled her eyes. Her chocolate shoulderlength brown hair swayed as she shook her head in unbelieve. “You’re as dumb as always if you think I would go down without a fight.”

“Then let’s start the party.” The Uchiha prepared himself, before accepting the track with a single, somehow definite motion.

 

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Kakashi couldn’t decide if he should drown himself or pierce his eardrums. But nevertheless he kept his interested front up while listening to the endless talking woman that pressed herself against him. If her voice would be at least not screeching or so high that it reminded him of chalk scratching over a chalkboard, but he wasn’t so lucky.

Currently they were walking through an old district of Konoha and the woman (he forgot her name on the way, something like Ren? Maybe Rin?) clung to him like a flea to a dirty stray dog, jumping on every dark shadow at a corner and there were a lot of dark valleys and corners that she found scary.

“Kakashi!” Again Rin pressed her face into his shoulder when they walked through an obscure hallway, much like the one that Kakashi passed when he chased the rat-man a few days ago.

Inwardly he sighed deeply as he watched the source of her fears run away and hiding in another pile of trash. “It was just a rat, nothing to worry about.”

“Oh.” Apparently it was no sign for her to let go of his more and more paralyzed arm, instead she only blinked sheepishly at him. “I thought it was a thief or something like that.”

            ‘Naturally you did that. Just like the last 14 times. Not that I’m counting.’

“Where was your flat again?” asked Kakashi instead of freeing his useless limb from her surprisingly strong grip. After all his father taught him that he should always be nice to women.

“Just down the road and then at the left. Thank you so much for seeing me home. I was really in trouble when my car stopped working and then you appeared and decided to help me!”

“I didn’t do anything at all.”

She nodded sharply, her short brown hair flew in the harsh movement. “You did, when nobody else wanted to help me!”

‘I remember at least three other guys standing around you and trying to fix your car, you know? I was just pulled into this because I wanted to get home early today, but you insisted on walking to your flat instead of getting on my bike and simply _driving_ to your house. Why are all females that I encounter such… God, I shouldn’t think like this. Father would be enraged if he knew that I’m wishing a girl would drop dead.’

“Maa, it was nothing much.” Kakashi decided to ignore her flattery and fled into daydreams. When he dropped Rin (now he was halfway sure that her name was Rin. Or something like that.) he would walk back and get to his own flat and fill the last cartons. Next week he planned to move to a much cheaper apartment and it was also closer to the police station. The environment was calm and nice for such a centered district and the cop liked the one neighbor he already met, a firefighter called Genma Shiranui, who seemed like a laid back but reliable person. The other two weren’t around when the landlord showed Kakashi his new home, but he was sure that they were also nice.

‘But the only information that I got out of this Kakazu was that both are woman and that they always pay their rent punctual. And Genma had to go to his job when I wanted to ask him.’

Suddenly two young boys, maybe too young to walk around at such a late hour, ran past Kakashi and his unintentional date. The one in front dragged the other boy with him and screamed in his ear while passing by.

“You won’t believe it! At Deidaras arcade two dancers are battling and they won’t stop! It’s like out of a movie!”

 

Rin decided that it was time to crawl out of Kakashis leather jacket and looked after the two fastly disappearing children. “They must talk about this old arcade just around the corner.”

“Mhmm.”

“I always wanted to go there. Do you mind if we visit it for a minute?”

“Mhmm.”

“Alright!”

“Mhmm. Wait what?” Kakashi didn’t hear one question of Rin, too immersed into his fantasies about a cold drink when he was back home, but he noticed clearly the abrupt change in pace and direction. “Where are we going now?”

Rin smiled at him and this time, he could see the happy blink in her dark eyes. “To the arcade!” She dragged the weakly struggling cop with her, not caring about the low sigh that he couldn’t suppress anymore.

However she was indeed right when telling that the arcade was just around the corner. They only followed the boys for a minute, then the children vanished inside a dark entrance with a blinking neon arrow pointing at the inconspicuous door. Even from the outside Kakashi noticed that quite an amount of people was inside, watching the two dancers battling and also betting at one or the other.

“Five bucks on the shorty!”

“Ha! Can’t you see that she’s already at her limit? The tall one will make it!”

“He’s also exhausted! And she always scores first!”

“But just look at him! His movements are much more natural than hers!”

“Where do you have your glasses, can’t you see that she’s just as graceful as an angel?”

This and other discussions were held when Kakashi stumbled through the crowd, Rin still grabbing with the power of a crazy person on his arm. She managed to get close to the platform, but the crowd grew thicker with every step until she had to stop.

Just now the song “What is love?” had ended and the people cheered around Kakashi when they saw the score at the large screen in front of them.

 

“Oh no. They already finished it…” muttered Rin and sadly stared at the platform, where Kakashi could spot a tall figure beside a rather small one, laughing and exchanging high fives.

“Don’t worry, they will go for another round, un.” Suddenly a blonde man appeared between them. His long, into a ponytail bound hair was slightly sweaty, but his blue eyes stared content at the two gamers. “They are already doing this for nearly an hour and no one wants to give up so easily. I have never seen two more stubborn people than those.”

Kakashis forehead wrinkled automatically while he straightened up and looked at the slender man. “And you are?”

The blonde stretched his hand out. “My name is Deidara Bakuha and I’m the humble owner of this blessed arcade tonight, un.”

Suspicious Kakashi shook the hand. “Nice to meet you.” He looked again at the platform and suddenly he recognized one of the dancers.

 

It was his nice and easy-to-trick colleague, Obito Uchiha. Usually the man didn’t seem like a serious person, always joking around and laid-back, but now his whole figure reeked of concentration and determination. Then he also saw a blue giant and someone pressed against the tall body, that looked a lot like his student Sasuke Uchiha, but the hair was longer and bound in a ponytail.

            ‘I wonder who the other dancer is, then…’

“At first I thought that they were just crazy.” blabbered Deidara and Rin nodded interested. “The first song she choose was “Cotton Eye Joe”, but she aced it easily. The man couldn’t take it and challenged her to “Candy shop”, un, what he won. And like this they challenged each other again and again and brought like this attention to my business. They are send from heaven, I’m sure!”

“Are they professionals? He seems like one.” asked Rin, her eyes set on the heavily sweating Uchiha.

“He’s a policeman, a colleague of mine.” Kakashi still tried to identify the short woman, which just pointed at a song and elbowed her friend. Then it hit the grey haired man like a wrecking ball.

            ‘ _I meet up with some friends…_ ’

            ‘ _Obito Uchiha and his cousin Itachi…_ ’

            ‘ _Perfect for a Saturday evening._ ’

It was the Kobayashi Hiko, who laughed with her friends and played in an old arcade silly dance games. Without her always present beanie and backpack he almost didn’t recognize her.

Rin tugged at his jacket, not caring about Kakashis confusion. “A policeman? And a colleague of yours? That can’t be true! He’s moving like a pro!”

Deidara shook furiously his head. “Both are. See the shorty, un? Just look at her movements!”

And Kakashi stared at Hiko when the song started. He didn’t know the song, but the brunette seemed to know it very well, because she reacted everytime faster than Obito when stepping on the blinking lights to her feet. When she turned around and did a peace sign to the crowd, Kakashi saw her blinding beam and the happiness that shined in her eyes. Her hair flowed freely through the air and it almost looked like a waterfall of chocolate to him.

Sharply the cop shook his head. Such silly thoughts he wouldn’t allow. Hell, he didn’t even like sweet things, especially chocolate!

Beside him the owner of the arcade and his all-too-clingy-date (but since a few minutes ago she had let go of his arm) still discussed the performance of both contestants.

“Un, when the man is really a police officer, the title of the song is more than a little bit suggestive!”

“Why?”

“It’s called “Policeman” and you hear what it is about, un.”

 

It wasn’t only suggestive, but highly seductive. Hikos eyes were drawn to the monitor, following the orders of the machine, but at least all males and also some of the females in the crowded and sticky room stared with an unidentified hunger in their eyes at her. She didn’t even recognize the collective groan when she did a body roll and even Kakashi had close his eyes for a second and tried to fight the images of the short woman that the curved body awoke in him.

‘She’s someone from work and taboo, she’s someone from work and taboo and I don’t think about her sweat-glistened skin, her untamed hair at my pillow, her hips rolling like they do now…’

Not that her clothes were revealing or something, in fact they could be described as plain or boring, almost prude, but Kakashi couldn’t help it and stared at the tight turtleneck and the jeans like Hiko only wore a small piece of cloth. He was relieved when the song finally came to an end, but also a small part of him wished that the short woman would continue her dance, like most of the male population in the room.

“Yes!” Hiko pumped in victory her fist into the air, heavily sweating and panting, but with a wide grin on her face. “I won! I won! Nanananananaaaa!” She laughed when she saw the face of Obito. “Don’t make such a face! You nearly got me there!” Her words could be easily understood from Kakashi.

The Uchiha rolled his eyes and pouted. “There’s a difference in 2.000 points and you call that nearly? And you even scored over 15.000! Are you cheating here or did you trick the game somehow? Is it witchcraft?”

“Naturally it was witchcraft! I used my dark magic to confuse the counter and win, because I had nothing else to do than beating you with spells or other hocus-pocus. No my friend, only my unbelievable skills did the trick!”

The two friendly-battering opponents exited the stage and were immediately surrounded by admirers and fans, but the little flies flew away as the blue giant with dangerous tooth growled lowly at them. Also Itachi Uchiha, the older brother of his student, shifted his icy eyes on the worms around him, daring them to come closer. But the coldness of both men was forgotten in the moment they turned to Obito and Hiko. Smiles, warm and loving appeared at their lips (okay, on the blue giants lips, but the Uchihas face at least lit up a bit) when they looked at the small woman in the middle of their group. Kakashi only stared at the little circle and felt something that he thought had abandoned long ago, in the reigns of the SFU, not daring to build close relationships because of the dangerous nature of their work.

‘Close friends that would do anything for me, willing to come over in the middle of the night if some of them is in pain, understanding each other deeply and not caring about some little quirks or rough edges, taking you like you are. Without a second thought. Unconditionally.’

It was envy and a little spark of hope.

Rin leaned to him, forgetting about the unemotional behavior from the masked cop previously. “Thanks for bringing me here, Hatake-san.” Her brown eyes laid on the still pouting Uchiha, who but broke into a gentle smile when he saw the light in Hikos face. “However I believe we both have something better to do than wasting our time with each other.”

And for the first time in this night, Kakashi heard her words and nodded accordingly to them, staring at the _family_ in front of him.


	5. Needy wolverine

It was Monday and Kakashis stomach growled demanding. It was a pitiful sound, coming from the usual lazy cop.

His partner and self-proclaimed rival looked up from his computer, where Gai just worked on an overdue report. “No breakfast?” he asked and his voice swayed in sympathy.

Kakashi only nodded. He had overslept this morning and in his attempt to make it to the police station almost in time, he totally had forgotten to eat something. The moving took a toll on him, more than he wanted to admit. If he had some friends that would help him… But he had none, so Kakashi could only hope that this whole drama would end soon.

“Aah, my hip and cool rival,” Gai in his brightgreen uniform stood up and patted his partners shoulder, “I’m afraid that you have no time to buy something. Our patrol starts in a few minutes. Very unyouthful to begin a shift without anything to eat.”

“Can’t you give me a little bit from your lunch?”

But when the grey haired man saw the “hotblooded lunch of youth”, filled with a bizarre mixture of strangely smelling pills and a really scary deepblack curry that gave Kakashi uncomfortable chills, he smiled apologizing at Gai, who cried manly tears of joy at the opportunity to share his food with someone. “This isn’t much and you’re hungry too. So I will try to make it through the shift.”

“B-But Kakashi!”

“No ‘Buts’, Gai. It wouldn’t help either of us if you share your meal with me and end up hungry too in the end. So go on, enjoy your food.”

Immediately the Bruce-Lee-imitation screamed up, his fist raised into the air. “Yosh! As I expected from my eternal rival, always caring about the health of his partner! I will not fail you and even win todays challenge!”

All eyes in the main office were drawn to the happily blabbering man and the unnerved and slightly embarrassed Kakashi, sitting in his darkblue police uniform at the desk and hiding the unmasked half of his face behind his hands.

‘At first I was relieved that someone volunteered to be my partner when I entered the KPD again, but this guy is so utterly content and happy all the time… Maybe I should test him on drugs or something.’

Sasuke Uchiha, also in his new and shiny uniform, clenched into the formal police hat and tried to stifle a scowl. “Do we have to take him with us?” he asked his senior, who sadly nodded.

“We have no choice. But don’t be fooled by him, he’s one of the best cops of this department.”

“It’s a little bit…”

Kakashi sighed and stared blindly at his desk, ignoring the low rumble from his stomach. “Yeah, I know what you mean.”

 

“You could just… take some food. From the open kitchen.”

“Open kitchen?”

Sasuke pointed at the main door that leaded into the entrance area. “Take the small staircase at the left until there’s a yellow door. It’s a kitchen where you can cook or place your food inside a big fridge. Sometimes there’s someone who cooks food for everyone and just leaves it there, that the people who forgot to bring something are able to feast.”

Faster than he himself expected, Kakashi moved out of his chair and nearly run to the door, followed by the young Uchihas words. “Usually the food for everyone is in a blue Tupperware!”

“Thanks!” The cop speed through the impressive entrance, his thought directed at the possibility to eat. He ignored the confused stares of the ladies on the information desk and pushed hastily the yellow door open. Taking two steps with one move he climbed the staircase and heavily panting the cop entered the kitchen, luckily for him no one was in sight to stare at the slightly deranged man.

It was a nice looking kitchen, big enough for almost 15 people to be inside. A long working surface, made out of black granite and light hazelnut wood was stretching out in front of Kakashi. Two microwaves, a coffee machine and a heater were sprayed over the dark material, ready to serve any cop in need of a hot meal or drink. Also a large table where cops could sit down and talk with their colleagues was present. But the large fridge catched the masked mans attention, black and able to bury a whole man underneath him, the furniture stood proudly in the middle of the cooking isle.

Again Kakashis stomach grumbled like a big, furious bear. Pain grew fastly and with shaking hands the grey haired man opened the fridge.

            ‘This… Is… Heaven…’

He couldn’t believe his eyes. Food, from good looking vegetable to soups and shiny fruits, cheese and also meat, faintly evaporating a tempting smell, nearly dropped out of the loaded shelves. In his hungry state, everything looked like a generous god sprawled some glitter on the food, making it even more tempting to stuff everything into his uniform and hide in a dark corner like a wolverine and just wolf all of it down.

“Concentrate.” he huffed, his hands twitching and trailing over the delicious looking meals, “Blue Tupperware, blue Tupperware… Found it!”

Not caring about anything else, Kakashi ripped at the lightblue plastic and opened it hastily. Instantly a delicious smell filled his nostrils and he took a deep breath in, savoring the fragrance like a monk would contain holy water. His mouth watered when he stared at the bento: consisting of two thick sandwiches with salad, tomatoes, mayo and strips of chicken meat, neatly arranged and decorated with some plain rice and an apple, red and juicy.

“Then thanks for the meal.” Kakashi murmured silently before yanking eagerly his face mask down and digging in.

 

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Hiko was furious. No, she was not furious. It was a mix of rage, hate and the urge to murder that she felt towards the person who dared to steal _her lunch_! She stormed into the IT office, fuming at the thief and closed the door loudly. Itachi, Hinata and Shino looked up from their tasks, but only her superior could meet her eyes. “What happened?”

“Nothing.” she growled and grabbed her backpack. “I’ll be back in half an hour.”

“W-Why is Kobayashi-san s-so angry?” asked the shy Hyuuga, after Hiko muttered something about “damn bastards” and exited the office again, leaving three slightly confused colleagues behind. “S-she was happy w-when she left for lunch.”

Shino pushed his sunglasses up and nodded. “I can only agree. What could cause her to react like this?”

For a moment the Uchiha thought about the sudden change in his friends behavior. Then it struck him like a lightning and he waved at the young ones with one hand, while typing fastly a message for his cousin with the other. “I hope it’s not what I believe it is…”

           

_ChatRoom of the KPD_

_Private Conservation between: ItachiU. ; ObitoU._

_ItachiU. : Obito!!!_

_ObitoU. : wat_

_ItachiU. : Did someone ate Hikos food?_

_ObitoU. : wait a sec_

_ObitoU. : hers is the lightblue container right?_

_ItachiU. : Yes!_

_ObitoU. : its empty_

_ItachiU. : Exactly. She stormed off to buy something else. Find the poor guy and make him bow before her! If something like_ that _happens ever again…_

_ObitoU. : Maybe I should confess now…_

_ItachiU. : Obito_

_ItachiU. : What have you done??_

_ObitoU. : Nothing wrong! Absolutely nothing wrong, actually it’s for the best! Of course for the best of Hiko, otherwise I hadn’t told Sasuke that her blue food container is not off-limits… And maybe, only MAYBE he has given this information to someone else, who has no idea what he did…_

_ItachiU. : Spit it out. Who did you tricked?_

At the other side of the city, Kakashi sneezed loudly. He rubbed annoyed his itching nose and pushed Gais offered handkerchief away, while the blonde and raven student at the backseats of the police car whispered and stared wildly around. None of the four cops knew what was currently going on in the chatroom of the main office...

 

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_ChatRoom of the KPD_

_Main office: ObitoU.; GaiM.; KurenaiY.; AsumaS.; KakashiH.; IzumoK.; KotetsuH.; NarutoU.; SasukeU.; KibaI.; TentenF; ShikamaruN._

_ObitoU. : ok people we have a problem_

_IzumoK. : did your pen disappear again? I didn’t take it so don’t blame me_

_ObitoU. : worse_

_KotetsuH. : what could be worse than your tantrum?_

_IzumoK. : thanks bro_

_ObitoU. : someone stole Kobayashis food_

_AsumaS. : does she know already?_

_ObitoU. : Itachi says yes_

_AsumaS. : ok, no panic_

_AsumaS. : we all know what we have to do_

_AsumaS. : DON’T PANIC_

_IzumoK. : who was it!!?? I can’t take again three days with her crazy attics!!1_

_KotetsuH. : We don’t panic!! We’re running for our LIFES!_

_KurenaiY. : I swear this time it wasn’t me! I’ve learned my lesson!_

_AsumaS. : no one blames you. We just have to find the culprit and handle him or her to Kobayashi-san, so stay calm_

_ObitoU. : maybe it was one of the youngsters_

_ObitoU. : probably she would spare them (and us) if one of them was it…_

_KibaI. : what happened last time?_

_TentenF. : yes! She seemed to me like a nice person. Aren’t you overreacting?_

_KotetsuH. : SHE’S THE HARPY_

_IzumoK. :  at first we all thought it was a joke, when she told us that it wouldn’t be good for us if the thief wouldn’t show himself. But then for three days hell was loose in here. Every computer could break down any second and waste hours of work. The painters totally stopped working and the telephones ringed nonstop and at the other side was always a creepy voice saying: who stole it? And she has something against the chief in her hands, so he couldn’t deceive her to stop her evil doings. It was terrible_

_KotetsuH. : pure hell in his highest form. Still have sometimes nightmares from the monster voice…_

_AsumaS. : at the end everyone nearly stopped working but then the central lock was under her control_

_ShikamaruN. : I can see where this is going…_

_AsumaS. : she kept us all for two hours here, demanding to learn the name of the thief_

_KurenaiY. : then I presented myself to Kobayashi-san and she said that she did it only because I wasn’t honest IN TIME_

_AsumaS. : if she acts after her know pattern, she will give the thief 24 hours to speak up. We have to find him in this time and give the unlucky man –or woman- to Kobayashi-san_

_ShikamaruN. : troublesome_

_KibaI. : what a harpy_

_TentenF. : she still seems like a nice person to me_

_ObitoU. : Hiko IS nice, but don’t eat her food without her permission_

_IzumoK. : I will ask around in the other offices_

_KotetsuH. : share the work with me?_

_IzumoK. : sure man_

_AsumaS. : Kurenai and I will go to the crime scene and search for any clues. Obito you handle Kobayashi-san_

_ObitoU. : Alright! But don’t forget to actually search for something, you two ;)_

_KurenaiY. : OBITO_

_AsumaS. : obito…_

_ObitoU. : got it got it. Then I’m off._

_KibaI. : can I help? I’m done with my files_

_TentenF. : me too! I want to help!_

_ShikamaruN. : …I’m not done so don’t bother with me_

_AsumaS. : just accept any calls and say that we’re all busy. If it’s urgent or a major incident call one of us back to the office. You have now to fight in the front row, understood?? And no dozing Nara!_

_ShikamaruN. : troublesome_

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Hiko still fumed when she lined up before the cash register of the cute little café just around the corner, called “Sugarbomb”. It was a small, but highly recommended place and a lot of people loved the delicious colorful cupcakes, tartes and cookies that were sold here to a decent price. The shorty too, but today she was too immersed in her revenge fantasies against the mysterious person who was dumb enough to steal her meal!

‘I didn’t think that someone would actually do it again! After the last time of havoc I brought over the main office I thought they learned their lesson! Okay, calm down, no problem… Do it just like the last time and the culprit will be crawling to my feet and kiss them in order not to draw the anger of his colleagues on him. And if the unfortunate soul decides to hide I will give all of them the punishment they deserve.’

In her iceblue eyes shined an unholy light when Hiko placed the turkey sandwich and the fat chocolate chip cookie, as large as her whole hand, on the counter. She needed right now the sweet but slightly bitter dessert to avoid the mess she would create if someone asked a stupid question in her angered state. “And a big hot chocolate, with extra cream.”

The young man, in his twenties, with bleach white hair and incredible purple eyes behind the cash register smiled at her, before he recognized the visible frown on the females face. “Is everything okay with my favorite customer?” he asked and turned around to the coffee machine and prepared a paper pot for the hot drink.

“Aah, Suigetsu…” she reached to her always present black beanie and ruffled over the rough fabric, “You notice every little thing, huh?”

He laughed loud. “It wasn’t so hard. You were your anger on your sleeve, Kobayashi-san! So, what’s troubling you?”

“Someone stole my food and now I’m thinking about an evil plan to torture the thief slowly and painfully to death.”

“Slow AND painful? When you’re planning the death of a person you’re not holding back, just like me!”

“How could this unlucky one ever learn this lesson otherwise?”

“How can he exactly learn the lesson if he’s dead afterwards?”

“That’s the point! No recidivists, not with me!”

Suigetsu smiled and showed his sharklike teeth to Hiko. “I’m impressed. Never expected a shorty to be so bloodthirsty.”

“Don’t underestimate the power of a Napoleon-complex.”

“Never ever again.” He placed the steaming drink on the counter. The hot substance evaporated the slightly bitter but overall sweet fragrance typical for hot chocolate, topped with a huge amount of white cream. “So go on and get the unlucky fool!”

Hiko rummaged through her backpack in search for some money. “Thanks. How much do I owe you?”

Suigetsu raised an eyebrow and smirked. “Nothing. It’s on the house, but you have to come again in the next days and tell me what happened!”

“All the bloody details?”

“Especially the bloody details!”

 

Laughing Hiko exited the shop. As she walked down the street to the police station, she noticed that her mood had lightened from the teasing talk with Suigetsu. It was always like this. Whenever Hiko had a bad day, she would go to the “Sugarbomb” and chat with the young guy. His rude and sometimes almost violent nature was quickly forgotten when he saw an animal, like a cute kitten or a squirrel in a tree. That’s how Hiko meet him, sitting in the small valley behind the café and watching over a bunch of young cats, meowing and purring adorable in a dirty and ragged carton. Someone had thrown them away and together Suigetsu and Hiko brought them to an animal shelter. Afterwards the young man adopted one of the kittens, a sweet little ball of black fur and called it ‘Kuro’. From time to time when the shorty visited his working place, the barista showed her pictures of the fastly growing cat. Hiko wouldn’t call Suigetsu a close friend like Itachi, Obito and Kisame, but he was one of the many friendly relationships she build up over the years.

‘It feels good that he doesn’t know everything about me. Best friends are nice, but sometimes they worry too much, like at Saturday. Sometimes I just need a nice little chat without believing that the other tries hard to read between the lines.’

The female chuckled when she thought about the chaos that her behavior must’ve caused. Surely Itachi had texted Obito, who had texted the whole office and now they were working on finding the thief for her and all that she had to do was letting them work their asses off. The previous ‘Ten plagues-plan’ (that’s how Hiko called it) was a full success. Satisfied with the way it was going, she sat down in front of the police station and closed her eyes, nibbling on the turkey sandwich. “A bit dry…”

 

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_ChatRoom of the KPD_

_Main office: ObitoU.; GaiM.; KurenaiY.; AsumaS.; KakashiH.; IzumoK.; KotetsuH.; NarutoU.; SasukeU.; KibaI.; TentenF; ShikamaruN._

_AsumaS. : Has somebody found something?_

_IzumoK. : nope. No one has eaten the food, they all know what the harpy did last time_

_KurenaiY. : also no clues from the kitchen._

_KotetsuH. : we are doomed_

_GaiM. : YOSH MY YOUTHFUL FRIENDS_

_KakashiH. : what’s up?_

_ObitoU. : thank god you’re back. Gai you will be the decoy_

_GaiM. : WHAT_

_GaiM. : DECOY? FOR WHOM???_

_IzumoK. : for the harpy. She’s on the hunt again_

_NarutoU. : Kobayashi-san? Why?_

_GaiM. : NO! I just ended our feud by deeply apologizing to her and swearing I would never forget my password again! I can’t do this!_

_KotetsuH. : her lunch was stolen and we all know what happened last time…_

_KurenaiY. : except for the young ones._

_KakashiH. : …_

_AsumaS. : Sorry, we forgot that you are also new here. Kobayashi-sans meal was stolen and we have to find the culprit before she brings again havoc over our office. Have you seen anything? Anyone suspicious lurking in the kitchen and eating out of a lightblue plastic bowl?_

_KakashiH. : …Maybe?_

_KotetsuH. : WHO WAS IT!?_

_IzumoK. : WHO WAS IT ?1_

_AsumaS. : You have to tell us Hatake-san! It’s for the survival of the main office and the security of the whole town!_

_KakashiH. : Fine, it was me. I probably ate it._

_GaiM. : Kakashi!! You’re wasting your youth!!_

_ObitoU. : I don’t understand Gai right now, but I have to agree with him. Why did you do this?_

_KakashiH. : I was hungry and the young Uchiha said there were sometimes open meals in the kitchen, apparently in blue boxes. So I searched for blue boxes and found one. It was delicious._

_KurenaiY. : GREEN. The free meals for anyone are GREEN_

_KakashiH. : I don’t regret anything._

_IzumoK. : It’s not about regretting, it’s about kissing the harpys feet! Do it, the faster the better!_

_KakashiH. : Don’t wanna._

_KurenaiY. : You will apologize just like I did and you will buy her a new lunch like I did and you will lick the ground beneath her feet in the next days LIKE I DID_

_AsumaS. : exactly. Do it Hatake-san. It’s our only chance to live peacefully._

_KakashiH. : You make it sound like I’m the bad one here. She should have titled her food, like any decent person would do in an office full of hungry hard-working officers._

_KotetsuH. : DO IT HATAKE OR WE WILL FIND YOU_

_IzumoK. : WE KNOW WHERE YOUR DESK IS_

_KotetsuH. : AND WE WILL USE OUR KNOWLEDGE OF SEEING ‘SAW 1-7’AGAINST YOU_

_KakashiH. : You’re threatening me in front of at least five cops, you know? I could use it_ against you _._

_GaiM. : my rival, I also advise you to pay your respects to the hotblooded Kobayashi-san._

_ObitoU. : Just do it._

_KakashiH. : … Fine. Ma, calm down._

Kakashi sighed and ruffled his grey hair. Then he looked around. The faces of his colleagues were turned to him, most of them with a grim determination in their eyes, like they would drag him to Kobayashi even if it meant binding and gagging him. Raising his hands in a defensive gesture he stood up from his desk, still in his blue uniform and moved to the door. “Ma, I’m going now. Don’t understand what’s so bad about it…” he muttered under his breath when he set off to find the harpy.

Behind him everyone breathed for the first time since they knew about the food-theft and the whole office mood lightened immediately. Obito shook his head, but smiled inwardly.

            ‘Don’t rip his head off Hiko. He seems like a nice guy.’

 

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“Kobayashi-san?”

Surprised Hiko raised her eyes from the shining monitor in front of her and looked slightly amused at Kakashi Hatake, who stuck his head through the office door. “Yes, Hatake-san? Is something the matter?”

She knew what he wanted to talk about. There was only one reason why he would come down here to talk to her personally.

“I need you for a minute. Is that okay?” asked the cop to Itachi, his hands hidden in the pockets of his great cutted pants. The Uchiha just waved at him, his eyes glued to the PC.

Hinata and Shino also looked up when Hiko raised from her chair, pushing her glasses up the bridge of her nose, then following the grey haired man out on the floor.

“What do you want?” Hiko crossed her arms over the chest as the door closed behind her and waited.

            ‘Will he be the desperate type or the calm and collected one? I’m interested…’

“You see…” Kakashi ruffled through his already untamed hair and crocked his head, “Today I was late and like this I forgot to eat something for breakfast. I had also the patrol this morning and in the end, I ate somehow your lunch.”

“You were the culprit?”

“If you want to see it like this, yes. So… I’m sorry.”

“The others forced you to apologize, didn’t they?”

“You have no idea how I was threatened. The guys who stick like glue together-.”

“You mean Kotetsu-san and Izumo-san.”

“Yeah, these two. They said if I wouldn’t apologize immediately they would use their knowledge gained through ‘Saw’ on me.” The man smiled that his eyes curled in an adorable way.

Hiko chuckled and shook her head. “It sounds just like them. Their last experience with me and a food thief wasn’t really pleasurable for everyone. But it was all part of my plan, after all.”

Kakashi raised amused an eyebrow. “All part of your plan? You planned that the next time the cops would do the job of finding the thief and handing him to you?”

“Yes. This way I don’t have to deal with the hassle of doing it myself. Why chasing an enigma over and over again if you can coordinate the others to do it for you?”

 

He broke into a hoarse laughter that made Hiko shiver. Goosebumps crawled over her spine and she tried to stifle a little satisfied sign. But when his blinking black eyes set again on her figure, she was just as controlled as always. “Probably the best way to handle this matter without any stress. So that’s why you don’t title your food, you just don’t have to.”

“You got it. But I didn’t expect anything less from a former member of the SFU. So…” Mischief bloomed in the shortys eyes. “I believe, tomorrows lunch is on you?”

Kakashi still smiled weakly at Hiko when he waved lazily. “Yes. Another part of repenting my sins. Have you a special place in mind?”

“Nothing really. Your choice.”

“How is the Asian local down the street?”

“Sounds great. Meeting point is at 12 in the lobby. Don’t be late, Hatake-san!”

“My colleagues will prevent this for sure. See ya tomorrow.”

The brunette beamed at him, a slight flush on her face. “Yeah, see ya.” With this she turned around to the IT office, while Kakashi went the same way that he came, back to the main office to report his successful apology to his colleagues.

Hiko entered her bureau and was immediately stopped by an asking stare of Itachi and a stumbled question of Hinata. “W-what wanted Hatake-san f-from you, Hiko-san?” The shy girl seemed worried about her older female co-worker, but the brunette made a peace sign and beamed.

“Don’t worry Hinata-chan, everything is alright now.” Faintly humming and a strange warm feeling in her stomach, that she ignored rigorously, Hiko returned to her work. “And I told you already, there’s no need to use any honorifics. Just call me Hiko.”

“U-uhm… yes. Hiko.” mumbled Hinata and blushed.

Shino who worked beside her only stared at the PC, not bothering with the world around him, but Itachi who also seemed very immersed in his work, threw another glance at his friend.

 

_ChatRoom of the KPD_

_Private Conservation between: ItachiU. ; ObitoU._

_ItachiU. : All-clear. Hiko calmed down._

_ObitoU. : that’s a relief. \\(^-^)/_

_ItachiU. : You always had a thing for those stupid emoticons._

_ObitoU. : and I will always use them so come down from you high horse cousin. As I said, it worked, right?_

_ItachiU. : I’m still amazed that the plan of yours worked. Why exactly didn’t you tell me about this before?_

_ObitoU. : Right? In no time she will be happy with him and I will have nephews and nieces that will call me Uncle Obito (*.*)_

_I can’t wait for it! And I didn’t say anything because you would’ve tried to stop me._

_ItachiU. : Could you calm down a bit? They haven’t even met up yet and you dream about a family get-together. And naturally I would’ve stopped you._

_ObitoU. : you’re just jealous that the thought of pairing Hiko with someone hasn’t crossed your high mind, instead I had the idea, the sore loser of the Uchihas!_

_ItachiU. : I just want to prevent you from counting your chickens before they hatch. Maybe she isn’t ready yet for a new relationship._

_ObitoU. : Naturally she isn’t ready, but because she stops herself from being ready. She will never start dating again if we don’t push her to her luck and you know it too, just like Kisame! Even if Hatake isn’t the right person for her, he will help her open up to the mere idea of love_

_ItachiU. : I just hope that you’re right…_

_ObitoU. : Trust me. This week is my lucky week._

_ItachiU. : Because you got the number of the girl at the arcade?_

_…Why am I related to someone like you…_

_ObitoU. : OI! Don’t insult me!_

_ObitoU. : Itachi?_

_ObitoU. : Hey, Itachi!_

_ObitoU. : dammit_


	6. Eat or not to eat

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The lunch-apology and Kakashi convinces Hiko to buy a book.   
> You all know which one.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Man, I totally screwed up. This chapter was meant to be in between and somehow I got confused on the way and I just went on with the one after that...  
> Anyway, hopefully I can fit it still fit into the right place so that there's no more confusion (for me).

“And he’s late.”

Annoyed Hiko stared at the big clock above the heavy entrance that leaded to the outside. 5 past 12. She huffed and readjusted the black backpack over her shoulders. Today was a sunny day and Hiko wore a red top and a black button-down shirt over it, together with a normal blue jeans that ended shortly above her ankles and the typical pair of red chucks.     ‘Maybe it’s one of his many mistakes. First only late, then grumpy, messy, brutal…       The whole show. I already had this one time, I don’t need it again.’

The door to the main office opened and finally the grey haired cop stepped out. Slowly he made his way through the wide lobby, his face buried in a thin, screaming bright orange book. At the front cover Hiko could spot a laughing couple hand in hand running around. Kakashi didn’t seem to notice her, so she decided to ogle a little bit at his outstanding figure.

‘Even when I sworn off any love related things, I can still admire a good looking man after all.’

And he was indeed good looking and didn’t even try hard. His grey –or silver?- hair made him already fascinating, but together with his tall physique, the mysterious flu mask and the scar over his left eye, the lazy and aloof aura that surrounded him and the confident way he went through his life Kakashi Hatake was probably the most interesting man Hiko ever saw.

Hiko coughed loudly to catch his attention. The cop turned his head up and his black eyes searched for a moment the source of the disturbing sound, before they settled at the grinning woman.

She pointed accusingly at him. “You’re late Hatake-san.”

Carefully Kakashi marked the page with a bookmark (Hiko noticed that they even made bookmarks from this ridiculous book series) and placed it inside his leather jacket. “I’m sorry Kobayashi-san, but I there was a black cat passing my way and I had to take another route…”

“Do you actually think that I take that?”

“Hope dies last?”

She snorted and turned to the exit, not caring about her weakly smiling companion. “Is the book at least good? Because then I could understand your delay to some point.”

“Icha-Icha-Paradise is probably one of the best books ever written!” Kakashi followed Hiko closely behind, the hands in the pockets of his comfortable looking jeans.

“Better than Harry Potter?”

“…Yes.”

“You paused, so you had to think for a moment.” Hiko chuckled when she heard the huff from the man.

“You compare apples with pears! One is a fantasy-bestseller about a young boy growing up in a magical world, the other is a romantic comedy. They’re nothing alike!”

 

Outside the two people turned in sync left and followed the wide road, leading them to a culinary hotspot of Konoha, the third street. Restaurants with every possible food had opened their doors for the businessman and hungry workers that already filled the alley. Delicious smells that Hiko recognized as different spices trailed out of the booth stalls they passed by, in search of the small Asian restaurant called “Ichiraku”, still talking about their favorite book genres.

“I just believe…” said Hiko while pushing her glasses up, “that romantic comedies are quite outdated these days. The people want to read about the life, yes, but mostly life isn’t like those love fantasies. Dramas or thrillers are in the end the peak of the current market.”

Kakashi shook wildly his head. “But the people still want to believe that they can find the one true love and so they engulf the romances without a second thought. They want to _dream_.”

“They dream, but never find. Those books only poison your thoughts until you actually think that there’s this special someone out there. For myself I prefer other fantasy books with elves, dragons and magicians.”

Only after a moment Hiko realized what she had just said and the tone that she used. A bitter opinion about life, resulted out of the incident that destroyed her dreams and hopes from a few years ago. Embarrassed she turned to the cop beside her and scratched her beanie covered hair. “After all there are billions of people on this planet. How can somebody find his “one true love” in an ocean of humans? The typical search for a needle in a stack of hay.”

‘I can’t allow myself to get so relaxed like this. He isn’t a friend of mine, just a colleague, nothing else. Remember that you stupid thing, JUST A COLLEAGUE.’

Thankfully Kakashi had the decency not to peak into this matter any further. “Then you should just read Icha-Icha-Paradise. Promise, you won’t regret it.” He waved with the again present book and smiled. “Afterwards you come to me and tell me if you changed your opinion.”

“Oh, you will lend me your copy?” The shorty tried to take the book away from the cop, but he only raised it higher without any effort and let her jump up and down.

“Only over my dead body. They aren’t expensive, so just get into a random store and buy it.”

“Don’t be such a prick! Come on!” Again Hiko tried to snatch the book, but it was useless. Kakashi only raised the thin book over his head, not even able to read it anymore, but safely out of the short females reach. “It’s mine and I will never give it to anyone.”

“Man…” Exhausted Hiko stopped her attempts and pouted. Sweat trailed in cold drops down her spine and tainted the black shirt. “Why do you protect it so much?”

Carefully Kakashi lowered his treasure to her eye level and showed her the messy handwriting on the first page, always looking out for a new attempt from Hiko to steal the book. “The author itself signed it. I waited three hours in this line and it’s also one of the first copies ever sold. This masterpiece of literature is more worth than my salary of half a year.”

Her small fingers trailed gently the initials before retreating. “Okay, I can understand this. Maybe I will get a version. Look!” Hiko pointed at the small booth at their right side. “We’re here.”

 

“Hmm.” Kakashi looked in his usual uninterested manner at the stall and secured his Icha-Icha-Paradise in his jacket. Before him the shorty already entered and greeted the owner in a quite familiar way. “Hey! Teuchi-san! How is the business lately?”

The old man, tanned and with a friendly looking face turned to her and waved with his trowel. “Hello Kobayashi-san! Good to see you again! Like always, like always… But it will get better.” Then the eyes shifted to Kakashi, who just brushed the linen in the entrance out of his way. “You brought a new customer?”

She laughed that her whole body trembled and sat down on a stool. “No, it’s the other way around. Hatake-san will pay for me today.”

Said man waved at the cook. “Hi.” Then he also sat down and stuck his nose into the menu, quickly scanning all the listed food.

Hiko already knew what she wanted. “Ichiraku” was a ramen restaurant, but also prepared some other Japanese dishes like Yakitori or Miso soup. But the female craved right now for some Tempura filled with the wide range of seafood. She nodded at Teuchi, who immediately understood and prepared the fried meal.

While waiting for her food or her companion deciding on something to eat, she thought about the last night. Around midnight Hiko had worked her way through the last file of “Sabaku Savings” and had found nothing. To say that she was relieved that at least one bank was working properly in this town, not like other businesses, was understated. Her last hackings discovered more rotten fruits than she expected, for example at the offices of the town hall, were three old people had tried to undermine the authority of the local mayor. Or the two supermarket chains “Hozuki Market” and “24/7 Mu Buys”, that treated their workers like shit. In all those three cases Hiko interfered as her alter ego “ _tRuthseekEr_ ” and lifted the cover of the conspirators and reported the two bosses to the OSH control.

‘Thanks to the people who leave their PCs unprotected and their E-Mails deciphered I can clean this city off all the scum that crawls through the streets. But I still haven’t found my answer.’

From the corner of her eyes she noticed the raised hand of Kakashi, who decided on something to eat. “One beef ramen would be nice.” he stated and lowered the menu.

Teuchi turned to the man and nodded. “Alright, coming right at you!”

 

Hiko folded her hands and grinned at the cop beside her. “So, how’s the work in the main office? Quite a difference compared to the work of an elite cop, I suppose.”

“You have no idea. But it is rather relaxing, all the normal patrols and reports, the calls for missing cats and stolen purses…”

“You’re totally bored.”

“God, yes.” Desperate Kakashi covered his eyes with his hands, while the woman chuckled lowly. “If I have to listen to a housewife complaining about the noise that a few teenagers caused ever again, I swear I will murder somebody.”

“That’s not good. A police officer killing an innocent bystander, I mean.” said Hiko mischievously.

He nodded. “Probably. But it’s also not good when you lock the whole office behind thick doors and torture them for three days with crazy technological devices.” His eyes curled as he watched the woman faintly blush, not out of embarrassment but of some kind of angry satisfaction. “It had to be done. Otherwise they wouldn’t learn their lesson and it works still great!” she pouted.

“How exactly did you pull that stunt off? I talked with Gai and he said that the whole office was nearly down.”

Hiko reached up and tugged a strand of her brown hair behind her ear, but the wild curl immediately fell again to its original place. “It was quite easy. I’m already the administrator for most of the computers there, so I just used my power as the IT-nerd that I am. The painters and prank calls… Yeah, before I went to the police academy I worked as an internship in a programmers think-tank and I caught some tricks when I was there.”

Kakashi whistled impressed. “An abrupt change of careers, if I may say so.” He took off his leather jacket and revealed the thin darkblue pullover underneath and Hiko couldn’t help herself as to stare at his muscles moving under the fabric.

“Yes, but it was needed. The old job was compared to my current one even worse, with boring coworkers and a horrible boss. I was actually happy when I threw my resignation into this jerks face. Here I can work to my heart’s content with people that are interesting and funny on cases that are actually something _worth_.” She scratched her head. “Do you maybe understand what I mean?”

“Totally. Working for the people in Konoha, even if it is sometimes boring, is moving something in the city. Helping the people in some kind of way, protecting them.” Kakashi leaned relaxed back and Hiko imitated his posture.

 

Like this they talked while the two waited for their food and they found some similarities that surprised them. For example Hiko learned that Kakashi loved dogs just like her, but didn’t want right now one, because of his job and possible other things, like no time to care for the animal properly. Or that they both liked old movies, but he preferred the old action movies, while she loved the comedies. Even their humor was similar and more than once Hiko laughed because of the grey haired man who joked around in his usual laid back manner. It felt nice for her to just sit here and talk with him.

‘I didn’t think that this would be so much fun, not like the last time with Kurenai. She was so tense and nervous, but Kakashi can actually make me laugh. If feels like when I’m with Obito, Itachi and Kisame.’

Suddenly he snapped with his fingers and Hiko was thrown out of her mind. “You know,” stated Kakashi and blinked amused at her, “I saw you at Saturday. In the arcade.”

A wrinkle appeared between her eyebrows. “What? You were at the arcade? Why?”

“I picked up a woman and she wanted me to send her home personally, but on our way some children gossiped about two dancers and we followed them. I have to say that your dancing skills are outstanding.”

“Oh no!” This time she flushed heavily and pressed her face into the palms of her hands. Her voice trailed muffled to Kakashis ears. “You have seen that?” She felt the hot skin under her fingers and knew that her head must’ve looked like a gigantic tomato. It was always like this when she blushed.

Hiko catched the chuckle of the other. “No reason to be embarrassed. You danced in front of a whole crowd and were unaffected, but if I ask you about it you blush? Kobayashi-san, your image as the harpy gets some serious cracks right now.”

“Urgh, shut up!” she murmured, still crouched down and hiding. “It’s different. I never expected that someone beside my friends would see that, especially someone from work! How much have you seen?”

“Only the last song.”

Her answer was a deep and desperate groan. “Really? That’s just my luck, just _my_ luck…” Hiko banged her head slowly on the counter, but was stopped by a confused Teuchi. “Your meal is ready, Kobayashi-san…?” He placed a plate before her, full with fried seafood and as a side dish yellow rice. With an ugly red bruise at her forehead Hiko accepted the plate with a shy nod and reached out for a pair of chopsticks, while the cook gave also Kakashi his food. “One beef ramen! Enjoy your meal!”

“Thanks.” The man sniffed over the steaming bowl. “It looks delicious.”

“It is delicious! “Ichiraku” stands for quality and nice company while eating fresh hot lunch!”

“Then I will dig in.”

 

Hiko, still with brightred cheeks, pushed her glasses up and fastly started to devour her food. And Teuchi was right, the Tempura was indeed delicious. The crispy shrimps were still juicy and hot on the inside, just like the woman liked it. Unconsciously she moaned lightly around one bite that caused Kakashi to look up from his ramen. “This good?”

She opened her eyes and nodded, without turning to the man who had his flu mask not in his place. “Probably the best Tempura I ever had.”

“Hmm. I’m not fond of fried things, but…” He ogled suspicious her plate. “Could I have one bite?”

“Sure. In exchange some of your noodles?”

“Go ahead.”

Both took something of the others meal and gulped it down. Kakashi was the first one to speak again. “I must say that this Tempura is quite tasty.” He nibbled on the fried shrimp while Hiko nodded proudly. “Naturally! It’s Ichirakus Tempura after all! But his ramen is also still great.”

“Maybe I come here again and order some fried things.”

Hiko chuckled and bit into another shrimp. “Then take me with you Hatake-san. It was some time that I had so much fun with a guy from the main office.”

“And your friend Obito isn’t from the main office?”

“Obito is a special case. We are childhood friends, but then my parents moved to Suna and when I finished the academy there I moved back to Konoha. The whole time he, Itachi and I kept close contact and here we are. Still friends and going on each others nerves since nearly 25 years.”

“That sounds great.”

Hiko was surprised to hear the distant envy in the aloof cops words. She wouldn’t have thought that he would be envious over a long lasting friendship, but the life of the man must be quite lonely, in a new job and with the lazy attitude that stopped people from approaching him. Her blue eyes turned to Kakashi, showing concern and sympathy.

“You’re not a bad guy, Hatake-san. Next time when our squad moves out, you’re coming with us.”

The grey haired man stopped to slurp the rest of the beef ramen soup and blinked sheepishly at the shorty. “Are you sure? You barely know me after all.”

Laughing she winked at him. “No, but I have a good feeling about you. You’re funny, you’re confident enough to stand your ground and can take some insults. My friends will be easy compared to me.”

‘And I don’t want to hear your lonely words ever again. I know how it feels to be alone and I won’t leave a person like this unnoticed behind. I will get you out of your shell, promise, you masked late fool.’

Then she saw a weak blush creeping up his uncovered cheeks. “Thanks…” he muttered silently before he hid behind the bowl. Hiko smiled and a warm feeling spread in her stomach, leaving her comfortable and content. Just like when she was with her friends.

 

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“We will be late.”

“But you said you would try it.”

“I said that I would think about it, not that I would actually purchase this… This…”

“Masterpiece of literature? Book that outshines every other of his kind?”

“Originally I wanted to say ‘overrated smut’, but okay.”

Kakashi shook disappointed his head, while his black eyes laid on Hiko, who had a scowl on her face, Icha-Icha-Paradise in her little hands. “You don’t understand the greatness of it now, but I’m sure that you will after you read it.”

Hiko stared over the rim of her glasses at the tall man. “I will not argue about this matter in the middle of a bookstore. But fine.” She waved with the thin booklet and walked to the bookstore clerk at the cash register. “You will leave me alone when I buy this, right?”

Happily he followed her, his eyes curled in half moon curves that indicated a smile. “Probably. But there’s also the chance that I will bother you even more because I want to know desperately how you think about the book…”

“Oh god, what have I done?” Playfully Hiko pinched his shoulder and laughed when Kakashi whined a little bit and stared unbelieving at her. “I offer you magnanimous my friendship and then you drag me around, trying to convert me into a Mini-Me of yours!”

“I didn’t even start yet. Just wait for the flu mask.”

“Everything but the flu mask. Seriously, I would even color my hair grey…”

“It’s actually more of a silver shade.”

“Whatever, I would even color my hair _grey_ than wearing a mask the whole day. At first it would be fun, but at the evening I would be so grateful when it comes off finally.”

Kakashi crossed his arms while Hiko chuckled and payed for the orange book. “It’s not that I want to wear it. I’m just very sensitive when it comes to flying polls in the spring.”

“Aw, little Kakashi-san has a sensitive nose? Poor poor thing.” Smirking the shorty turned to the clerk and took the small bag and her change. “Thanks Shizune-san.”

But the usual friendly and out-going woman only flushed, before giggling awkwardly and throwing a brief glance at the cop in front of her, totally ignoring Hiko.

But he was focused on the brunette, who turned around and nearly bumped into him. “You just called me…”

“Kakashi-san? Well, why not?” Hiko beamed brightly at him, her whole face glowing in happiness. “We’re friends now! So you can also call me by my first name.” She was faster out of the store than Kakashi could proceed what just had happened and he had to run to catch up to the female, when he finally exited the bookstore, followed by the lingering stares of the raven woman.

“Wait a moment!”

Hiko stopped in the middle of the road, the white plastic bag with the infamous orange book in her hands and her black purse at her back. She waited for the cop and when he stood before her, not even out of breath, the shorty pushed her glasses up. “Are you not comfortable with me calling you by your first name? I can go back to ‘Hatake-san’ if you want.” Her voice was full of concern, but also hold a hint of uncertainty in it.

 

Embarrassed Kakashi ruffled through his grey –pardon- _silver_ hair and laughed hoarsely, what caused Hikos nerves to tingle again in pleasure. “I’m perfectly fine with this, Hiko-san. It just took me by surprise, I suppose.”

The shorty liked the way he called her name, like it was a rare candy that he didn’t get to eat every day, but only on special occasions.

‘A piece of dark chocolate at the cold morning of Christmas.

My god, are you being poetic here? Get a hold of yourself!’

“Then, Kakashi-san…” Hiko gestured him to follow her and started their walk back to their work place. “On a new friendship.”

She didn’t see that his black eyes roamed shortly over her body, before he shook sharply his head and chased away the dirty thoughts in his perverted mind, before the cop stepped beside the female.

 

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_ChatRoom of the KPD_

_Private Conversation between: HikoK. ; ItachiU. ; ObitoU._

_ObitoU. : so Hiko, how was your date? ;)_

_HikoK. : it wasn’t a date, it was compensation for my lunch, what you know exactly_

_ObitoU. : Oh come on! Hatake smiles creepily since you two came back from your break and sometimes he even stares at me with one of his oh-so-deep gazes_

_HikoK. : he actually told me in private that he is gay and fell head over heels in love with you. I encouraged him to go after you and probably he checks your body out now._

_ObitoU. : WHAT_

_ObitoU. : Hatake is also one of the rainbow inhabitants??_

_ObitoU. : didn’t know about it, but it makes some kind of sense…_

_ItachiU. : Calm down. She tricked you._

_HikoK. : and you still fell for such a dumb trick_

_ObitoU. : … and why he stares at me?_

_HikoK. : I invited him to our next meet-up_

_HikoK. : let me explain, I have a reason for this_

_ItachiU. : You have one minute._

_ObitoU. : yeah! Why did you do that!? We don’t even know him!_

_HikoK. : He’s a nice guy. Funny too. I believe he fits somehow into our group, EVEN if we don’t know him yet. I have this feeling about him, okay?_

_ItachiU. : Same feeling like back with Kisame?_

_HikoK. : yes_

_ObitoU. : no! you can’t decide everything like I’m not present and on a feeling too!_

_ItachiU. : Okay. I give him one chance. If he messes up…_

_ObitoU. : HEY DON’T IGNORE ME!!11_

_HikoK. : than he’s as good as dead, yeah yeah. (same threat like back then with Kisame and look what happened…)_

_ItachiU. : I don’t plan on breaking up with my boyfriend to fawn over an already divorced man._

_ObitoU. : I SAID DON’T IGNORE ME_

_ObitoU. : What? Divorced?_

_ItachiU. : Did a little research on him, just to make sure._

_HikoK. : stop that immediately Itachi. I seriously plan to be his friend and if he wants to tell us, than good. But no more researches on Kakashi, understood? We will not rip his secrets and privacy from him._

_ObitoU. : But divorced… I must say that my interest is piqued_

_HikoK. : No further investigation. He will maybe tell us if he wants to, just like I told you when I was ready. Accept it_

_ObitoU. : but but but_

_ItachiU. : Alright. No investigation._

_HikoK. : thanks. It means a lot to me. Bye then, I will be doing some actual work here ^^_

_ObitoU. : Oh come on! Don’t tell me I’m the only one who’s at least a little bit interested in this matter!?_

_ObitoU. : Hello? Aargh, stop always ignoring me! You always do this to me and it kind of hurts!_

_HikoK. : So yes, I’m interested but I also respect the privacy of a person. Now go back to work you fool_

_ObitoU. : That’s all I wanted to hear_

_ChatRoom of the KPD_

_Private Conversation between: ItachiU. ; ObitoU._

_ObitoU. : they are moving even faster than I predicted_

_ItachiU. : I’m impressed at your observation skills._

_ObitoU. : two cute nieces in frilly dresses and one strong older brother that I teach to protect his younger sisters… they will love their uncle Obito ~(*.*)~_

_ItachiU. : First they have to become friends and then there is still her trust issue. Maybe she isn’t interested in him this way._

_And your emoticons are annoying. Please stop this._

_ObitoU. : you are such a pessimist cousin. Just trust me. I have_ this special feeeeeeeling _about them ;)_


	7. The neighbor next door

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kakashi moves and Hiko reads. What should I say? I'm lazy.

“Finally. Everything is done.” With a satisfied sign Kakashi sat down on his brown couch and stretched his limbs out. From the hours of hauling heavy cartons from the moving truck into the second floor of the apartment complex his arms hurt like he did an intense training at the rowing seat in the police training rooms. The back of his head tilted until it hit the rest of the furniture and for a moment he allowed himself to rest, closing his eyes and relishing in the calmness of the flat.

‘If I would be still at my old flat, the kids from above would already stomp around and scream, while their babysitter would desperately try to discipline them. From the right only the faint smell of cannabis would crawl through and from the left the old man would start to knock on my walls because he still thinks that I smoke drugs, even when I belong to the police. Finally I’m out of this place.’

It seemed a bit surreal to Kakashi, to actually be out of the worn-out apartment that he inhabited for most of his life, to be exact since he started his police career. As a student the rent was cheap and the place acceptable, but over the years the landlord changed a few times and everyone raised the payment a little bit and gradually the environment and treatment of the flats became more and more worse.

Now the cop had a real place to live, not only some rooms with something to eat and a bed, instead he had a _home_. And when the new friends he acquired somehow (he didn’t exactly know how he managed to become friends with the infamous harpy, but was glad to be one) came over, Kakashi could… Yeah, what could he do?

‘When was the last time I met up with some friends? To have fun, to drink, maybe just chatting? Am I still able to do something trivial like this?’

Only two days ago he treated the shorty to the “Payment” lunch and talking with her was just as easy as breathing to him, but would it stay this way? Or would she one day wake up and decide just like his ex-wife that he was too boring, too immersed in his work and too unapproachable? But Hiko was also a cop and fascinated by what she did, so it wouldn’t end like this. Right?

 

Sharply Kakashi shook his head and chased the dark thoughts away. Hiko was totally different from the woman he had married in his youth, a dedicated police member of the KPD and an interesting personality, full of jokes and sarcastic remarks about the different officers. He still had the urge to smile when he thought about the details that Hiko spilled when they walked back to the police station, details that came from years of working with the same people, for example that Asuma Sarutobi, a chain smoker and the son of the previous retired mayor, and Kurenai Yuhi, a beautiful red eyed woman, were secretly together and tried to hide it from the office. But the entire crew already knew, including the chief, who approved of the relationship.

He chuckled lowly. “How did she call it? ‘The pitiful and useless attempt to conceal the obvious truth’, I think.”

Yeah, that was only one of her comments on the current situation in the office and Kakashi found it hilarious. Hiko had only little respect for the older and higher ranked people and she showed it clearly to anyone who dared to oppose her. After all she managed nearly every technical business at the KPD alone, despite Itachi Uchiha being her superior. But when someone earned her respect (apparently it wasn’t impossible) the short woman was extremely polite and earnest toward that person, so she thought and told Kakashi.      

‘I believe that her height taught her to be this bold and confident, but she isn’t reckless. She is daring enough to make her charming, but knows also her limits. They must be really wide though.’

With a lazy yawn Kakashi stood up and stretched for a few seconds. His joints cracked slightly under the movements and with a groan he rolled his shoulders who were tensed from the previous exhaustion. His plain dark shirt and the jeans were drenched in sweat, after all he propped the move all by himself, the ordering of the countless cartons, the transport of his luggage in a truck and the dragging of the furniture to the third floor with the help of some hired workers. Showering was now Kakashis top priority.

His stomach grumbled loudly.

Getting some food was right behind the hot shower.

Grumbling he stumbled into the shower and turned the knob to receive blessed hot water raining down on him and washing all the fatigue and sweat away. He stayed there for half an hour and just felt the droplets, but then his stomach got loud again and the cop stepped out of the shower and toweled himself dry. Only with a white fluffy towel covering his lower body, Kakashi walked into the small kitchen and opened the fridge. A cold breeze ran over his slightly wet skin and made him shiver, but he concentrated on the pitiful insides of the furniture.

 

“Great. Just… Great.” he mumbled. Some ham, an apple that started to rot already and some eggs, but nothing else. The silver haired man had used up all of his food to make moving easier, but now it was late in the evening and he didn’t know if there was a late open market around here. Over the stress Kakashi totally forgot to shop for some groceries.

‘I could go for some fried noodles with egg, but I don’t have any noodles… Okay, time to meet the neighbors and beg for the last ingredient. At least it isn’t the typical sugar.’

While dressing into another blue jeans and simple white shirt Kakashis thoughts circled around the inhabitant of the last flat on this floor. Genma was living right beside him but had left around noon for his shift and Konan, a blue haired calm woman with piercings, had the apartment diagonally opposite from his own. However, Konan only greeted him shortly while Kakashi had hauled some boxes into his apartment, because she had to go to work. So that only left the door right in front. His stomach grumbled again demanding when the man exited his new home, locked it properly and turned to the dark door.

 

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_The beautiful raven woman stepped closer to him and pressed her whole body against his. She leaned to him, her warm breath faintly smelling of the meal they shared ghosting over his face when she spoke._

_“I want you to take me.” Yoko whispered, her ruby red lips curved into a sinful smile. “I want you to take me right here, on this table until I beg for my release, panting and desperately grinding my hips against your unforgiving thrusts.”_

_Hiro gulped and tried to ignore the mighty wave of pure animal need that build up in him. Yoko was like a fallen angel, graceful like one of the blessed heavenly creatures, but just as calculating and seducing as a Succubus. “We… can’t,” he managed to say, “Your husband…”_

_“He is not coming home until midnight.” Her slender hands, able to hold a delicate crystal glass like it was almost too much for her, gripped hardly into his ass, what he quitted with a sharp hiss and a buck of his own hips. “The evening is still young sweetie. And I want it. I need it.”_

_Her lips found his and Hiro…_

 

Hikos eyes jumped hastily from word to word, eager to find out what would happen next. That this book would be this fascinating… She never had thought that “Icha-Icha-Paradise” could be so addicting to read. Originally the woman planned only to take a quick look inside, then throwing it into a fireplace and never think about it again. Well, the “quick look” took until now nearly an hour and Hiko managed to read through the first six chapters and she didn’t plan to stop now.

‘It’s like a bag of chips, you can’t stop until the whole thing is finished! God I hate this, but I also love it!’

The short female laid in her bed like a little girl writing into her dairy, the orange book in her hands and with her legs twitching subconsciously everytime the seductive Yoko played her trumps out, that would lead the male protagonist to the unavertable end of the evening: a round of mind-shattering sex on the table. Hiko only wore a short darkgreen hot pants made out of light cotton and a big black t-shirt that covered her body until the midst of her thighs, but just like the scene grew hotter and hotter, she felt the temperature inside her bedroom rise. Uncomfortable she shifted, but never took her curious eyes of the pages.

 

 _Creamy white legs spread in front of Hiro and let him reside in the space between, taking the delicate figure of Yoko even closer to his own, rock hard chest._ _She moaned into his mouth, a little almost desperate sound and her tongue dancing the pleasurable dance with his slick muscle suddenly withdrew. Then he felt her hands crawling over his naked skin and Hiro threw his head back when the siren clawed suddenly into his bare back._

_“Take me. Take me now.” purred the female and licked her bruised lips, “I can’t wait any longer. I need you to be inside me, your big cock fucking me into my oblivion.”_

_Unable to resist the call, the man ripped eagerly on his pants and tossed the cloth to his forgotten shirt on the ground, where it mixed with the shattered pieces of the previous intact cutlery. Only in his brief boxers that showed his big dripping erection off, Hiro pulled her upper body up and –!_

A knock on the main door woke Hiko up. Startled she jolted and hit herself in the face with the smutty piece of literature. It didn’t hurt much, but the smacking sound and the short sting of pain made her realize that she didn’t feel like this since…

Growling she shook her head and picked herself up from the bed. “Not gonna think about that little piece of shit.” she mumbled while walking into the small entrance area, the booklet still in her hand. She dropped it on the little table beside the door, concerned that the front cover was hidden under the daily newspaper. The one standing at Hikos door didn’t need to know that she was currently obsessed with a nearly-porn.

Another rapid knock sounded through the small flat, while Hiko unlocked the three security locks at the bottom, center and (with the help of a small step case) at the upper part of the door. “Yeah, yeah, no need to shit your pants!” she said, placed the step case again beside the small shelf for her shoes and opened the entrance with a weary sign. “Genma, if it’s you again bragging about me changing my Wlan-password, I swear I’ll-!”

But it wasn’t the firefighter standing at her doorstep, his right hand already raised to another knock.

Hiko stared for a moment unbelieving at Kakashi, who was just as surprised as her. Then she closed the door with a sharp sound and opened it again, only to be confronted with the silver haired man. Her eyes squinted lightly in suspicion as she stared at the tall figure in front of her.

‘Maybe if I close the door again he will vanish… Maybe this is all a bad dream and I will wake up, drooling over this stupid addicting book and curse myself for my overly horny mind…’

“Hiko-san…?” Kakashis voice clearly showed that he also hadn’t expected _this_. “You’re living here?”

“…Yeah, apparently. You’re the new neighbor?”

“Yes. But I didn’t know that you were…”

“Because I didn’t tell anyone beside my friends. This address is not even inside of my files at the station.”

“Aah.”

An awkward silence erupted between the two, the kind of awkward silence that was created by surprising and slightly uncomfortable happenings, like finding out that your new neighbor is your colleague who dragged you to a bookstore to buy a porn.

 

Kakashi was the first to recover from the shock. Weakly smiling he scratched the back of his head and tilted it to the side, not sure what to do next. “Uhm, originally I only wanted to ask for some noodles, you know, today I moved in and now it’s late and I haven’t purchased anything, so…”

For a split second, the shorty had to fight the panic crawling out of a long forgotten corner of her mind. She bit her lower lip and scanned the tall figure of her new neighbor, trying to make out what was his intention. Even when Kakashi seemed nice, even when he seemed like he wouldn’t hurt her, may it be intentional or unintentional, Hiko couldn’t win over her anxious and somehow also paranoid habits. It was an instinct and maybe she would never recover from this instant judging of a person.

But the silver haired man was safe.

Hiko pushed her glasses up and nodded. “You’re hungry. It seems that you always bother me when it comes to food.” She chuckled lightly when she saw his indignant expression. “I know, I know. Sorry, but it was just too tempting. Come inside, I will quickly fix something.” It was not easy to open the door wider, for Hiko it was like pushing a massive boulder off the ground, but with a lot of self-control she managed the feat.

“Sure? I don’t want to disturb you.” Kakashi ruffled over the back of his neck, his black eyes darting from the now open space to her face, over and over.

“You’re not disturbing. In fact I’m grateful. If you haven’t knocked I probably would had forgotten to eat at all.”

She gestured him to enter and with a hint of hesitation Kakashi stepped into Hikos flat, curious how it would look on the inside. “Possibly what would keep you so focused that someone who punishes every food thief in his reach would forget to eat?”

Hiko felt the asking stare of his black eyes and cringed inwardly while she entered her kitchen, aware that the cop sat down on her couch and observed the apartment with the experience of a former SFU member. Warily she asked herself what he would see. “Something that isn’t your business.” she grumbled and rummaged through her fridge and the cupboards, in search for noodles, some vegetables and eggs, also some chicken meat and spices.

“Maybe a special recommendation of mine?”

Her only answer was the loud clap of a closing fridge door. But that was enough for Kakashi to know what Hiko had done before. “So you did read “Icha-Icha-Paradise”. And you liked it.”

She heard the glee in his voice. With a defeated sign the female spun around and looked at the silver haired man, who had tilted his head over the rest of the couch and stared amused at her. “Fine, _maybe_ I have to admit that your book isn’t so bad like I thought and it has his own mysterious purpose in this world full of better written literature.”

“Right? Especially Yoko is interesting, her reasons why she seduces Hiro and her husbands doings-!”

“Whoa!” Fastly Hiko covered her ears, what wasn’t easy without dropping all the ingredients in her arms. “No spoilers! I’m only at chapter six!” Her iceblue eyes glared angry at Kakashi, daring him to spill any further details.

 

The man broke into a wild grin, not visible under his flu mask, but the curled eyes betrayed him. “I knew it! You like the story of the ‘overrated smut’!”

“…” She huffed annoyed, but also felt the blood creeping up into her cheeks. Yes, she had to admit that until now she liked the book, more than she wanted. After all it reminded her of all the things that she wasn’t able to do anymore, because she didn’t want to let someone to see through her whole behavior. Love and passion, those were the things that the female sacrificed to live her life again and romantic books would surely break down the defenses she build up.

Meanwhile the man giggled like a little school girl finding out that her crush liked her back. “Who would guess that the scary harpy would like romances?”

Hiko recovered fastly from her embarrassment and shot back. “Who would guess that a SFU member would read a porn with a story?”

Shaking her head, the shorty started to cut the vegetables into tiny scraps, but didn’t notice that the tall man stood up and moved closely behind her. So she jumped at his suddenly near, deep voice directly in her back. “Do you need help?”

“Jesus! Don’t scare me like that again!” screamed Hiko and placed her right hand over her fluttering heart. “You need a fucking bell around your neck or something!”

In his black eyes blinked mischief down at her, when the cop snatched a piece of paprika away from the board and fastly devoured it. “I’m just hungry. If I help it will get faster done.”

“Then take this…” she gave him a sharp kitchen knife and a board and pointed at an area a bit farther away from her, “and start cutting the carrots, you food thief. And damn, resist the urge to eat everything!”

“Sorry.” He chuckled while nibbling on a piece of lettuce. “It will not happen again, I swear.”

Hiko rolled her eyes and prepared a frying pan with the chicken meat. “I hope for you, Hatake. Remember, I have a knife and know how to use it.”

“Now I’m scared. But in order to stab me properly you had to reach my chest and you’re so small…”

A deadly glare from the shorty and a hoarse laugh from him started their full-out teasing. The whole time while cutting the ingredients and preparing the chicken meat, the two adults acted like little children, calling each other silly names and making comments about the others knife skills (“You have to hold the blade like you actually want to kill someone, not like a struggling fish hopping out of your grasp!”, “You call that a knife? This is a knife!”). The mood was light and Hiko relaxed in the meantime.            

‘I didn’t think that I could accept him so easily in my home, but I guess it’s okay. Because he feels like Obito, Itachi and Kisame. I also had no problems with them when they first entered my flat. So it’s only natural, right?’

But it wasn’t only that and Hiko knew it deep down. It was somehow nice to have the man beside her, like a wall between her and the outside of the world, despite knowing him only for a short time. He had this special aura that put her at ease, something that she deeply appreciated and liked about him. And the resolve to make him a friend grew only stronger.

 

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Kakashi was at first confused when he saw the short female at the doorstep, only in a too big shirt and a hotpant. He didn’t expect Hiko to be his last neighbor, but quickly arranged with the new situation. After all it would make befriending her even easier, right? And while they stood in the kitchen and exchanged insults, he felt something that he didn’t experience for a long time, so long that he needed a moment to identify that strange emotion.

Satisfaction. Simple happy satisfaction that he could be here and talk with the witty shorty and act like a normal human being.

‘If the others from the SFU could see me now they would believe that an imposter took my place. After all I never was like this with them.’

He chuckled at a comment from Hiko, who waved her knife wildly around, but never in his direction. It was relaxing to stand beside her, even more relaxing than hiding in a calm place and reading his beloved “Icha-Icha-Paradise”. Then he noticed something at her forearm, some black words with a lot of loops, tattooed into her white skin, unrecognizable with her fast and sharp movements. Kakashi pointed with the tip of his knife at her arm. “What’s that?” he asked, filled with curiosity.

“That?” The female nibbled for a second at her lower lip and stared at the tattoo, seeming uncertain if she should tell him or not. Then she shrugged and showed her arm to him. “It’s a line from one of my favorite songs. See?” Her slender index finger traced the black ink carefully, like the words were still fresh imprinted and could disappear any moment. “’I’m letting you know that you don’t control me, the feeling is cold and life is unfolding.’ The song is called “Erase my scars” from Evans Blue. It always meant a lot to me and on my twentieth birthday I gifted myself with this.”

“And why exactly those lines?” Kakashis interest was piqued but by maintaining his unemotional stand he reassured Hiko that he wouldn’t dig any further if she didn’t want.

“Around this time I was going through tough times. It wasn’t easy and I believe… I somehow believe the song helped me, dealing with those difficulties. And especially those lines helped me to pick me up from the ground when I was down. So there were the first thing that came to my mind when I decided to get a tattoo.”

 

Hiko threw the chicken meat into the pan and started to move them in the oil with expert motions, moving only with the minimal effort that was needed. Her brown hair curled around her face and her glasses fogged for a moment in the steam evaporating from the meat.

Suddenly Kakashi had the urge to show her his own mark. “I also have one.” Under her vivid stare he pulled the left sleeve of his t-shirt up and revealed a strange red tattoo that reminded distantly of a flame. “From the time in the SFU. Every member has one tattoo.”

Her lips curled slightly when she gazed at his biceps. “Does it have any deeper meaning?”

Kakashi let the fabric drop again into its original state and finished the last carrot. “It’s the same that my father has. He was also in the SFU and it reminded me of him, whenever I had a dangerous mission.”

The shorty nodded in understanding, but didn’t ask further and Kakashi appreciated her decision.

Silently they finished their tasks, the cop putting the remaining scraps of vegetables into the trash bin while Hiko watched over the meat, happily sizzling and grilling in the pan. The mood darkened a little bit, but Kakashi didn’t had the feeling that it was a bad thing. Instead they shared now something, a little weak bond that could grow, but also shatter just as fast as it was created. They understood now a tiny part of the other and it didn’t disturb him as much as he thought.

‘It’s so easy to talk with her, almost like we know each other already for years. And like this I also trust her, even if it sounds strange.’

“So…” Hiko threw the chopped vegetables with a lazy movement into the pan. “How did the moving went? Good? Bad? Something in between?” And Kakashi gladly accepted the light topic. “Not so bad. The moving itself was a hassle, with such many boxes and furniture, but after the whole furnishings were inside the flat, everything went as smooth as honey.”

“Are you already finished with unzipping all your belongings?”

“Mostly, only some of the stuff that I don’t need on a daily basis are still somewhere, but over the next week this will also vanish.”

“Great. Next time I’m dying from hunger I’m coming over to your home.” He heard the playfulness in her voice, teasing him to react the same way, but he stopped himself. Instead he said calmly: “I would like to.”

 

“Can you cook without burning the kitchen down?”

Hiko seemed unaffected by the simple statement, but Kakashi noticed a little crack in her voice, like she tried to hold her happiness back. Smiling at her suppressed emotion he watched her filling a pot with water and placing it on the stove, while she managed to stir the fried meat and vegetables the same time. “Mostly. But sometimes the food is… inedible, if I may say so.”

“That means?”

“Too much salt, too many spices, overcooked… Choose something, I have done it.”

With a snort Hiko tugged a strand of her hair behind her ear. “Then sorry Kakashi-san, but I will not risk a food poisoning only to taste your cooking. I’m a little bit amazed that you managed to stay alive until now.”

The cop ruffled through his silver hair and chuckled. “Thankfully there are deliveries and frozen meals that I can rely on. Plus my father sometimes calls me over to his house with a poor excuse and almost fattens me with his home-made cooking.”

He loved his father Sakumo with all his heart, but from time to time the parental warmth was too much. Since Kakashis mother died in his childhood days, the ex-SFU member stayed at home and raised the young boy with all his heart, teaching him about the ways of life. Sakumo was Kakashis idol from the very beginning and shortly after he entered the pre-school, the little boy knew what he wanted to do for his living: work as a police officer, just like his father.

“Sounds like he loves you.” The silver haired man couldn’t see Hikos face, but her tone alone told him that she was jealous. Why would she be jealous?

“I can almost hear your thoughts, Kakashi-san.” Surprised he jerked up, only to look in a weak smile of Hiko, who turned around to the kitchen counter and leaned now comfortable against it. Her thick glasses made her iceblue eyes even more expressive when she looked at him, sitting again at the grey sofa, a blue pillow in his lap. She rolled her head and sighed warily. “My parents died, I think, seven years ago in a car crash. But I never felt really bound to them, because they never cared about me. They covered my expenses for clothes, food and gave me a room to live in, but they were distant and cold. I’m jealous because you have a father who loves you deeply, deep enough to call you and asks for your help.”

Her expression became melancholic, but her lips were still curled into a weak smile. She looked like a very lonely person, standing all by herself at the counter and staring blindly into the air. In her plain black shirt and with naked feet the females stare returned to him and the sad face vanished abruptly, replaced by an amused smirk.

“Don’t pity me with your pathetic look Hatake. As I said I had never any special feelings for my parents, though I wasn’t really pained by their deaths. Besides, I have now my own family consisting of the whole KPD, like I’m the grumpy single aunt who comments always on the looks and behavior of the others, but secretly adores all her nephews and nieces. I wouldn’t change a thing about my current situation, because I like my life.” Hikos head crocked slightly to the right side, her chin propped in the palm of her hand. “And you belong to the family now, if you want or not.”

 

A mighty feeling clenched Kakashis heart, painful and happy at the same time. Painful because he really felt with the short woman and tried to comprehend the mere thought of a loveless childhood, of parents that wouldn’t care about him. And happy because Hiko thought of him already as a family member of her self-build group, despite the fact that Kakashi himself didn’t believe to be an open man. The Saturday evening came again to his mind and the quick sting of envy that flooded him when he watched the woman interact with her friends. The impression of the four as a family wasn’t wrong, in fact now he thought that the bounds connecting them were even stronger than he originally supposed. Slowly he stood up, his brain not properly working, but his body knew exactly what he should do now. He stepped to Hiko and watched her face switch between different expressions: curiosity, fluster and shortly but present, fear.

Careful Kakashi crouched down to her level and stared into her vivid expressly eyes, hoping that his words would convey his feelings properly.          

‘I was never good with speaking about my emotions, but I hope she will understand what I’m trying to say.’

“Hiko-san, I’m grateful that you think that I’m worthy of being a part of your family. You can’t know how much that means to me, especially after what I heard just now. I promise, I will try not to fail your trust in me, but please forgive me some of my many quirks and mistakes that I cultivated over the years. Maybe I can be something like a lazy unpunctual, but funny uncle, who gives the little ones bumps on their hands whenever they come too close.”

The woman chuckled lowly and poked suddenly his left cheek with her index finger. Surprised by the bold action he first didn’t know how to respond, but then she laughed and winked with blinking orbs at him. “Don’t worry about your quirks. All of us have some edges and bumps, especially the Uchihas and me. You are one of the normal ones, so you had to do something really drastic to outshine us. Remember, I’m the harpy, the crazy schizophrenic female demon who threatens her own co-workers to torture them if they forget their email-password ever again. Besides…”

Hiko spun to the stove and turned the heat off. The tempting smell that Kakashi hadn’t noticed until now of grilled meat and vegetables, together with the faint fragrance of noodles mixed in the shared living room/kitchen to a delicious scent. While she got two plates and cutlery out of the cupboards, well she tried. One cup was out of her reach and frustrated she crossed her arms and pouted. Finally she turned to the cop and continued. “Besides you seemed a bit lonely and I know this feeling very well if you can imagine. Nobody should suffer from loneliness, not even a lazy, perverted, unpunctual man with the tendency to build thousands of walls around him, don’t you agree?”

“If you say so.” With a low rumble in his chest Kakashi took easily the cup and stretched it out to her, a hidden smirk on his lips. “Here. You should consider a staircase somewhere around.”

 

With a sign she accepted the cup and smiled brightly at Kakashi. “Usually I have one, but I thought when I have a freaking giant standing in my flat I could bribe him to do it for me. And it worked. Thanks Kakashi-san.”

“No problem. But…”

“You’re really hungry, huh?”

A low grumble from the stomach. “Is this answer enough?”

“Fine, fine. Take your plate, I will be with you in a few seconds.”

And while Kakashi sat down on a little table in the corner of the living room, a white plate in his hands and watching Hiko, who flew through the kitchen and prepared the last things for their dinner, he felt for the first time in years accepted.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope Jirayia doesn't mind that I took the liberty to throw some snippets of his novels into the story...  
> xD  
> No, seriously. Somehow I really like the mystery that surrounds the Icha-Icha-series. Nobody knows what's exactly written in there, but everybody has his own little fantasy about them. For me it's definitely a cheesy romance novel with some sexual elements.


	8. This can't be happening

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Something to build the friendship... Nothing connects like pranks.

 

_ChatRoom of the KPD_

_Private Conversation between: HikoK. ; ItachiU. ; ObitoU._

_HikoK. : ok, my friends, guess what happened yesterday?_

_ObitoU. : Uuh I love this question_

_ObitoU. : you’ve won the lottery_

_ObitoU. : you got a puppy_

_ObitoU. : you killed somebody and sacrificed the poor beings soul to satan_

_HikoK. : I love how your assumptions go from lucky and sweet to bloodthirsty and cruel. But no._

_ObitoU. : then tell us! >:( _

_HikoK. : it’s about my new neighbor_

_ObitoU. : so someone took the flat? What is the matter with him?_

_HikoK. : it’s someone from the police station_

_ObitoU. : What?? Who? Who is it??_

_HikoK. : guess who_

_ObitoU. : obviously it’s the chief. I mean, he and Konan are together and probably he wants to be near her_

_HikoK. : good choice, but nooooo. Next try_

_ItachiU. : It’s Hatake._

_HikoK. : how did you know that?_

_ObitoU. : WHAT? Hatake??_

_ItachiU. : I overheard him this morning talking with his overly enthusiastic partner about the convenience of having you as a neighbor. You also cooked for him?_

_ObitoU. : You cooked for him?!?_

_HikoK. : calm down Obi. And yes, I cooked for ME and him. Nothing else._

_ObitoU. : and I had to beg deeply for your cooking… ;(_

_ItachiU. : Are you alright? He better didn’t try anything._

_HikoK. : We threatened each other with knifes and bad puns, but this was everything. Don’t worry my overprotective big brothers, he was a complete gentleman. Not even his eyes were trailing somewhere where they shouldn’t be, and I wore hot pants_

_ObitoU. : is it okay for you that he lives just across the floor? I mean…_

_HikoK. : I will gift him with earplugs, don’t worry. ;)_

_ItachiU. : The idiot is right Hiko. Are you alright with being so close with someone else? What if he finds out?_

_HikoK. : are you blind? EARPLUGS_

_ObitoU. : first, I’m not an idiot. Second, we just worry about you. And earplugs won’t solve this matter if he’s curious enough to snoop around. I know that Nagato was so kind to not wrote that down into your personal file, but…_

_HikoK. : I appreciate your worries, but it’s alright. Everything is fine, I swear. And it’s not like I will sink into depression because of_ that _. Just a little vacation and the matter is solved for the next year._

_ItachiU. : If you really believe that._

_HikoK. : yes. I do. Now I have some work to do, in opposite to you shit-chatters ^^ See ya!_

_Private Conversation between: ItachiU. ; ObitoU._

_ObitoU. : It gets better and better! Now they’re also living right beside each other! Even the universe itself wants it!_

_ItachiU. : was this everything you wanted to brag about? I have some serious work to do._

_ObitoU. : ooh, is there someone grumpy?_

_ItachiU. : Some time I will copy and paste this whole conversation and send it to Hiko and Hatake, then I will be satisfied._

_ObitoU. : you wouldn’t do this! We’re family!_

_ItachiU. : Most of murderers choose their first victim in their close environment. Why shouldn’t I do it the same way with a much less serious “crime”?_

_ObitoU. : ok ok ok… *sign* then I will just write with Rin-chan…_

 

_Private Conversation between: HikoK. ; KakashiH._

_KakashiH. : Yo_

_HikoK. : hi. What’s the problem?_

_KakashiH. : Why should I have a problem?_

_HikoK. : Usually people only message me when they have a technical problem. So…_

_KakashiH. : … the printer is going crazy…_

_HikoK. : and?_

_KakashiH. : Everyone is too scared to call you and then Gai ratted me out and they begged me to message you about this_

_HikoK. : ^^ I’m there in a few minutes_

Kakashi leaned back into his chair and turned to the audience that gathered around his desk while he had texted Hiko-san. “She will be here in a few minutes.” he informed the members of the main office.

A deep relived sign wandered through the crowd. Kotetsu and Izumo bumped their fists together, Asuma smiled weakly at Kurenai and Naruto raised his hand to a high five, but Sasuke only rolled his eyes.

Obito, too concentrated typing something with his cellphone until now, looked up when the bunch of people again descended to their own desks, patting on each other’s shoulders and in a very light mood, compared to their angst expressions a few minutes ago. “What’s going on? Did I missed something cool?” he asked Kiba, who sat down beside the Uchiha.

“Na, just that Hatake-san messaged Kobayashi-san about the crazy printer.” The boy pointed at the device, who seemed like it puked countless of empty papers in a cacophony of beeping and screeching sounds. “She said that she wanted to solve the problem.”

“Hey, why had Hatake the pleasure? I’m her best friend, you know?”

“It doesn’t seem like it. She always insults you somehow…”

“Those are friendly insults, _friendly insults_!”

“And you complain about her…”

“Because she is my best friend! Naturally she has some traits that annoy the hell out of me, but she feels the same way about me!”

Kiba tilted his head. “You two are really… friends?”

Obito growled lowly. “Yes. Or else why would I insist so much on this simple fact?”

“Whoops, sorry man!” The brunet dog lover raised his hands defensively and laughed. “Guess next time we will ask you!”

“Hush! No, just ask him.”

Obito had a massive brain wave. When Hatake would always message Hiko whenever a technical problem occurred, they would obviously get closer, right? After all contact was needed if deeper feelings than friendship wanted to grow! He waved at his junior, who was totally confused at Obitos attics. “Nothing, nothing Inuzuka. Just keep it this way. Actually I have something to do in the upper levels, so hold my ground here, okay?”

The student saluted jokingly. “Yes, sir!”

Inwardly snickering the Uchiha left his desk and his student behind, ready to play some little pranks on his colleagues.           

            ‘I just have to make sure that all of them go to Hatake…’

 

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_ChatRoom of the KPD_

_Private Conversation between: HikoK. ; KakashiH._

_KakashiH. : Good job with the printer_

_HikoK. : thanks, but that was in fact not worth of praise_

_KakashiH. : Too easy?_

_HikoK. : indeed_

_KakashiH. : But you saved my eardrums from some serious damage. One minute longer and my ears had started to bleed_

_HikoK. : yeah, those error warnings can get a bit annoying :)_

_KakashiH. : Maa, Kotetsu just came to me. He has some trouble with his programs at his PC…_

_HikoK. : already on the run_

_(…)_

_KakashiH. : And? Something serious?_

_HikoK. : no not at all. Only a stupid prank from someone. Whenever Kotetsu wanted to browse through the web, porn-websites would pop up. A quick scan and case closed._

_KakashiH. : Who would do this?_

_HikoK. : besides the IT? You would wonder about the pranks wars we have here. Some of the administration office and even the pathology can be quite creative when it comes to pranks, but you don’t want to catch Orochimarus attention._

_KakashiH. : Why?_

_HikoK. : wait, I took a picture of this…_

_HikoK. : *pic*_

_KakashiH. : … Is this what I believe what it is?_

_HikoK. xD What do you believe then?_

_KakashiH. : It’s a skull. In the fridge upstairs. And there are still blood stains on it._

_HikoK. : Don’t worry, afterwards the skull was returned to the rest of the body ^^_

_KakashiH. : I will never go down to their lab. God, the lunch…_

_HikoK. : Nagato forbade Orochimaru to use parts of corpses ever again in his pranks, but I suppose he doesn’t cares about something like this. I only wait for the next morbid discovery_

_KakashiH. : Hopefully I will not be the one to find it ;)_

_And sorry, but now Kurenai wants something. Her password was changed by someone._

_HikoK. : mhmmm… strange… Tell her that I will be there in a minute_

_(…)_

_HikoK. : something is fishy here_

_KakashiH. : Because?_

_HikoK. : it’s not because the way_ how _it happened, but that_ it _happened in general is strange. Most officers don’t have the intel or the nerve to change the password and all of them know that I would rip them apart if I find out who it was, because it’s not funny anymore when the work gets disturbed by this._

_KakashiH. : remind me to never anger you_

_HikoK. : you will soon learn my triggers, everyone did ;)_

_KakashiH. : uuhm…_

_HikoK. : don’t say it. Please, just keep quiet and deny that you know me_

_KakashiH. : This time it’s Asuma. He don’t want to tell any details to me, but he fumbles with his lighter everytime I try to get any info_

_HikoK. : huuuuuh… I fly already_

_(…)_

_KakashiH. : What would cause the most serious officer in this office to nervously stutter around?_

_HikoK. : revealing nude photos from some porn-stars with the head of Kurenai montaged on every single one. I didn’t know that some positions like these_ existed

_KakashiH. : Icha-Icha-Paradise has also some interesting ones…_

_HikoK. : I already said it, I sue you if you spoiler me_

_KakashiH. : Now I’m scared ;)_

_HikoK. : better be…_

_However, I’m currently more interested in the prankster. He took quite some effort to search and manipulate 9 pictures._

_KakashiH. : Any clues? Maybe I can help._

_HikoK. : first, he or she is creative with his jokes, second he also knows about the weak point of Asuma, third he also knows the exact time when Kurenai leaves her desk every day to get something from the snack machine in the lobby. It must be someone from the main office._

_KakashiH. : And he must also leave his own desk to play all the pranks. I will watch out for someone._

_HikoK. : thanks. I owe you one_

_KakashiH. : Repay me with some of your food. Yesterdays was delicious._

_HikoK. : oh god, not another of this kind._

_KakashiH. : ^^ then good luck with your work_

_HikoK. : just catch that idiot for me_

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With hawk eyes Kakashi watched the busy office, his face hidden behind the orange cover of his favorite book. Sometimes it was rather effective to pretend to read, then others doubted his attention and started to act more aggressively. A trick that he perfected in his times with the SFU. And today it was also helpful. Kakashi had already a suspect, but the motive of Obito Uchiha wasn’t clear to him.   

‘Why? Why does he works so hard to bother Hiko? Aren’t they friends? Did something happen, maybe they had an argument? But about what? I don’t have an idea…’

The raven Uchiha was currently busy working at the same time on a report about a thief that was captured and writing messages on his cellphone, grinning wildly whenever he got an answer. The man seemed the most time like an earnest and modest member of the Konoha Police Department, but even he had a rather childish side, when his pranks were an indication for this.

Kakashi watched him for another minute, before Obito stood abruptly up and handed his brunet student the keyboard. The cop decided to follow the utterly happy man and silently and with all the stealth he could muster, he walked in some distance behind the other. Meanwhile his thoughts drifted again to the purpose.

‘Maybe Hiko-san met someone and he can’t accept the other. This makes some sense when I consider the strong bounds between them. They are more like brother and sister than like friends. I guess Itachi is of the same caliber, but even more frightening. The problem with him is that I can’t evaluate his actions.’

Obito vanished inside a small stall. On the metal door were the thin silver letters: “Server Room”. The silver haired man, with his one hand in his pockets, the other still held “Icha-Icha-Paradise” before his eyes, tilted his head, sighed annoyed and putted the book inside his leather jacket. Then he slowly opened the door and slipped into the room as silently as a ninja.

The room was filled with typical big Server-stations, the obligatory chaos of cables and weak breeze of fans cooling the always working machines down. In the middle stood Obito, his back facing Kakashi, silently mumbling something to himself, while struggling with a knot of red, green and blue wires, all connected to the biggest Server here.

 

Kakashi tapped lightly his shoulder. “Yo.”

With a high-pitched scream like the one of a little girl the Uchiha jumped, dropped the mess in his hands and fell to the ground, clutching into his shirt. “Shit!” He wriggled around until he faced the man above him and glared at Kakashi who smiled his infamous curled-eyes-smile. “What was that for?”

“I was interested why you would play all those pranks, so I followed you.” A silver eyebrow was raised. “After all the main sufferer was Hiko-san and you two are friends.”

Obito dragged himself into a sitting position and crossed his arms. He looked like a little kid who was catched stealing a cookie from the jar: guilty, but with a glint of mischief in his eyes. “That’s none of your business.”

“It is, since she asked me to catch the idiot for her.”

“Fine, you got me. Drag me to hell, I don’t care.”

Kakashi kneeled before Obito and dropped suddenly his smile. “I want to know why you did all this. Aren’t you two friends? What would be important enough to disturb the order in the main office with your little childish plays and hinder Hiko-san to work properly?”

Obito stuck his tongue out. “You wouldn’t understand even if you tried. We are still friends and my pranks are for me a way to convey my feelings to her. Lately she seemed a bit down, but you can’t notice the little signs now, Hatake. It’s my way of cheering my sister up.”

The pairs of eyes met. Calm fury collided with defiant wit until the fury softened into understanding and the defiance melted away.

Obito slapped his knees, while Kakashi got again on his feet and stretched his hand out to help the other up. “Thanks man.” mumbled the Uchiha. “So, you’ve also fallen for her charm, huh?”

At Obitos words the silver haired man scratched slightly uncomfortable his neck. “What? No…”

“Not like this!” The raven shook smiling his head. “You’re such a scaredy-cat! And you belonged to the all high and mighty SFU?”

“Maa, your words were just extremely misleading…”

Obito waved teasingly at the other. “I didn’t mean it like you thought. Hikos charm is her cheerful and accepting personality, dragging someone out of his isolation even if the person struggles with all his might. She likes to help people and therefore the people help her if she needs something. And sometimes, the person she has chosen will try to protect her from any harm, despite her outward strength and endurance. It was like this when I met her, when she met Itachi, hell, even my cousins giant boyfriend would do everything for Hiko! Thus, I said that you’ve fallen already for her charm, protecting her from her other friend.”

 

Kakashi blushed a bit at the clear and straight forward words of Obito, but he tried to hide it. Flustered he turned to the door, already in his lazy crouched posture. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I only helped her out because she asked me to, nothing else.” he mumbled.

“Try to deny it, but your secret is safe with me, Hatake!” Obitos words echoed in Kakashis mind, still hours after he ratted him out to Hiko, who chased the fleeing Uchiha through the main office and cursing him for playing all those pranks.

With a little smile he watched her and he noticed a happy glim in her eyes and a hint of friendliness in every insult she spit. Just like Obito showed his love for his sister in a strange way, Hiko returned her love with the same amount of strangeness. They were like children, living in the present and not caring about the adult officers who stared bewildered at the two wildly runners hopping over desks and screaming around.

‘Can I become also like this? Freely laughing and not caring about the consequences? Showing my feelings in the same way, openly but hidden for the others?’

Kakashi sighed warily and opened “Icha-Icha-Paradise” with a resolute gesture.


	9. Scarecrows won't falter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The squad meets up.   
> (I'm really bad with summaries, a thing which only dawns now on me...)

“Tomorrow I, Obito and Itachi want to meet up again. Want to tag along?”

Surprised at the sudden offer Kakashi raised his eyes from the plate of Entrecote. “You’re sure about that? I don’t want to disturb you three.”

Hiko huffed annoyed. “I already said that I would drag you with me the next time, Kakashi-san, so stop worrying about disturbing or bothering us.” She nibbled on a piece of self-made bread while glaring at him. “Do you think I would trick you like that, first promising something and then saying: “Fuck you, now I changed my mind!” Let me declare this once and only once for your deaf mind. I will always keep my word. No matter who I gave it to.”

Chuckling the silver haired man raised his hand in defeat. “Alright, alright. Then thanks for inviting me.”

The two adults sat in Hikos flat and enjoyed a previously cooked dinner. One week after they found out that they lived on the same floor, it became a daily occurrence that Kakashi would knock in the evening at the females’ door and beg for something to eat and she would grumpily let him in, already preparing a meal for both of them. Their friendship grew fastly under the constant proximity and Hiko started to tease Kakashi like she teased her close friends, what made him extremely happy. But he wouldn’t show his feelings to the shorty and mocked back, what quitted the woman mostly with more comments, hoping to get a reaction out of the calm man (she never succeeded).

Hiko shook her head and rolled her blue eyes while finishing her meat off. “Better not thank me yet. We’re actually four and the other three act like overprotective brothers. Just remember: don’t ask about Obitos new crush, Itachis obsession with creepy paintings or Kisames skin, then you should be fine.”

“Or else?”

“Your corpse would never be found again.”

“I would like to see them try,” mumbled Kakashi and chewed on a mouth full of rice, “in the end I’m a special corps member and more skilled than these three.”

“But it’s three vs. one.” said Hiko with a low chuckle. “And you don’t know their skills. Actually Itachi has the brown belt in various martial arts, Kisame did Mixed Martial Arts ‘till he was seventeen and Obito…” She felt silent and poked the vegetables on her plate. Then she looked over the rim of her glasses. “Well, he is Obito, surprising and… uhm… Somehow skilled in his own ways…” She stuttered and then decided it would be for the better to shut up.

“What? He can’t do Jiu-Jitsu or Karate or some foreign ninja arts which could kill me instantly?”

 

Hiko ignored Kakashis mockery and took another piece of bread. The smell of the bakery had filled the whole flat that she decided to open the windows a bit. Fresh clear air breezed over them, while they sat at the small table in the corner, Hiko always endeavored to not throw a quick glance at his face. Despite that he spent nearly every evening in her flat, she didn’t want to pressure him into revealing his face, so she respected his privacy and kept her eyes locked on her plate whenever the cop loosened the straps of his flu mask.

The shorty crossed her legs on the chair and devoured the bread. Meanwhile her companion leaned back and grunted satisfied. “Thanks for the incredible food.” He tugged his flu mask back into its rightful place and ruffled through his untamed silver mane. “It gets harder with every meal to pay you back, you know?”

“What? Pay me back?”

“You’re doing so much for me as a friend and I feel a little bit… Like a parasite.”

Hiko laughed at Kakashis slightly embarrassed expression. “Yeah, you’re a goddamn parasite. My gosh, Kakashi-san, don’t you think I would say something if your constant visits would be a nuisance to me? They are not. I love to cook for others, especially for my friends.” She stood up and stretched for a moment, before she pushed her glasses up and glanced at the man, like a kind mother would look at her child with a little injury. “I believe that spending time with your loved ones is more worth than money or presents. If you’re satisfied and leave my flat with a grin and a filled stomach, than I will also be happy! So you don’t have to “Pay me back”. Besides, I kind of got accustomed to our discussions.” 

The shorty took both their plates and walked into the kitchen. The winered sweatpants that were too long for her legs brushed the white tiles and the black turtleneck sweater fell loosely around her figure while she placed the cutlery in the dish washer. “So, did anything happened today in the main office?” she asked, brushing her brown hair out of her face with a lazy gesture.

“Nothing, really. Only the typical bunch of pocket pickers, parking violators and rude teenagers, who sprayed some obscene words at a wall.” Kakashi sighed and shifted his position that he could look at the female. Resting his chin on the back rest of the wooden chair he smiled at her. “How was your day?”

“Similar to yours. Only one of the secretaries, a loud and somehow annoying girl with red hair, came to us today and wanted me to hack into a PC. Obviously I turned her down, but she was so agitated by my declination that I wanted to call the security.”

“Who was the poor target?”

“Funny thing… Actually it was your desk.”

 

Kakashi jolted up. “What?” he asked in a fearful voice. “I don’t know someone with red hair! Hell, I don’t even know one of the secretaries by name!”

Hiko chuckled at his panic. “Calm down, calm down. It seems that she is after your student, not you. She spied at Sasuke and saw him at your desk, so she mistook it for his.”

Theatrical he wiped some sweat drops from his forehead. “Don’t scare me like that! For a moment I thought I had a stalker, that’s not funny!”

“Your expression was absolutely hilarious!” Laughing Hiko ducked behind the kitchen counter and muffled her giggle in her hand. “The pure fear in your eyes! The desperation!”

“Hiko-san…” Growling Kakashi stood up and stomped towards the helpless snickering woman, who was slumped down on the cold floor. The cop kneeled down beside her and threw a murderous glare at the laughing shorty, who burst into another laughing fit when she saw him. “That wasn’t funny. Shame on you.”

“N-n-no… Please st-stop… My stomach h-hurts…”

“I nearly had a heart attack! It was even worse as when I napped here and you woke me up with one of your Zombie movies!”

A new wave of giggle crashed into Hiko and she gasped for air, unable to stop herself. Alone the memory of the sleepy Kakashi jerking suddenly and falling of the couch he had slept on, when his ears catched the sound of a chainsaw cutting through a screeching undead was worth a laughing fit. “Don’t… Please don’t re-remind me! Best m-moment of my l-l-life!”

“Best moment of your life? Scaring a defenseless man nearly to death? You’re cruel Hiko-san…” pouted Kakashi and crossed his arms. “The nickname ‘harpy’ fits you.”

She nodded, tears flowing down her cheeks and drying in her curly brown hair. “Y-yes… I’m so n-not s-sorry Kakashi-san. Not sorry…”

Slowly her laughter died down, interrupted from a few hiccups and sniffles. The man sat beside her in the kitchen and watched the female recovering. His mask hid the smile that had formed on his mouth, a small tug at his lips while he leaned against the kitchen counter, the hands lazily draped over his long legs.

            ‘Hopefully interacting with her other friends is just as easy as with her…’

 

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“HI-CHAN!”

Kisame opened the front door to his and Itachis house full of energy and embraced the small woman in a bone-crushing hug. “I missed you so much!”

Hiko hugged him back, while Kakashi stood awkwardly beside them, a huge food filled basket in his hands. “God sharky… Only two weeks and you have the urge to crush me?”

Beaming at the shorty the fisher let her down and scrubbed the back of his neck. “Because you’re so sw-!” Then the small eyes of Kisame set at the silver haired man and his bright smile was replaced with an asking stare. “Who’s that?”

“That’s Kakashi Hatake, also a cop at the KPD and my new neighbor. Originally I messaged Obito and Itachi about him, so I assume they didn’t tell you?”

“No.” The blue giant inspected the other man suspiciously before stretching his big hand out. “My name is Kisame Hoshigaki, owner of the fishing shop “Hook ‘em” and of the small shipping company of the same name. Nice to meet you.”

“The pleasure is mine.” Kakashi, visibly shifting uncomfortable under the glare of Kisame, smiled warily at the other. “But I’m sorry that I can’t shake your hand, they are currently occupied otherwise…”

“I see. Then I will take this.” With ease the giant took the basket and took a quick peek inside. Then he beamed brightly at the shorty, exposing in the process his sharp teeth. “Do I smell salmon in here?”

“You’re getting rusty. I have also purchased shrimps and the little delicate crabs you like so much.”

Kisames creepy smile only got bigger. “Hi-chan, you’re the best!” Together with the basket the blue skinned giant vanished inside the house and Hiko chuckled when she saw the expression on Kakashis face. “Didn’t expect that, huh?”

“No. And he’s Itachis…?”

“Yup. His boyfriend. Soon you won’t notice his attics anymore, promise.” Hiko entered the house and Kakashi followed her, curious what it would look like on the inside. Its outward appearance resembled on of the many deco houses in a glossy magazine, typical for a calm and friendly neighborhood in the suburbs.

 

He was disappointed that it looked so normal. The entrance was in brown, silver and white, somehow modern and timeless. When Hiko had described that the brother of Sasuke loved to collect creepy and eerie pictures, old and new, the silver haired man had imagined a gothic interior, black and stuck in the 18. Century.

Kisame returned to the entrance, now without the basket and instead with some jars in his big rough hands. “We’re sitting outside. Itachi watches over the grill, but Obito hasn’t shown up yet. The usual for you, Hi-chan?”

The woman nodded and started to slip out of her jacket, revealing a thin marine blue pullover with a chubby panda printed on it. Her backpack she left at the staircase when she grabbed Kakashis dark brown leather jacket and hung them together into the wardrobe. Then she turned to her companion, who was standing, unsure what to do, around. Kakashi wore a black long-sleeved shirt that clung tightly to his body and a plain white t-shirt was draped over it. Hiko had first problems to keep her eyes on the road when the cop sat in her car, but soon she simply forgot about the gorgeous man beside her. Back then he looked uninterested and aloof, staring out of the window and commenting from time to time the driving skills of the other participants on the road.

But now Kakashi fidgeted around, shifting from side to side and scratching the back of his neck, while his flu mask covered the flustered face. Hiko gazed at the cop and couldn’t help but to chuckle. His black eyes turned to her and between his brows appeared a wrinkle. “What?” he asked.

Hiko nodded at him. “I didn’t know that you would be so nervous. Relax, Kakashi-san. They are really nice if you get to know them better. Only be yourself and everything will work out right.”

“I’m not nervous.” responded the man automatically.

“Naturally. And I’m not small.” The shorty rolled annoyed her eyes and fumbled at her black beanie, not sure if she would take it off or not, but then she let the hat on. “I understand that it’s scary to meet new people, better than you can imagine,” Hiko stepped closer to him and poked into his rips, “but it will be alright. Come. This will be a nice evening with lots of food, laughter and jokes. What do you have to lose?”

Kakashi mumbled something incoherent and brushed past Hiko, following the path that Kisame took, the hands stuffed in the pockets of his loose blue jeans.

 

Hiko huffed, but smiled. He could be just as cute as the others of her friends, so flustered and embarrassed that he didn’t want to talk with her.

            ‘Like a little shy kid. I want to pinch his cheeks so hard right now…’

The female followed closely behind him through the nicely decorated living room and the back door to the wide garden. She loved the small paradise that Itachi had created in his free time. A thin grey plastered road lead to a little pond with fishes, rimmed with a weeping willow, a beautiful Sakura tree and high bushes and ferns. Flowers bloomed only sparse at the garden, but the ones who blossomed were especially big and marvelous.

Hiko saw Itachi standing at a grill and watching over the flames. “Hey! Boss!” she screamed and sprinted past the suddenly still Kakashi. “I made dangos!”

The Uchiha turned around and waved with the tongs he held. “Hello Hiko. I look forward to eating them. Nice to see you too Hatake-san.”

Kakashi returned the wave. “Yo.” Nothing could be seen from his former tension. Then the cop sat down on a garden chair on the massive porch, while Hiko walked to the pond, savoring the peace that grew inside her. Only a few places would make her feel like this and she was grateful that one of them was near to her.

The female threw one last glance at her neighbor, who was already chatting with the returned Kisame, a bottle of beer beside him.        

            ‘Don’t grill him too much sharky. I don’t want to transport a corpse back home.’

 

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“So…” The blue giant stared at Kakashi, “how did you get to know our little Hi-chan?”

“We’re colleagues and we saw each other a few times at the station, but I really met her when I accidently stole her food…”

            ‘”Our little Hi-chan”? And Hiko-san allows him to call her that?’

“You stole her food? How did you make it out alive?”

“I only confessed to her in time and that was it. We shared at the next day a lunch and yeah. That’s it.”

“And now you’re neighbors? That’s quite a coincidence.”

Kakashi ruffled through his silver mane and laughed nervously. “We were also surprised when we found out. But I believe we quickly adapted to the circumstances.”

Kisame nipped on the beer bottle and still scanned the cop suspiciously, like a serious security officer who just discovered a young teenager with tons of drugs in his jacket. Suddenly the fisher stood up from his own chair and looked down on Kakashi. “Do you want something to drink?”

“Beer would be nice.”

The tall man nodded and vanished inside the house. Meanwhile Kakashi leaned into the chair and watched over the garden, but especially the spot were Hikos back could be barely seen, leaning over a pond and playing with the cold water.

The sounds around the house were soothing, indeed so calming that Kakashi allowed himself to ease a little bit. Yes, Hiko-san was right when she said that he was nervous. This woman already noticed such little things about him, a fact that distorted the silver haired man but also made him happy at the same time. His regular partners in the SFU weren’t able to tell if he was nervous or scared before a mission, always assuming that Kakashi was emotionless, however a woman that he barely knew could.

‘Or is it the other way around? That Hiko-san isn’t sharper to notice, but that my reactions got stronger instead? Can everybody see that I’m tensed? But Hoshigaki didn’t seem to notice. Is it only around her?’

Kakashi would prefer the last outcome. He could live with one person where he was easily to read like an open book, instead of being open to everyone. And when that person was Hiko-san… Yeah, he could definitely live with it.

 

“Sorry that I’m late!” Obito Uchiha, in a black hoodie over a green shirt, walked through the back door, accompanied by Kisame, who held three bottles of beer in his hands. “There was a traffic jam at the streets and I had to find another way… Hatake, you made it!”

Grateful Kakashi took the offered bottle and tipped at the other Uchiha. “Why wouldn’t I when your friend is my neighbor and swore on your dead body that she would drag me along?”

“Why on my dead body?” shouted Obito and looked wildly around, like he expected the furious woman to attack him out of nowhere. “I haven’t done anything!”

The cop shrugged. “How should I know? She is the bloodthirsty one, not I.”

Growling lowly the raven sat down on a chair in front of Kakashi without another comment, that the wooden table was in the space between them. With a chuckle Kisame placed a bottle before Obito, then he seated himself on his original place. “Then we are now complete.”

For a few minutes the three man just sat there and savored the calmness around them, occasionally sipping at their alcohol, accompanied by the cracking of the flames and the low murmur of people at the other side of the fence that parted the two plots. Itachi joined them shortly after and took the chair beside Kisame. Instantly the two love-birds entangled their hands, a slender pale one in the blue big hand, and Kakashi blushed a bit under his mask when he saw the obvious admiration in the fishers face for the Uchiha.

‘They look like nobody could separate them, so happy and satisfied with life. Simply content that they are able to spend time together, despite that they live in one house. Once I also wished for a love like this, but… Now I’m sure that this kind of love only exists in books. Until now, so it seems.’

Hiko descended from the garden, lightly smiling at her group of beloved ones. Kakashi saw how her iceblue eyes that could glare murderous squinted with her smile, blinking friendly at all of them, like she couldn’t be happier as at this moment. Her soft voice trailed through the air. “To be late is a big no-no, Obito. Did you got caught up in a woman or something?”

Said one pouted, his whole body slumped into the comfortable chair. “I wouldn’t do this Hiko! There was _really_ a traffic jam and I got stuck in it, you know, because I had to shower before attending our meeting, because Itachi was last time pissed when he smelled me and I wanted for once to be a good cousin and listen to the genius!”

“Then why you took so long in the bathroom? Whoops, no, don’t want to know that.” Hiko shuddered visibly with a disgusted expression on her face. “It’s better for me and my peaceful sleep when you don’t answer that.”

“Better for everyone’s sleep.” mumbled Kisame and took another sip. Then his eyes became hopeful. “Maybe do you have baked… banana bread?”

The female rolled her eyes, but still smiled. “You’re incorrigible, you know that? Yes, I did made some. Shall I get it for you?”

 

To Kakashis surprise even the icy Itachi nodded at Hikos question, along with Kisame and Obito, who had dropped his frustrated façade. She chuckled and pushed her glasses up. “Alright. I’m back in a minute.”

But the silver haired main wished she back in the very second the shorty vanished inside the house. Immediately all the stares of the _overprotective brothers_ set on him, daring the cop to utter even a single grunt.

Kisame spook up first. “Do you want anything from Hi-chan?”

“At this moment, her presence would be highly appreciated here.”

“Don’t joke with us Hatake.” growled Obito. “You exactly know what he means.”

“Maa, I’m not interested in her in the passionate way.” said Kakashi and sipped again at the beer bottle. “She’s a colleague and colleagues are way out of my level, trust me. But I have to admit that Hiko-san is a fascinating personality and her _charm”_ he looked at Obito, “got me. And I quite enjoy her presence. As a friend.”

Itachi stared intensively at him, before he slowly nodded, the black hair swaying in the movement. “I can accept that.” He squeezed as a warning his boyfriends hand, who reacted quickly.

“Yeah, yeah, I can also accept that. And you Obito?”

For a moment the last Uchiha seemed like he would go against the others, but then he sighed and waved lazily. “Sure. Hip Hip hurray, he’s one of the musketeers now.” Grunting he emptied the bottle and placed the glass with some force at the table. “Where did you get that from? It’s tasty.”

Kisame laughed. “From a shop downtown, specialized in acquiring alcohol from foreign countries. Name a state and they have something to drink for you out of this country.”

“Mhmm? One day you have to show it to me.”

“Okay, but it will be the day when you start to go on fishing trips with me.”

“That’s not fair! You exactly know that I get nauseous whenever I enter a boat!”

“Poor Obito. Then I guess you will never get to know this shop.”

Kakashi coughed to get the attention. He felt the eyes of all three men on him as he spoke. “I only wondered. You’re letting me off the hook with only one question? I wouldn’t believe me if I would be in your situation right now. It was just… too easy.”

 

Itachi tilted his head. “We’re letting you this easy off because Hiko wouldn’t appreciate if we scare you at the first meeting. And it goes against our policy to make her unhappy with our actions and you make her somehow even happier than she usually is. But let me tell you one thing, Hatake-san…” On Itachis face grew an expression that Kakashi knew all too well from the years in the SFU. The cold eyes of a person ready to kill. “If you hurt Hiko in some way, may it be unintentional or not, then there is one cop with access to your data, one fisher with connections all over the city and the heir of the Uchiha Company working against you from this day onward. And we will not end our feud until we are satisfied or she tells us to stop. No, we will make it painful, humiliating and long lasting, because she is our sister who deserves to be happy, more than anyone else that I know.”

Kisame toasted. “Well spoken, my love.”

“I’m not finished yet.”

“Uh, sorry. Go ahead.”

Itachi set his black orbs again at Kakashi. “In the end we only have to wait, either if you hurt her or not. So for now we’re accepting and maybe we will open up to you as friends, because Hiko said that she has this feeling about you.”

The silver haired man raised askingly an eyebrow. “This feeling…?”

“The same she had when she saw my boyfriend here for the first time.”

The blue man raised the hand that had catched Itachis fingers to his lips and placed a quick peck at the knuckles. “Are you now finished? And thanks.”

Itachi chuckled suddenly. “You’re welcome.”

Obito raised his hand like the young children at school. “Question! Does that mean she wants to pair him,” he pointed accusing at Kakashi, “with me!? I’m totally not against being gay, hell, I spend my time with you love-birds…”

“Be now careful what you say Obito.”

“Sorry Kisame. What I wanted to say, I’m straight! Totally! There’s this beautiful woman I met and she’s wonderful and kind and funny and I really really like her! I can’t go out with someone else now!” His voice nearly a squeaked when he reached the end.

Kakashi wrinkled his nose. “Don’t you think I’m also a bit offended by that assumption? I would say that I could score higher than dating you anytime, if now man or woman.”

“I must say that he’s right, cousin.”

“Itachi!”

The raven shrugged and crossed his legs. “Only my humble opinion. In a gay bar he would get some attention, so in a regular club or pub. And, don’t misunderstand cousin, Hatake-san is in fact more attractive than you.”

Before Obito got the chance to shout frustrated out, Hiko appeared and placed a steaming and delicious smelling basket with fresh banana bread at the table. She beamed at all of them and waved with a large knife. “Okay, who wants something from this little masterpiece here? I must admit that I had a taste beforehand and it’s marvelous! What’cha talking about?”

“That Obito will never get a girlfriend.”

“Hey! I’m already working on that!”


	10. The way to a human heart

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Continuation of the meeting, but Hiko has a little plan on her own how her family will spend the evening.

Hiko nibbled at her lower lip while she stared intensively at her cards. She hated playing poker, but Itachi and Kisame loved to gamble and Obito also had nothing against a round of card games.

‘I don’t even understand the rules! What are we playing here? Arizona Hold’em? And what is the best solution that I can reach? Aaargh! I don’t understand this game!’

“I’m out.” With a sign the woman placed her hand full of cards at the table and shook her head. “No luck today.”

Obito snorted before he raised the stake of sweets. The group never played with money, instead they used cheap bonbons or little chocolate bars to represent their bet. “Don’t fool us. Even when we explained the rules to you again, you don’t get the gist of poker.” He grinned at her.

“Fine, I can’t comprehend it. But now you have another player to deal with.”

Kisame grumbled and drew another card. For a second he watched his hand, then the fisher took three bonbons and threw them at the growing pile. “And at least he’s a true challenge in comparison to you Hi-chan.”

“Indeed.” Itachi nodded before going along with Kisames bet. “Hatake-sans poker face is inscrutable.”

Kakashi looked up from his own hand of cards and smiled his curved-eyes-smile. “Thanks for the praise, but all of you are worthy opponents.”

“What?” Obito growled and pointed at the big heap of sweets that piled in front of the silver haired man, the biggest from all the stakes. “We’re desperately floating here and you keep winning! God, I hate this.”

“Hm.”

“Hatake!”

“Did you say something?”

“Goddamn arrogant prick!”

“I’m more insulted when a cat snarls at me.”

“Cousin, stop your attics. It gets annoying.”

“Itachi!”

“You’re disturbing our neighbors with your yelling. Be a little bit more aware of your surroundings.”

“Kisame!”

“It’s true. The last time you were agitated to the point that they thought we tortured someone and were near to call the police.”

“But Hiko tricked me and said that-!”

“BACON!”

 

Surprised all men turned to the shorty. She only shrugged and stood up. “I couldn’t stand this discussion anymore and I thought: Hell, why not being strange?” Smirking Hiko shoved her own pitiful bunch of sweets into the middle and went into the house, knowing that Obito stared confused at her, Kisame chuckled lowly, Itachi shook also his head and Kakashi…

Well, Hiko didn’t know what face he made. But she was sure that he was at least a bit smiling.

‘They really think that I only came here with food? Ha! While they are occupied with their gamble I will prepare my own game!’

But before she would bring havoc over the clueless group, the woman started to cook the contents of her basket. For Itachi she brought some dango and Onigiri, knowing that he didn’t like steak. For Kisame were the shrimps and crabs and Obito loved just like her steak and salmon. Kakashi liked eggplants, so she would grill some raw vegetables.

Happily whistling Hiko sorted the different dishes and took them out of her basket. Meanwhile her thoughts wandered around, hopping without a goal from one topic to the next. It ended with her activities as “tRuthseekEr” that she had stopped after the last hack into “Sabaku Savings”. After all it was her policy to keep a low profile after a successful hack to cover her tracks. A strategy that she also tried to taught “strikingSWORDs” and “GinGerGeneral”, but the first was too reckless and the second saw no need in hiding.

            ‘They are young and feisty, those two. I only hope that they will never be captured.’

Naturally there were also other hackers that used the same tool as Hiko, but those only watched the chat and didn’t participate in the conversations. It was in the end only an extra and not useful for breaching firewalls.

But the female liked it. And she had fun to share her experiences with the ones that asked her about the differences in electronical defenses, just like the helpless technic fools in the police office. “tRuthseekEr” was now after ten years a big hacker, recognized by even older and younger ones and no one knew that behind the alias hid Hiko, the witty short IT expert of the KPD. Nearly a legend among the reigns of hackers, known for incredible skills and countless undermined firewalls, hacked companies and the nerve to go even against big players like the government. A lot of the others respected “tRuthseekEr” for that, but also a few hated him, because after a successful breach “he” would strengthen the barricades of his target.

Hiko concentrated again at the food spread in front of her. Unconsciously she had created four different piles, each with the food for one person. She smiled at her silly thoughts.

“You stupid little…” murmured the female. “Don’t get too cocky. It’s dangerous and you know that.”

 

“What’s dangerous?”

Kisame entered the kitchen and ruffled in passing by over Hikos beanie. She slapped his hand away, but grinned at the man. “To play poker with all of you. I would be poor at the end of the night if I hadn’t give up beforehand.”

The fisher snatched fastly a dango stick and waved with it. “Right. Can I get this? Itachi ordered me to bring him one.”

Hiko nodded while washing the eggplants. But the next question of her friend threw her out of her concentration.

“Are you ok? The _anniversary_ is in a few weeks…” He spit the word “anniversary” out like it burned his tongue.

The shorty forced herself to laugh at his words. “Kisame, I’m okay. Really. No need to worry.”

He wrinkled his forehead. “Sure? If something is wrong you can always come to us.”

“I said everything is alright.”

“Listen, I know how hard it is to keep it all bottled inside and not-!”

“I said I’m FINE!”

Hiko slammed the vegetable with a loud thud into the sink. The eggplant splattered into three pieces, liquid spilled all over her hands. Kisame jerked surprised at the sudden loud yell from the small woman and stepped back, unsure what to do.

She already regretted raising her voice like this at her friend, who only worried about her mental state. He had his share of psychic breakdowns with Hiko and he also experienced the days of the _anniversary_ , where the shorty isolated herself from the world. He knew what she was going to do then and he didn’t like it, not a bit.

Tired Hiko rubbed the bridge of her nose and sighed, before looking exhausted at the splattered eggplant. “I’m sorry Kisame.” she whispered and turned to the blue giant. “I didn’t mean to scream at you. Forgive me.” She begged for his understanding and she hated herself to actually hurt the boyfriend of her second childhood friend, who also became like a brother to her.

So she was extremely relieved to see Kisame smile gently, an expression that not many people were able to see beside Itachi. It showed his deep affection for Hiko, who smiled warily back. “There’s nothing to forgive Hi-chan. I understand. Just… come to us if you have problems or need someone to talk to. I would be glad to listen to you, so Itachi and also Obito.”

The fisher stepped close and embraced her in his arms. For a moment Hiko tensed, but then she relaxed in the comforting warmth of Kisame. It felt so good to feel his love for her, a brotherly love that was able to crush every hindrance in her way, but also able to burn low like a candle flame, soothing and gentle. She stifled a sniff in his clothes and snuggled into his embrace.

“Thanks. I appreciate that.”

Kisame chuckled and the tremor shook his whole body. Hiko felt the slight quiver rummaging through her figure and couldn’t herself but to join in his laugh. He patted her head while he spoke again. “You’re welcome. After all I owe you much more than this. The reason why I’m able to spend my time with the person I love dearly is you, my little sister. And like a true big brother I want to protect you, from the monsters in the world and the ones that hide in your soul.”

 

Hiko bit her lower lip when she felt tears dwelling in her eyes. “Please stop.” she said. “You know that I don’t like to cry in front of others, especially in front of my family.”

“Wasn’t it because your tears sting like acid?”

She chuckled and looked up into his face. “Exactly. They burn like hell.” Hiko took her glasses and wiped the tears awkwardly with her sleeve away. Kisame let go of her, but not without giving her a last ruffle over the head. He winked playful at the female. “It’s because you are a little witch. Your tears aren’t meant to fall, so they want to stop you from crying by hurting you. But it’s also important to accept the pain sometimes.”

“You know that I can deal with pain.”

“What you did was not dealing with it, but destroying yourself. No, I talk about letting your pain go. Now let’s stop this depressing talk, hm? I looked forward your food the whole week.”

“Sharky, now the sweet tender moment between us shattered to pieces.” Chuckling Hiko returned to the eggplant and huffed annoyed when she saw the chaos she created. “Take the salmon and meat with you. It will take the longest. Go ahead, I’m right behind you.”

“Yes Hi-chan. And remember. We’re always there for you.”

Kisame exited the kitchen with some packages of meat, the big salmon and the single dango stick for Itachi. Meanwhile Hiko started to hum a song, calming her dwelling emotions down. She sung in her thoughts the text, over and over again, the same text that was forever on her forearm.

 

_Reckless and weary,_

_The truth has been buried,_

_Held down by the hand,_

_That refuses to carry._

_The burden you built,_

_The lies, do you hear me?_

_The insult, the white flag,_

_You refuse to carry._

_I'm letting you go,_

_And all that you showed me._

_I'm letting you know,_

_That you don't control me._

_The feeling is cold,_

_And life is unfolding._

_Reckless and weary,_

_I'm desperately holding on._

_So if you can't get a word in,_

_Its because I don't care what you think,_

_Don't be alone inside,_

_A world that's filled with make-believe._

_Broke! Inside,_

_This life, you can never be reborn within,_

_I came this far, erase my scars._

_Fight! This time,_

_Inside, take a break from the lie you live,_

_I came this far, erase my scars._

When she finished cutting the rest of the eggplants into pieces big enough to not slip through the mesh of the grill, Hiko had calmed down. Now she was able to smile wholehearted again at her friends and also able to prepare her own game tonight.

Hiko laughed when she tugged the plastic bag out of her basket, filled with small colorful balloons.

 

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

Kakashi didn’t recall the last time he had so much fun with a group of people. He had won the round of poker, but it was a close call against Itachi, while the other louder Uchiha had to give up after a while. Then Obito went to make remarks at their strategy like a wrestling commentator, one time taking a peek over Itachis shoulder, one time looking in Kakashis cards.

It was surprisingly easy to get along with all of them, despite Obitos loud yells and Itachis icy exterior, but for the silver haired man it was okay. He didn’t expect them to warm up immediately to him, so he was surprised when the loud raven patted excited his shoulder when Kakashi won the round.

“Good job! Finally someone who can beat Itachi!”

“Thanks. But it was close.” The cop revealed his cards to the other player and watched him growl at the nearly useless hand. “I had to bluff.”

“Nice move, Hatake-san.” Itachi stood up without showing his defeat, while Obito broke into a hoarse laughter and clapped cheerful his hands.

“My, Hatake that was awesome! Next time we have to play another board game, maybe the winning streak of my cousin is finally over!”

“He will never beat me at Monopoly.”

Kakashi leaned back and allowed himself to smile. “We will see that.”

Itachi raised an eyebrow and for a moment the cop thought that he scowled, but then a tiny lift of his lips eased Kakashi. “I accept your challenge.” Then he nibbled at the already empty dango stick that Kisame brought during their intense match and spun around to the blue giant, who worked fully concentrated at the grill.

“You’re not so bad.” Obito wriggled with his eyebrows and smirked at Kakashi. “Now the meetings will be even more interesting.”

The man chuckled lowly and also got up. Stretching his body he yawned, then turned to the back door. “I’m looking forward to it. Do you think Hiko-san needs some help?”

The Uchiha shrugged. “Who knows? Usually she doesn’t want us in the kitchen when she’s working there. She says that we will only hinder the cooking.”

Lightly confused Kakashi tilted his head. “Really?”

            ‘Then why does she let me help? Strange.’

Obito rolled his eyes. “Only because I dropped the lasagna, Kisame burned some pieces of meat and Itachi was so overcorrect about the recipe that it annoyed the hell out of Hiko. When she lets you help, than you must be not a total klutz like us in the kitchen.”

 

“Exactly.” Without a sound Hiko had stepped near them, five plates and five sets of cutlery in her hands. “I always wonder how you three are even able to survive without me and my food.” She placed the porcelain in Obitos hands, who nearly dropped the delicate plates.

Kakashi ruffled embarrassed through his silver mane. “I’m honored by your trust in me, Hiko-san. But I’m also not able to cook for myself.”

“At least you can cut meat, vegetables or something like that without burning the kitchen down, different to those three. The only thing they can do is grilling things and it’s the only thing that I allow them to do.”

Kakashi chuckled lowly at her desperate-annoyed expression. “This I can understand.”

Shortly after they finished preparing the table and getting drinks for everyone (the men beer, for Hiko a cool six pack citrus lemonade) Kisame placed a huge amount of meat and salmon at the center of the wooden board, accompanied by shrimps, crabs and egg plants. Kakashis mouth watered when he saw the grilled vegetable and nodded satisfied at Hiko when he tasted the first bite. Also the others praised the woman for the marinade, if now with grunts or a melodious hum, whenever a fork with juicy meat was chewed.

The time flew fast and while the group ate, the sun started to sank down and colored the sky in a beautiful orange tone. They could stay outside and enjoy the warm evening, undisturbed by their neighbors and chatting about different things. Moths flew around and the noise of the far away city vanished between the sounds of grass hoppers and frogs who croaked loudly in the pond.

With a full stomach and nicely relaxed Kakashi leaned back into his chair and grunted. “That was fantastic.”

“Indeed.” Itachi finished another dango stick, while Kisame hold the other hand of the Uchiha and drew little circles with his thumb over the pale skin. “Your dango is just like always very tasty.”

Obito mumbled something incoherent and nearly choked on the mouth of salmon that he tried to swallow. Hiko patted on his back and shoved Obitos drink to the man. “You should really try to control yourself. One day you will suffocate while eating.”

Resolute the raven gulped, then drank hastily his beer. “I won’t die, because I haven’t found a girlfriend yet.”

The blue fisher laughed. “Then answer, who is this mysterious woman you write all the time? Nearly every five minutes you look at your cellphone. You also said that you’re working on this matter.”

 

To Kakashis surprise the loud Uchiha blushed. His cheeks were colored deep red and he stammered wildly around. “Y-you know, she… She is beautiful! Yeah, totally, and and and… Really nice! She works as a nurse at the hospital, so Rin-chan is also kind and g-gentle…”

“Rin?” The silver haired mans interest was perked. “Did you meet her perhaps in the arcade you visited?”

Only out of his canthus Kakashi saw Hiko standing up, but he pushed his curiosity aside, his concentration set on Obito, who was suspicious now. “Well, yes. She talked to me and we had a nice chat, then I asked for her number and since then we message each other daily. Do you know her?”

“I met her also that day.” The cop couldn’t stop a little growl when he remembered her scared and irritating behavior at this evening. “She dragged me to the arcade and when she saw you, it was over.”

“She was your…date?”

“No! We only met randomly, ‘cause her car broke down and she didn’t want to walk alone to her house, so I offered her company. There was nothing between us.”

Obito stared suspiciously at him. “Nothing?”

“Absolutely nothing.”

The raven leaned back into his chair and huffed. “Well, that’s good to hear. Say, Hatake, do you have a girlfriend or a love interest?”

Now it was Kakashis turn to blush. “Currently not. My work is at the moment much more important than a relationship.” he murmured and sipped on his third beer.

Obito smirked evilly as he noticed the pinch he put the other man in. “Aw, come on. Not even a crush? I don’t believe you. There must be someone!”

Wildly the cop shook his head. “There is no one.”

“You’re blushing, so I don’t believe you! Spill the beans Hatake!”

“I’m right now not interested in anybody!” Desperate Kakashi raised his hands. “No one. Nobody. Not a man, not a woman, not a single person that I would crush on, understood?”

“Not even a little bit?”

“Not even a little bit.”

Unfortunately the silver haired man remembered the short impressions of Hiko, where he had imagined her in his bed. The perverted side of his mind immediately added new images: the shorty in the big black shirt that made her look like she wore nothing under the fabric, the cute flush in her face when he had teased her about her newly found addiction to “Icha-Icha-Paradise”, or she in the kitchen and his imagination reduced her clothing to nothing but a frilly apron.

 

Yeah, he had thought about Hiko in a more than friendly way, but it was only his body. However his mind was in control here, not the countless hormones that screamed at him to make a move on the female.

Obito recognized the short pause and giggled. “So you have someone. Tell us, tell us!”

But before the cop was humiliated in admitting that he lusted a bit after the little sister of the three men on this table, a colorful water balloon hit the back of Obitos head. With a splash cold water was released and sprayed over Itachi and Kisame, who sat beside the Uchiha.

“Aaaargh!” Abruptly Obito pushed away from the table and rubbed the impact zone. “Who was it!?”

“That would be me.” With a wide smirk Hiko juggled with another water balloon. She had lost her beanie, instead her brown curly hair was now pulled into a loose ponytail. Single strands rimmed her face and together with her rolled up sleeves that revealed her forearm tattoo she seemed ready to face any possible threat. She tilted her head and let her eyes shift over the surprised men, while her hand threw her colorful projectile up and catched it again. “No time to rest, gentlemen. Or are you afraid that a woman could beat you in a humorful fight with the only missile that’s funny when it hits?”

“Never!” Obito raised both his fists and put on a strong expression. “Learn your place once and for all shorty!”

She stuck her tongue out. “First you have to find the rest of my arsenal! Good luck with that, idiot!” She laughed wildly and send the balloon flying. Luckily for Obito he was able to duck under the missile and evade it, but unluckily for Kakashi it now flew straight at him. Faster than he could comprehend his body reacted to the threat and moved.

With a loud crash Kakashi hit the floor, followed by his chair. The balloon missed him by a meter and crashed harmless into the ground without splashing anyone. He grunted out of pain and glared at the woman and Obito. “Could you be a little bit more careful? That hurt.”

Obito smiled like an idiot and rubbed the back of his head. “Sorry man. I-!”

Another balloon hit his stomach and stopped the Uchiha. Droplets sprayed over Kakashis face and he wiped them furiously away with the back of his hand. “Hiko-san!” he snarled at the brunette. “Could you please stop?”

“Kakashi-san, don’t tell me you’re made out of sugar?” The woman snickered happily and pushed her thick glasses up. “Who would know? The strong and mighty SFU-member fears some little balloons filled with water.”

The man stood up and dusted his clothes off, throwing warning glances at Hiko. “I just don’t feel like a water war right now.”

 

“Really?”

Too late he saw the teasing glint in her eyes. The water balloon hit his chest and the cold liquid soaked his clothes. “Not even now?”

Kakashi gritted his teeth, in the attempt to control the sudden urge to snap at Hiko. “No…”

Kisame stood up and raised his hands in a defensive position. “Calm down everyone, there’s no need to-!”

Like a baseball pitcher the woman threw fastly two missiles. The first hit the blue giant, the other was directed at Kakashi, who dodged it easily. Giggling she speed into the garden, a bag filled with her blue, red and green projectiles in her left hand. “I left some balloons in the living room! Catch me if you can!”

After some time Kakashi would think calmly about his next actions and wonder which demon possessed him at this moment. He couldn’t explain it otherwise that he brushed past the frozen Obito and Kisame and entered the living room, hastily searching for the ammo he needed. When he saw the basket with water balloons, the cop took as many projectiles as he could and ran again into the garden, followed by the surprised, confused and amused stares of three men.

Kakashi spotted Hiko near the pond, smirking and already aiming at him. “So you decided to join in, huh?”

Under his flu mask his lips curled into a wicked grin. “You provoked it with your mockery. Now prepare to face me in a fair fight!”

“Fair fight? Nooooo!” Whining the female hid behind the Sakura tree. “Why would I face you in a fair battle if I have more chances of soaking you in a guerilla fight?” Without a warning a balloon flew at Kakashi, but he jumped out of the way and threw a missile himself, that splattered at the massive wood. “You missed!” she giggled.

            ‘That was a feint.’

At the moment Hiko stepped out of her hiding spot and raised her hand again, Kakashi had already thrown another balloon. The small missile hit her straight into the chest and released all the water at once. Scowling she looked down and tugged at the blue fabric. “Thank god it’s dark. Otherwise I had now a problem and you probably another _big_ problem.”

Only after a few seconds Kakashi got the hint.

            ‘She didn’t just say that!’

“You underestimate me.” Brushing his hair out of his forehead, the cop ducked behind a bush and waited for the next attack of the harpy. The impact came abruptly and hard.

One second Kakashi weighed a water bomb in his hands, the next thing he knew was a shower of cold water that hit him directly at the head.

‘She must’ve thrown it so high that my eyes couldn’t see the projectile. That she hit me with that is impressive.’

 

“Did I hit you?”

Growling the man whipped his hair back and forth, just like a dog after an intense bath. “You throw like a little kid!”

“Is it a hit, yes or no? A simple question!”

“…”

“I didn’t miss!” Laughing Hiko jumped with a roll out, only to be hit by two missiles. Kisame and Obito, now armed with arms of water balloons, had creeped their way silently through the little garden and hid like ninjas behind the single bushes and trees. The Uchiha pointed accusingly at Hiko, who rolled into the next cover, this time a decorative rock the size of a stove. “That’s only the first part of my revenge! You hit me two times, so I have to hit you also two times! Come out and take your punishment like a man!”

The only answer was a balloon that didn’t even had a slight chance of colliding with the Uchiha. He snickered, but then another missile hit him.

Kisame reacted quickly, but his balloon only met the rock. “She’s just as slick as an eel!” The fisher grinned at the simple truth and had already the next missile out. His small eyes darted wildly around, searching for possibilities to evade getting hit. “Hatake-san, maybe you want to join us in the hunt!”

Kakashi smirked and an evil plan grew in his mind. When this was a water war, why not creating a battle royal?

Calmly he stepped out of his hiding spot and joined the two friends, water balloons in his hands. “Sure. She needs to learn a lesson.” Then the silver haired man threw his projectiles, one aimed at Obito, who evaded it with a desperate stumble and after a second thought also at Kisame, who was hit at the flank. A wave of adrenaline flooded his system when he saw the glares of both, a wave that he felt the last time as a kid, when he played with his father Hide-and-Seek.

Fun and excitement, a form of tension that could only be felt by children and childish adults.

Obito raised his hand. “So you want to go against us! Kisame, let’s go!”

The giant already had his big fingers laid around balloons, but was beforehand hit by an object from Hiko, who used the distraction for herself. He snarled and bared his sharp teeth. “Got it Obito! This is war!”

At the porch sat Itachi and nibbled on another dango stick. He watched closely the playing men, the loud cousin of his who joked around and made strange motions, his boyfriend running nearly amok as he chased Kakashi and the small brunette who squealed happily when she saw the chaos that she created. Her laugh echoed through the garden, without worries or fears.

Then his onyx eyes set on the silver haired cop, who jumped like a monkey around and send various balloons flying, hitting every participant somehow. Itachi originally thought that he was just as uptight as his exterior seemed, but like Hiko Kakashi hid a childish side inside him. The Uchiha leaned into his chair and sighed satisfied.

‘Maybe Obito is right. They could be able to fit together, but Hatake has some personal problems, so I believe. Hopefully they can help each other, before Hiko pushes him away without even trying.’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't know if anybody cares about that, but I'm sorry for not posting the chapter of last week. So I just post them now together (and try to fix my schedule a bit...).


	11. Talking until morning

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ... What can I say? I should really set some kind of timer for publications.  
>  I'm sorry for all the people who are waiting for the next chapter, I really am.  
> I have nothing else to say >.

Hiko snickered while she jumped the stairs up. “Silent Kakashi-san!”

The cop only rolled his eyes, but followed the jitterish female. She heard his footsteps behind her, faint for his tall build.

They were dry now, but only thanks to a motherly Itachi with thousands of fluffy towels and a strong hairdryer. Hiko still giggled when she thought about the face of the icy Uchiha when the wet and dripping adults tried to get into the neat and clean living room.

‘But it was so worth it! Everyone had fun, especially Kakashi. After all he was the one who started the battle royal between us four.’

“Confess! You had fun tonight, haven’t you?”

She entered the first floor, walked around the handrail and started to climb to the second floor, closely behind was Kakashi. Hiko heard him sign in defeat. “Yes. I had very much fun. Thanks for taking me with you.”

“And just as I promised, they accepted you!”

“Barely.”

“Whaaaaat?” She spun around and nearly fell from the small step, but managed to grab onto the railing. “Barely? What did they say?”

“Shsssshh.” Kakashi gestured her to be silent and looked around, scared that one of the neighbors would open the doors and yell at them. “I will explain when we are in your flat. Now go on.” he hissed.

“Now I’m thrilled.” Weakly humming Hiko continued her way, on her face a big grin. She knew it. She knew that her brothers would make it hard for Kakashi, but in the end they accepted him, for her sake. And after the shared experiences she had the feeling that they had also warmed up to him, despite Kakashis friendship to her. Especially Obito, who wasn’t first fond of his colleague, had found some common traits and topics with the aloof man. Kisame had shaken Kakashis end when they parted more warmly than at the greeting and Itachi nodded approvingly when he thought that Hiko couldn’t see it.

The woman got to the second floor and walked to her door, already fumbling with her keys. Sighing she opened and let also the man in while slipping her chucks and jacket off. “Do you want something to drink?” she asked and glanced at the cop, who hung his jacket at “his” grip, which he always used when he was in her flat.

“Do you have still the fruity thing?”

“You mean cider? Yes. Apple or pears?”

“Apple please.”

 

When both had their cold drinks in their range (Hiko drank cold water), they sat down at the grey couch, Kakashi at the right and Hiko at the left. Hiko was aware of the taller mans presence, but after some time she was able to deal with it.

“So…” Teasingly she winked at him. “Why barely?”

He rolled his eyes and tugged at his still weakly damp clothes. “Barely because I had the nerve to ask back. They threatened me to literally kill me if I would hurt you in any possible way.”

“Such big brothers…”

‘God, I love them. They get all the love that was originally reserved for my parents and I’m so lucky to have them. I know it.’

“You sure realize that’s three in the morning?” asked Kakashi. He was right. The moon had already begun to sink again and early birds flew around, searching for food or company. The city was mostly silent, except for the occasional drunk yards that stumbled through the streets, celebrating the weekend.

Hiko grimaced at him. “No, I’m too dumb to read a clock. Naturally I have noticed.”

“Just wanted to make sure.” With a grunt the man shifted and touched accidently with his knee Hikos leg. It was only a brief contact, but the shorty tensed. Her grip around the glass tightened and sweat suddenly appeared on her forehead.

Hiko felt the panic rise, a gigantic wave and she, only a mere small human was without any defense against such a natural force. She always made sure that she wasn’t being touched by strangers or distant friends, the contact came only from her. This way she could control the situation and maintain her usual attitude.

Being touched… Was a whole different thing. It left her weak, reminding her of the incident that destroyed her life.

A whimper build up in her throat as Kakashi brushed again her body, this time his arm touched hers. Desperate she stifled the pitiful sound, a sound that she didn’t want the other to hear. Memories awoke in her, things that she wanted to forget, but couldn’t.

_“You’re mine, only mine. My mark will forever stay on you, that everybody will know that you’re my possession.”_

_Hands, once loving and careful, now clawing painfully into her skin, causing it to bleed. His body hovering over hers, pounding into her small frame, not caring about her muffled pleads and screams, begging him to stop, finally let go from her._

_“You like that, you little bitch? You were never so responsive before…”_

_A low chuckle, sick and ill, and teeth that suddenly bit down into her breasts, ripping at the sensitive flesh and leaving marks on her that would never fade…_

Hiko jerked when she felt a hand at her shoulder. Fast as a snake she slapped it away, still captured in her dark mind. She only felt the touch, not recognizing the careful approach, only the simple contact that reminded her of the beginning of her torture.

Then the woman realized where she was and who sat beside her. She breathed in and out and with her circling breath she crocked her head to the slightly surprised Kakashi.

“S-sorry. I was deep in my thoughts and I forgot that you were present.” With an embarrassed smile Hiko rubbed the back of her neck.

The man waved lazily at her. “No problem. I was only worried because I called your name a few times and you didn’t respond.”

“It were really deep thoughts. What do you want?”

“I… Uhm…”

“Come on, don’t leave me hanging here!”

But Kakashi stumbled over the words, until Hiko had enough from his stuttering and pinched him. Hard.

“Ow!” Whining the man glanced accusing at her and rubbed the forming bruise on his forearm. “That was uncalled for, you know?”

“Then stop wasting my time and spit it out.”

 

First he scratched his chin, but then he looked slowly at the waiting woman beside him, a strange air of determination around him. “I… I wanted to thank you.” he murmured and fidgeted uncomfortable. “I was never a social person. As a child I played alone or with my father, later I was too focused on my studies as to involve with others. Sure, I had a few friends, but after High School and in the Police academy they also vanished. Two people, Hiko-san. I had two people that I could rely on and that I trusted, beside my father and both… I somehow lost contact to both on the way. During my time at the SFU I didn’t make many friends, in fact none, so I had no one to talk after a long tiring day out in the field. Sometimes I wished for some comrades, but they didn’t approach me and so I kept being alone. And now, “his coal eyes found her blue orbs and locked, “You befriended me so easily, when I thought of myself that I was fine alone. You’re the first friend that I had in years and you dragged me along and now I believe that I even made more friends… And I had so much fun today. You won’t believe how much I appreciate your friendship.”

Hiko nearly cried when she processed his words. In her mind grew pictures of a little adorable boy with spiky silver hair, playing by himself, while other children laughed in some distance, of a lanky teenager, his face already hidden behind the flu mask, reading concentrated a book, trying to blend out the loud and rowdy classmates. And, last but not least, an adult Kakashi, coming home exhausted and covered in dirt and greeting a cold wife without a face, who ignored him completely.

            ‘Itachi should had never mentioned that he was married. Now I pity him even more.’ Kakashis eyes showed his emotions, something that other people wouldn’t expect from him, so deep and hidden inside the distant cop he was. There was melancholy, happiness and gratitude.

Careful Hiko took his large hand, noticing that he tensed weakly at the sudden contact. Her inside was also agitated, but she ignored the panicked thoughts and locked them away, when she squeezed his hand and lifted her lips into a faint smile.

“Kakashi. Thank you for telling me this. And I can imagine how lonely your life was. Having no one is terrible. Sometimes it doesn’t bother you, but then it crashes into you and makes you nearly cry in the middle of a supermarket or graduation hour. And in moments like this I swore to myself that I wouldn’t ignore a lonely person, that I would stretch my hand out to someone who suffers and befriend him. And I’m glad that it was you, because I never met a person who deserves some friends more than you, Kakashi. You’re funny, you have your own interesting quirks and you can laugh freely like a child when I throw water balloons at you. I’m sorry for all the people who didn’t get the chance to see who you truly are. I’m glad that I can be your friend.”

Hikos smile grew when she saw the blush on the mans face, tainting his usual pale cheeks in a colorful red. Everything she said was true and the woman believed in her words and hoped that this faith was somehow converted with her words to the cop. Out of pure instinct she gently squeezed his hand again and was surprised when he squeezed back. And Hiko would swear on her PC that a single tear was rolling out of Kakashis right not scarred eye and vanished quickly underneath the white fabric of his face mask, but she let it slip. Even hard emotionless cops are allowed to cry sometimes.

 

After a few minutes in which Hiko hold Kakashis hand, he gently eased his fingers and gestured her to let go. With a nod the woman opened her hand, only to be surprised by a short pat on her head. The touch was too gentle to be scary and a silly warmth spread in Hikos stomach, a feeling so unexpected and sudden that she had no clue how to react properly. The low rumble of the tall man awoke her out of her frozen state. “You look like a rabbit in front of a snake.” Kakashis voice was utterly gleeful.

“So what?” she grumbled and rolled her eyes. “I’m a woman and allowed to do so.”

“It’s okay. I only never expected such an expression from you though.”

“Thank god you have never seen me watching a horror movie.”

“And what are zombie movies? Comedies?”

“Some are. But no, for myself zombies are more pitiful creatures and not something to fear. I mean, they must’ve be hungry all the time. Imagine being hungry for the rest of your undead life, until an idiot shots your brain or captivates you.”

Kakashi laughed, his eyes closed and curled. “I never saw it this way. But what are “true” horror movies for you?”

Hiko raised her hand and counted with her slender fingers down. “Let’s see… During “The Conjuring” I had to flick on all the lights. “Purge Night” was also horrible, so “The Ring”. For weeks I avoided any deep holes that could resemble a fountain. “Silent Hill” I saw with Obito and he laughed at me at the end, because I whimpered at every shadow afterwards. Then “Halloween”. God, I hate this motherfucker.”

“What? Obito seems like a nice guy and he does that?”

She huffed. “You’re kidding me, aren’t you?” Hiko saw the glint in Kakashis eyes and shook her head. “It’s Michael Myers who’s the motherfucker, because he scared the shit out of me, everytime he jumped out of the darkness with his stupid hockey mask. Don’t tell me you are not even a little bit scared or at least tensed when watching one of these!”

The silver haired man shrugged. “Not really. They’re all so fake, I never saw the point in being scared.”

“Great.” Hiko crossed her arms and legs and pouted. “So Kisame is still the only one who is just as scared by horror movies as I. Great.”

“What? He’s easily scared?” asked Kakashi, both eyebrows raised into unknown heights.

“Don’t tell him that you know. He would rip me apart.”

“My lips are sealed.”

“I mean it Kakashi! Don’t say a fucking word! I see your grin!”

“Sure, sure.”

“Somehow I’m not convinced by your enthusiastic answer.”

“That’s not my problem.”

“Ooh, it will be! You’re still at my mercy at work!”

“Don’t you dare or…”

Hiko stuck her tongue out. “Or what?”

Kakashi threw desperately his hands into the air. “Fine. I will not reveal the silliest thing that I will ever know about the biggest human that I ever saw. Satisfied?”

“Now I am.” Hiko leaned into the soft cushions and wriggled around until her right cheek rested at the back of the couch. With a wary sigh she closed her eyes, now slowly feeling the fatigue of a long day creeping through her bones and limbs.

 

“Hiko-san?”

She only grunted as an answer.

“You just called me by my first name.”

“Yes…? And?”

“Without an honorific.”

Now the female opened her eyes. Kakashi sat still beside her, still relaxed and comfortable draped, but now he didn’t meet her stare anymore. Instead he looked out of the window at the right, watching the slowly lightening night sky. The moonlight shined on his face features and Hiko couldn’t help herself but to admire his steady and nice looking profile. She tend to forgot that he was an eye-candy, however at times like this when both were silent and Hiko had the chance, she would glance at the cop and fight a blush.

“Is it awkward?” she asked instead. To her relief Kakashi slowly shook his head that his silver gravity defying hair swayed with the movement. “No. It’s okay, I guess.”

“Sorry, I didn’t even notice. And… yeah.” said Hiko. “A few minutes ago it would have felt not right, but now it does. Do you understand?”

“Yeah. I somehow feel the same way, Hiko.”

Her lips curled into a wide grin when she heard her own name roll out of his mouth. To hide her happiness the shorty poked into Kakashis side and chuckled. “For someone who isn’t used to having friends you get the gist of the concept really fast.”

The man turned his head to her and smiled weakly. “I was always a quick thinker. And also scored first in nearly all tests in school.”

“A genius. Fuck. Now Itachi and you have to share the “Intelligent-Kid-Throne”. He will not care much, but… Nevermind.”

“Damn and I thought that I would be the only clever one around here.”

In unison they chuckled. On the outside the sun slowly rose upon the sky, declaring another nice sunny day in May.


	12. The start of trouble

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hiko gets some work and Kakashi more than he bargained for. (somehow)

Hiko was in the process of explaining Hinata and Shino the art of handling the different technical devices around the police station, when Itachi received a telephone call that would cause her a hand full of trouble. She didn’t pay any attention to the ring, because her superior received a lot of calls over the day, but when he suddenly mentioned her name, her attention was peeked.

“Kobayashi-san will be there in a minute. No, I don’t know why her phone is dead.”

A little bit ashamed the woman tried not to look at the dead phone at her desk. She never turned it on, because everyone in the office preferred nowadays the chat, except for the old fashioned chief.

A pause, in which Itachi listened to the other participant. Then he grunted responsively a few times, before he ended the call without a goodbye-phrase. The dark cold eyes set on the shorty, who had stopped her explanation in the middle and now stared at the Uchiha just as attentively as the two young officers.

“You’re needed in the main office. The chief wants to see you.”

“Did he mention why?” Hiko knew that a phone call directly from the chief meant usually either deep trouble or an important case and normally she was called in for the first.

“He didn’t say anything, only that you should hurry. The clients are already in his bureau.”

“But you mentioned especially my name. Because of what?”

Itachi raised slowly an eyebrow, before sighing deeply and returning to typing on his keyboard. “The chief said that the client mentioned cyber criminality and hacking. And I know that you had worked on some related cases.”

Hiko nodded at her friend before waving at her subordinates. “We will continue this when I come back. Until then it would be good to start reading the essay that I mentioned to you, the one about restoring erased data.”

Shino only pushed his glasses up and Hinata warily smiled at the shorty, before Hiko exited the office, in her mind already at the upcoming case.

‘When was the last time Nagao has called me? Must be last year, when I also had to search for a hacker… After all this is my special skill.’

Naturally Hiko had used her deep connection to the dark side of the net to search for cyber criminals. As a fellow hacker it was easier to get information out of a target than as a newbie, what caused most of the old ones to be cautious at first when a young hacker is approaching them. Besides, tRuthseekEr was a coryphaei in his circles, a trusted and skilled member. So when the chief had first asked her to search for a dangerous man in the net, she had delivered the bad guy in a week to prison.

 

But when Hiko entered the office of Nagato, she stopped in her tracks. The reason was the well-known silver haired man who had stuffed his face in the screaming orange book that he loved.

Hikos forehead wrinkled unconsciously. “Kakashi?”

He looked up and immediately his eyes curled when he smiled at her. “Yo. Didn’t know that you were responsible for cyber criminality.”

“It’s one of my many departments. Why are you here?” The shorty sat down on the other chair beside Kakashis while listening to him.

“Don’t know. Maybe the chief thinks that my experience with delicate missions will be useful.”

The office of Nagato was a small but nicely decorated room, separated from the main office by thin walls with windows, but they could be covered by curtains. Like this he could look over the whole office where the busy police officers worked and could separate himself from them by closing all the curtains and giving him and important clients needed privacy. Currently he was not present, so Hiko assumed that he was still in a discussion with the one who forced the chief to ask for her.

While the two people waited, they chatted about different things, for example that Asuma and Kurenai were spotted hand in hand at the third street, going to a restaurant. It was the hot topic today and the whole station snickered when Asuma had blushed and Kurenai hid her face behind her hands.

After ten minutes the door opened again and Hiko turned around. Nagato stepped in, accompanied by another serious redhead. The sharp green eyes abruptly set on the female, then sprung to Kakashi, only to dart around the room, searching for something only he could see. He wore a lot of eyeliner, that made him look a little bit like a raccoon, but in his formal suit and tie the young man was a dominating appearance, despite his love for make-up.

Nagato pointed first at Kakashi, then at Hiko when he introduced them to the client. “This one is Kakashi Hatake, a highly recommended former member of the Konoha SFU and on top with great success rates even here. Hiko Kobayashi is our IT expert, mainly in hunting down cyber criminals. They are my best officers at this moment.”

The crystal green eyes moved again to Hiko and scanned her whole figure. Inwardly she cringed at the intense stare, but outwardly she smiled at the man and stretched her hand out without showing her tension. “Nice to meet you, Mr…?”

“Sabaku. Gaara Sabaku.”

 

She felt like someone had ripped her stomach out, climbed on the Empire State Building and dropped her organ accidently. This was the man she had spied on! Fine, not spied, but she had hacked into his company system and looked through all the internal messages and files. It was still a crime. Nevertheless she still smiled at him when he shook her hand.

‘Calm down, maybe he isn’t here for your breach. Maybe his car was stolen or something.’

But her weak hopes weren’t met. While the nicely dressed banker sat down on the third chair and Nagato moved behind his desk, the chief explained the situation to the aloof cop and the slightly nervous female. “The client is part of the high society of Konoha. He and his siblings build the bank “Sabaku Savings” and Mr. Sabaku came to me this morning to report a breach in his firewall. At this point nothing was stolen, but he wanted nevertheless to call the police. It’s serious. If a hacker runs again amok in our city, we would maybe face a bigger threat than last time.”

“What happened last time? I’m afraid that I’m not well informed about this incident.” asked the pale redhead and crossed his legs in a sophisticated manner.

“Kobayashi-san can explain this better than me.” Nagato nodded at Hiko and like this she had no other choice than to talk to her victim.

“Last year in October a young man known in his scene as “WildFlamerXX” attacked different totally random firewalls, among other things also the firewall of the KPD. Luckily our security is high advanced that it detected the threat before he himself recognized that he was caught. Then we followed his path back to his home router and bang! He was captured.” In truth it had been her connections to the scene and the need to brag about his achievements in the special forums what lead the shorty to the youngster, but she had faked the path to the criminal for the reports.

Hiko felt always a tinge of satisfied pride when she thought about this incident. Her doings in the KPD prevented this youngster from going too far. It was a battle between their abilities and Hiko had won without even working a sweat. Another form of chess, only that this was the real life and not a boring board game. One mistake and it was over.

The young redhead seemed impressed, so was Kakashi, who finally had let go of his book and watched her with his black eyes.

“Hopefully this hacker is also this easily captured.” Gaara placed his fingertips together and underlined the image of the successful hard business man with an almost glare at the present officers. His eyes squinted lightly when he continued. “This matter has to be a secret. I don’t want to see any information about my company printed at the front page of a newspaper or else my lawyers will start their work. And I have very good lawyers.”

‘I understand. His business is still in progress and he don’t wants to let destroy rumors his hard work. A little up-coming bank being successfully hacked would cause some serious trouble for their daily business.’

Nagato nodded. “Understood. We will keep this as low as possible. It would also disturb the peace in the village if we would make this public.”

Kakashi rubbed the back of his neck. “And why I’m here? It looks to me like a complete technical thing and that isn’t really my area.”

 

“Hatake-san, you will accompany Kobayashi-san wherever she needs to go. Lately we received some threats against police officers and her work on this case will lead her around the town, what I learned from previous situations. I know that Bodyguard missions were your area in the SFU.”

“Yes. I got it.” Hiko was surprised by the sudden serious tone from her friend. He seemed so laid back all the time that it was easy to forget that he originally belonged to the hardest unit of elite police officers in this country.

“Then this is it.” The young man stood up and stretched his hand out to Nagato, who shook it with the required professionality. Then Gaara also greeted Kakashi and Hiko with a sharp nod. “I’m counting on your hard work, Gedou-san, Kobayashi-san, Hatake-san.”

The banker exited the bureau and left the three people behind.

Nagato leaned back into his comfy chair and relaxed for a moment his eyes. Then he straightened his back again and regained his professional attire. “Kobayashi-san, what will be your first step?”

“Today will only be research. Sometimes Hackers brag about their achievements. I will look through different forums and chats, maybe I will find something. Tomorrow I will visit Sabaku Savings and investigate their firewall.” said Hiko. She knew that she couldn’t strive off her previous methods, the chief would otherwise notice that something was fishy. For the moment the shorty played along, but would also use every chance to hide her true identity.

‘It’s actually for the best. If another officer had gotten this request I had a much harder time to conceal myself, but now I’m directly involved and able to change the investigation to my liking. Like an extended game of cops-and-robbers.’

“Seems like we will work together.” said Kakashi and wriggled with his eyebrows.

“No shit Sherlock. But it’s good to have you by my side.”

Nagato raised his hands to stop Hiko and Kakashi. “You two know each other?”

The female waved at her superior. “He’s the new neighbor at my floor. Didn’t Konan tell you something?”

“Only that he’s often out. So Hatake-san, you’re living at the same apartment complex as Kobayashi-san and Konan?” The chief turned to the confused man.

“Well… yes?” Kakashi shifted uncomfortable on his seat, while the chief stared holes into his chest. Hiko had to hold back a laugh as she watched both men interacting with each other.

“Then I hope for you,” Nagato placed his fingers together like Gaara did just a few minutes ago, “that you know what’s right and wrong, Hatake-san. You two may go now.”

“Yes, chief. Goodbye chief. Greetings to Konan, chief.”

“No mockery during work, Kobayashi-san. But it’s appreciated.”

 

“What is the connection between you, Konan-san and Gedou-san?”

That was the first question from the silver haired cop when they were out of the chiefs’ bureau and going to their own desks.

Hiko yawned and tilted her head that the brown strands fell to the right side and tickled her neck. “You didn’t figure it out? I’m disappointed Kakashi. Especially you, a highly recommended member of the SFU, should be able to find the connection between Konan and Nagato.” She elbowed him, what he quitted with a low grunt.

“They are obviously a couple, but you are the enigma that doesn’t want to fit into my picture.” Kakashi sat down on his desk and spun lazily around, while Hiko leaned at the wooden board and crossed her arms. “I’m curious. What have you done?”

“Nothing, really.” The woman flicked her wrist, a little bit ashamed at the mans interest. “It was only a coincidence when Nagato visited me at my flat to talk about… a personal matter and Konan heard me discussing with someone and thought that I was in a deep pinch, so she knocked at my door. I opened and when their eyes met…” With a huff she threw her arms into the air. “Since then Konan believes that I’m some kind of strange love spirit and Nagato lets me handle my problems in my _own special_ way.”

The cop chuckled lowly, a sound that made Hiko bubbly and she didn’t know why. “A strange love spirit, indeed. That’s why you can do all those things without receiving a warning from Gedou-san. You’re responsible for his relationship.”

“Bullshit. I didn’t do anything.”

He shrugged and turned to his keyboard. “Gedou-san must see it otherwise. It’s somehow sweet, how you pretend to be cold hearted as shit and then-.”

“No no no no. Don’t say it Hatake or I have to seriously puke onto your desk.”

“Yeah, yeah. Just do it then.”

“I’ll do it! I can!”

“Then go on.”

“Give me ten seconds.”

“Okay.”

“Don’t stare at me like this! I have stage fright!”

“Make me.”

“And stop your grin! God, you look like a creep.”

“I favor being a creep over being a “love spirit”.”

“With your mask and your porn books it must be quite easy to be marked as a pervert.”

Kakashi winked playfully at the pouting female while writing something on a sheet of paper. “But the woman that I meet like the aura of mystery surrounding me.”

Hiko pinched with a huff the bridge of her nose and spun around. “Sure, whatever. Tomorrow we will drive first to Sabaku Savings, be ready at nine. I mean _NINE_ , not 9:15 or 9:30. Exactly point NINE.”

The only answer on her simple request was a “Mhmm.” and the low scribble sound of his pen.

“I will come and break your door down if you aren’t ready.” said Hiko.

The masked cop waved lazily at her, still occupied by his paper, but she could see the weak smile underneath his flu mask because of the little wrinkles around his eyes.

            ‘He can’t say I didn’t warn him.’

With a shrug the shorty went back to her own office, not caring about the confused stares that she and Kakashi had received during their playful banter.

 

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_She tasted the acrid gag in her mouth. It was the cloth that she used to clean the sink, but now it was stuffed into her throat, blocked her cries and stifled her begs. Her legs were spread in a painful angle, almost bend in a split. Tears, hot and burning rolled down her cheeks and she was unable to stop them._

_He loved to see her cry while he pounded into her. He whispered it into her ears just like it was a little secret between them, a thing that bound them together._

_“Your desperate pleadings are the best when they are accented by tears. I love it.”_

_She felt the tight vessel around her hands and ankles, binding her to the bed that was covered in a dirty mix of sweat, cum and blood. She had given up on escaping, scraping the rope he had used. Now the only thing that she did was accepting the pain, the sting whenever he entered her or the insults he spit out together with his sickening comments. She was tired. Tired of living. Tired of everything._

_She heard his footsteps before he came into her sight, a tall lanky figure in the shadows. Only his round glasses were blinking in the low light of the moon outside. A whimper escaped her throat before she could stifle it. Her breath accelerated when she watched him undress slowly and climbing on the bed, his erection already hard._

_His hands caressed in an ill imitation of gentleness her flanks while his eyes roamed over her bruised skin, covered in wounds, blue and green spots and blood. “You’re so beautiful. Before you were already nice looking, but now… The beauty of blood is unparalleled, don’t you think?”_

_She knew that he would make her martyrdom even more painful and humiliating if she dared to ignore him, so she sharply nodded, despite the burning pain in her neck and head. Her torturer leaned closer and nibbled on her earlobe while he murmured his ill thoughts to her, from time to time he pressed his body into hers, earning grunts of pain._

_“And you like it rough, you little slut. You were a little prude, but I have awaken you. Now let me play with you again. And again and again and again and…_

With a gasp, not louder as the sound of a buzzing cellphone, Hiko jolted in a sitting position. She was heavily sweating, her night clothes were completely drenched and her hair hung flat down. For a split second she thought she saw his silhouette standing at the doorstep, waiting and smirking at her. Hiko whimpered, but then the moonlight shone into her bedroom, showing the completely empty space.

Relief spread in her body. But nevertheless the fear was still present, waiting for another chance to disrupt her shattered peace again. Hikos hands trembled when she covered her damp face with them, feeling the tears and tensed jaw.

‘He can’t control me anymore. He isn’t here. He can’t get me anymore. He isn’t in Konoha. He has no control over me. I’m free, I’m free, I’m free. Free, free, free, free. No one is in my flat, I have locks, I locked the door properly, no ropes around, nothing that could hold me down. You have a weapon in your nightstand and knifes hidden in your bookshelf. Calm down. Calm down, Hiko.’

Slowly her breaths regained their previous pace and the whole time the shorty only sat at her bed and shivered uncontrolled, but that also slowed down. She knew that she couldn’t sleep anymore tonight, it was always like this. After a nightmare that involved _him_ , Hiko was too afraid to close her eyes again.

Suddenly everything was too much. The pressure of the blanket, the feeling of the clothes against her skin, the warm air around her. She had to shower, letting the cold water cleansing her mind and body, washing the dark thoughts away until she could smile again. Stumbling Hiko climbed out of her bed and nearly fell to the ground, but managed to maintain her balance. In the entrance room she checked the three security locks and to her reassurance they were still properly locked. When the female finally entered the bathroom and stripped down her wet shirt and panties, her eyes met for a moment the mirror above the sink.

Scars covered her upper body, mainly teeth marks around the white skin of her breasts. He had bitten her many times, sometimes deep enough for him to drink her blood. Like a child he had sucked the red liquid, while he had fucked her until he was satisfied. Then her stare shifted to the thin silver lines at her tattooed forearm, some crossing the blood vessels, two thick cuts parallel to them. Hikos tattoo was written over the cutting lines. She had hoped that the song could be able to erase her scars, but it was hopeless. She was forever marked by him and his cruel doings, forever scarred and untouchable for anyone.

‘Eleven years. Eleven years and I’m still hunted by him. How long will it go on, how long till I’m finally clean from him again? I gave up on love and sex, something that’s essential for a human, but I’m still trapped.’

Also her inner thighs were bruised with bite marks. Sometimes she believed that he was a vampire, sucking her dry by any means until she would die. Another nightmare of Hiko, he between her legs, blaring his long teeth before ripping the sensitive flesh apart and feasting on her insides.

 

Groaning Hiko climbed into the bathtub and turned the water on. Sacred cold water washed over her body and for the first time since she had woken up, the female breathed normally. The blue eyes closed with a distinct flutter and for a while she only felt the liquid pouring down. The arms dangled at her sides, lifeless and numb, but she didn’t care.

“Find my control,

  Find reasons to beat this,

  Find truth below,

  The lies and the wreckage.

  I can't let go,

  I'm too close, too restless,

  I'm letting you know,

  I'm far too aggressive.

  So if you can't get a word in,

  Its because I don't care what you think,

  Don't be alone inside,

  A world that's filled with make-believe…” she whispered, reciting the song that saved her from insanity.

‘May. The month when it happened. I have to make a request for my vacation in a few weeks. Hopefully the matter with my other identity is solved until then.’

“I will be alright.” said Hiko weakly and smiled sadly, before sitting down in the cold tub and letting the water rain down on her. She buried her face in her knees and sighed. “I will be alright.”

 

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

Kakashi was confused. Didn’t Hiko say that she wanted him to be ready at nine? And now it was soon ten and she hadn’t shown up yet.

‘What takes her so long? I mean, I have no problem with being late, but she is so correct about being punctual. Something isn’t right.’

Last weekend he had the feeling that they grew closer. The man chuckled when he thought about the water war in Itachis and Kisames house and felt a little bit embarrassed when he remembered their talk after midnight. Kakashi hadn’t expected to react so emotional at Hikos honest words, so emotional that he had shed a single tear. At least the shorty didn’t notice.

‘ _And I’m glad that it was you, because I never met a person who deserves some friends more than you, Kakashi. You’re funny, you have your own interesting quirks and you can laugh freely like a child when I throw water balloons at you. I’m sorry for all the people who didn’t get the chance to see who you truly are. I’m glad that I can be your friend.’_

Determined the cop shook his head and chewed on another bite of cereal. It was ridiculous to think about that now. “Silly thoughts.” he murmured. Nevertheless the corner of his lips lifted unconsciously while he ate. And Kakashi couldn’t stop the smile even when he noticed it later, brushing his teeth and from time to time throwing a glance at the mirror above the sink in his bathroom. He looked like a happy idiot, grinning like this, but for now he didn’t care about his usual attire. Nobody saw it anyway.

Lowly humming Kakashi walked into his bedroom and opened the wardrobe. Then he dressed into black jeans and a dark red t-shirt with printed tribal spirals. After a quick check up on his gun he applied the shoulder weapon holder and hid the leather straps under his usual brown leather jacket. Then he also took his Taser and controlled the status of the battery. Satisfied that it was still completely charged, Kakashi placed it inside his right jacket pocket. The last step was the KPD badge, which he clipped to his belt. With his thumb he traced the edge of the emblem, before the cop made sure it clung safely to the leather.

Throwing a glance at the clock at his nightstand (most people thought that he doesn’t own a clock with alarm, but he did) he clicked his tongue.

            ‘Now it’s ten. Ok, that’s it, I will go to her.’

“Should have done that a bit earlier.” said the silver haired man, while trying to tame his wild hair, but it was a useless attempt, like every morning. He knew that in the police station grew the rumor that he used tons of wax to maintain the gravity defying state of his hair, but it was just this way since his childhood. The finishing touch was his flu mask that he strapped on with a practiced gesture, then Kakashi was ready to face the day, or, to be specific, a late harpy.

But when he stood outside of her door and knocked three times, the only sound that answered was the faint music of her stereo, playing a rather aggressive song. Kakashi wrinkled confused his forehead and knocked again, this time more rapid, but still no answer. Slowly he leaned closer to the door and pressed his ear to the wood, trying to catch _something_ , but nothing came, except for the music.

 

Again he knocked, loud and aggressive, a typical police officer knock that he only used against criminals that had locked inside their apartment. “Hiko? Are you in there?” Abruptly the music stopped, but it still took some minutes until he heard the rustling of the three locks on the other side, when the woman fought with the one at the upper part. Then the door creaked open and revealed her small figure.

The cop stepped warily back. Hiko wasn’t herself. He only knew her as her energetic self, full of enthusiasm and sarcasm. But today deep dark circles laid under her eyes that couldn’t even be concealed by the thick rims of her glasses. Her face color was even paler than usual and her rich brown curly hair hung lifeless down. Even her vivid blue eyes, usually expressing her emotions to the fullest, were dull and stared blankly at him. Hiko looked like she was one of her beloved zombies, but without the gore and organs falling out of her. A shadow of her usual self.

“Hiko…?”  Only now he noticed her crumpled clothes, an old grey sweat pant with lots of holes and a rich black pullover that was too big for her. The man had already seen it on her when he came over and roamed around, but never had she looked like her clothing would swallow her any moment. “We have an appointment…?”

For a moment she stared lifeless into his eyes, then a tiny spark ignited. “Right. The bank…”Her melodious voice was rough and cracking, more the voice of an old woman than the one of a lively woman in her late twenties.

Kakashi was nervous. What was he supposed to do in this situation? He never had to deal with something like this, a friend who was obviously not in his right state of mind. But maybe he should be thankful that she didn’t cry. He couldn’t watch a woman cry, then he would get all nervous and uncomfortable. But he was already nervous now, wasn’t he?

A slow motion from her catched his attention. Hiko scratched exhausted the back of her neck. “Right. Right.” She nodded with newfound determination. “Sorry that you had to wait. Please, come in. I’ll be ready in a few minutes.”

The shorty vanished inside her flat and warily Kakashi followed on her tracks. He only saw a blurry shadow vanish inside the bedroom, before he entered the living room. And another surprise let him freeze.

On the small couch table, sturdy and made out of wood, laid four empty bottles of beer. And he would have noticed if she had any visitors late at night, after all they lived at the same floor. That meant she had drunk all those beer by herself.

Hiko didn’t drink alcohol. Never. Even together with her bunch of friends she preferred lemonade or water, but never ever something that involved alcohol. It wasn’t her style.

Curious he lifted one of the bottles up and noticed that there was still some condense water clinging to the brown glass and a faint coldness tingling underneath his fingertips.

            ‘Does it means that she devoured it _this morning_? How long is she up yet?’

 

Her silent footsteps declared Hikos approaching. Kakashi spun around, ready to ask her about her strange behavior. But the third surprise this morning let his mouth become dry and his thoughts drift into unwanted depths.

Usually her clothes were prude and not really accentuating her slender and delicate figure, a fact that he was thankful for. Like this his mind couldn’t be distracted. But today Hiko wore tight leather hot pants, underneath a dark green leggings, that showed of the contours of her legs and well-rounded hips. Her upper body was cladded into a long sleeved black sweater, above was a vest that showed off only little of her leverage, but more than usual. The thick material was a little bit stretched by her breasts and Kakashi had to pinch himself in secret to draw his gaze away from the assets she hide normally.

She didn’t notice his nervousness and walked into the kitchen, opened the fridge and tugged a milk carton out. She had to bend over and the man hissed inwardly when her butt wiggled a little bit when she rummaged farther through the inside.

            ‘This day will be hell. Or heaven. I haven’t decided yet.’

Hiko grabbed two bananas and an apple, together with the milk bottle she stuffed it into her backpack. At least one thing that was like normal. Then her eyes turned to Kakashi, who was still frozen in his place, surprised in the females change.

“I’m ready. We can go now.”

“Okay. But maybe… I should drive.”

She shrugged only while strapping some heavy boots on. Now she looked like a soldier preparing for battle, slowly tying the shoelaces. “Do what you have to do.”

Kakashi took the car keys from their usual place at the table in the entrance area and watched Hiko grabbing a black hoodie. Inwardly he sighed, but decided not to say anything until they had finished their work at Sabaku Savings.

            ‘But then she has to answer me. This isn’t normal. Why does she acts like this?’


	13. Sabaku Savings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hiko has to hide her alter ego and gets a bit jealous (but ignores the signs).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The only acceptable explanation for being late once more is that I've moved and I was busy with packing all my things. Sorry nevertheless.

During the drive both stayed silent. Kakashi had to focus on the road, but from time to time he would throw a wary glance at Hiko, who had turned to the window and looked outside, the chin placed in her right hand. Her black beanie was the other thing that reminded of the usual woman, the hat hid the ruffled bed hair. He nibbled on his bottom lip, thinking what could have happened to change her this drastically. But his usually quick mind couldn’t come up with a possible solution, what frustrated him deeply.

When Kakashi parked Hikos car outside of the imposing building that hosted Sabaku Savings, she exited the vehicle too fast to let the cop utter even one word. Lowly growling he followed her.

            ‘For someone of her size she is pretty fast.”

That were his thoughts when he watched her climbing up the few steps to the big entrance and again his look shifted to her butt that swayed lightly in her movements. He hadn’t noticed before, but Hiko had a quite cute little butt, round and soft, perfectly sized for his hands to cup the cheeks and squeeze them firmly.

But Kakashi couldn’t allow himself to feel like this. Hiko was his friend, maybe his best friend and he shouldn’t feel like this towards her, not after she was nice enough to introduce him to her other friends. And she was his colleague and an affair with a colleague was a mistake which he didn’t want to repeat. The silver haired man shook his head sharply and finally followed the silent woman inside the mansion to clear his mind from the rummaging thoughts.

With his hands stuffed in the pockets of his pants, Kakashi entered the entrance area and his instincts quickly analyzed the room. His black eyes scanned the space, inch by inch and searched for possible threats. It was the typical entrance of a bank, big, spacious and showing of the money that they earned. But also with a lot of hiding spots, hiding spots that could be used by attackers. But Hiko didn’t seem to care about a possible danger along the way, she just stormed straight through the already gathered crowd of people that wanted to earn money or press it out of the bank. With a desperate sigh Kakashi went along with her fast pace and soon he had catched up to her and grabbed her wrist.

“Hiko. Take it slow, please.”

 

Hiko tensed at his touch. Frozen on the spot, she didn’t even try to struggle out of his grasp. The only sign she noticed his approach was the paralyzed state and the lightly shaking shoulders, like the brunette controlled herself from revolting.

“Alright. You can let go of me now.” Her voice was lifeless, but the language of her body told him that she felt extremely uncomfortable right now.

“See,” Kakashi removed his hand and stuffed it again into his pocket, “I want to do my work properly and I can’t do it when you are a few meters ahead of me. Just a little bit slower.”

Finally her face lit up a bit and a very weak smile tugged at her lips. “Alright. I’m sorry pal.”

He tilted his head. “Pal? Didn’t know that we were already on that level.”

The smile grew and a bit of the usual Hiko broke through her cold expression. “Alright.” she repeated. “I was just… Yeah. Sorry.”

“Don’t worry.” Kakashi was happy that his little joke lightened her mood, even only a bit. With a nod she gestured him to follow and with a smile that curved his eyes he obliged, with less speed than before. To his surprise Hiko directly targeted the office of the leader, a pompous stall with rich décor.

“Good morning.” she said while entering the office without knocking. “Maybe the chief Gedou-san has already informed you about our visit today.”

Gaara looked grumpily up from some important documents, but his stare softened when he saw who had disturbed him. “Kobayashi-san. Yes, indeed, the chief has called me yesterday. May I introduce my chef of security? Anko Mitarashi, she is also the one who found the breach in our system.”

Kakashi eyed the confident purple haired woman, who wore a trenchcoat over some very revealing clothing, while Hiko stepped closer to her and stretched her hand out. “Nice to meet you, Mitarashi-san. My name is Hiko Kobayashi and I’m the technical expert in this case. I’ll rely on your support and information.”

But Anko ignored the offered hand and smirked. “You’re sure that you can handle that, dwarf? It’s a job for the adults here.”

            ‘Oh no, here she goes…’

Kakashi recognized a few weeks ago that Hiko reacted almost allergic at any insult that targeted her height and so he watched an angry wrinkle appear between her eyebrows. Usually a bad sign. But she kept her anger down and simply ignored the hurting words, by clenching her fist and slowly letting her hand drop to her side. “Yes, I’m sure, Mitarashi-san. But thanks for your opinion on this matter, it was almost appreciated.”

Anko wanted to retort harshly, but Gaara interrupted her beforehand. “Mitarashi-san, that was not very clever. Gedou-san recommended Kobayashi-san and Hatake-san especially because of their success rate in cases like this. I will not tolerate such a plump insult again.”

The purple haired woman eyes turned to Kakashi and in her face he could see that she liked what she saw. Immediately her eyes squinted lightly and her voice became seductive.

“I can accept that. As long as such a cutie works with her…”

“Mitarashi-san! Keep your professionality!” In Gaaras green eyes blinked a fury that was able to rival Hikos anger at this moment. “We’re a serious business and you with your shaming behavior don’t match with our guide lines! Control the sharp tongue of yours or I’ll have to degrade you!”

The woman didn’t seem like she regretted her actions, instead she winked at Kakashi before bowing jokingly at her chef. “Yes, Sabaku-sama. I will lead then the way.”

The redhead kept his deadly glare for a moment, then he huffed and waved. “Fine. You are dismissed. Just make sure to answer all the questions and requests that Kobayashi-san has.”

“Yeah, yeah. Then follow me.”

 

Again Kakashi walked behind Hiko, but now Mitarashi-san leaded the way, from time to time responding in quite a patronizing way to the calm and collected questions of the shorty. The man didn’t understand most of the technical glossary, but soon also Mitarashi-san was overwhelmed by the pure knowledge and specific asking and grunted only. Then Hiko stopped her approaches and from then on they were silent.

“Here.” The chef of security gestured to a door with the shield “Technic” on it. She smirked at the short brunette, who sighed and entered the office. Then Kakashi was alone at the hallway, his only companion the now flirtatious woman.

“So… Hatake-san. Do you have someone special right now?”

            ‘She is bold.’

“No.” He thought that his simple one-word-answer was enough to discourage her, but instead Mitarashi seemed only more determined. She pressed her body against his side and widened her smirk. “No? Not even the dwarf?”

“She’s a colleague and a friend. And I would appreciate it if you could stop calling her ‘dwarf’.”

“Make me.” Mitarashi raised suggestive an eyebrow while tugging at her deep cutted top, showing of her curves. And to his shame she catched his quick glance down her chest. “My, my… You like what you see, don’t you?”

Kakashi coughed awkwardly and tried to fiddle out of her strong grip, but she only pressed more against him. “I have work to do now, so could you get off me?”

“So you have time for me after work?”

He realized that she wouldn’t give up so easily. A persistent stubborn person that was Mitarashi-san. “Fine. Give me your number, I will call you when I’m finished for today.”

            ‘One drink with me and she will run away anyway.’

But when she grinned wickedly at him, a shiver crawled down Kakashis spine. It seemed like he had underestimated her persistence.

 

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Hiko felt her teeth cracking when the door had closed. This unbelievable stupid arrogant slutty bitch dared to call her a ‘dwarf’ and even in this rude tone! Only her friends could mock her with her size, not a strolling hoe who couldn’t even think straight! She clenched her fists painfully, her nails dug deep into the palms of her hands.

‘And her whole attitude! Such a fucking nasty woman, being so blunt in her flirts with Kakashi! In front of her chef also! I couldn’t do this even when I wasn’t… hindered by my past!’

Today wasn’t a good day. First the nightmare that left her vulnerable and weak, letting Hiko become so desperate to forget that she had craved for some alcoholic drinks. Four bottles. Luckily for her that she had a high tolerance, had always. Together with the much needed music therapy it helped her to ease the fear inside her a little bit, but it came back with full force when Kakashi had knocked on her door. So she covered it with the best poker face the woman could muster, but she knew that it was a thin layer, easily to break and shatter.

‘Thankfully he had the decency not to say anything. But I guess that he will question me after we finished our work.’

Sighing Hiko pinched the bridge of her nose. It couldn’t be changed anymore, so she had only to wait for the inquisition. Then her eyes turned to the three busy workers in the dim office, all of them sitting front of computers and typing. A guy with weird purple marks on his face and brown hair finished with a determined pat on the keyboard his task and spun around on his bureau chair. “Are you probably Kobayashi-san?” he asked.

“Uhm… Yes.”

The young guy, maybe around twenty or twenty-five years stood up and stretched his hand out to her. “My name is Kankuro Sabaku, I’m Gaaras older brother. He talked about you and said that you wanted to check our firewalls today.”

With a nod Hiko shook his hand and smiled. “Thanks for the warm greeting. And you’re right. Do you have a PC where I can work on? And I also need the administration passwords, so I can check everything properly.”

“Alright, alright. Take this seat, I will scribble them down.”

The shorty was glad that he didn’t comment anything about her and only obliged to her requests. Unlike his brother Kankuro seemed friendlier and more open, a natural optimistic person. The PC was already turned on and so she only had to enter the company’s security spaces. After a few moments the brunet returned to her, in his hands a paper with all the necessary passwords. While typing them, Hiko waved at the guy. “Thanks. I will inform you about everything that I can find.”

“But I’m interested.” Smirking he took another chair and sat down beside her, his chin resting on the back of his rest. “My brother did some research on you and what he found out was really interesting. Is it true that you were involved in creating the tool “ProNinjaGuard XXL”?”

“A friend of mine just wanted me to take a look at the program, I only made some corrections. Nothing serious.”

“So you were! And that you graduated from the Sunagakure police academy? You know, me and my siblings also moved from there. I heard that the fail rate is incredible high!”

 

Hiko pushed the glasses up her nose and concentrated at the monitor. “Yeah. I graduated there, but found no work in the police department. So I moved to Konoha.” She entered the password and reached the deepest depths of the security of Sabaku Savings. “What did your brother also digged out?”

That shut Kankuro up for a while, so Hiko started to “search” for the breach. Naturally she already knew where it was, but that someone would look so closely at her made her more cautious of the task. The female had worked halfway through the thick security, when the guy suddenly jerked up. “I don’t remember much, but there was something about your parents… They are dead, right?”

She didn’t even flinch at the mention of her parents. “Yep. Dead and deep buried. Don’t you have some work to do?”

He only ruffled through his hair. “No, not at all. It’s interesting to watch you. You’re way faster than any IT-ler that I have ever seen. Did you find something already?” Kankuro wasn’t bothered by Hikos rough remark, maybe he was accustomed to such a treatment. She could imagine that being Gaaras brother, who lead a successful business and working under him build up a thick skin.

“No, but actually yes. And that is bothering me. See,” she pointed with her index finger at a line of code and Kankuro leaned closer, “your security is great. I have seen this program at many other companies, but this line…” her finger shifted to a column of letters and numbers, “shouldn’t be there. It doesn’t fit in.”

“And what is the function of it?”

Inwardly Hiko smirked. “You know, it even tightens your firewall instead of weakening it. Like this no ordinary hacker can approach you, only legends among them could sneak in right now. It looks like the hacker actually worked _for you_ , not against you. Nothing was stolen, not even sensitive info about clients or such.”

“Are you sure?”

“100%.” Hiko closed the program and returned to the home wall. Then she tilted her head to the confused Kankuro, who had closed his eyes in deep concentration. “That is everything right now. Thanks for your cooperation.”

“But you will write a report for us, right? That we can improve our firewall even further?”

“There isn’t really something left to strengthen, but okay. I can do it.”

He bowed before her, making her feel embarrassed. “Thank you so much Kobayashi-san. We appreciate your hard work.”

“No need to thank me.” Answered Hiko and went to the door. With a quick glance at her cellphone she noticed that she had let Kakashi wait for one whole hour. Hopefully he had found something to sit or such. Then a thought struck her. Why didn’t he also enter the office? A dark premonition dwelled inside the shorty, but she pushed it aside, hoping that her instincts were wrong for once.

‘Please don’t, please don’t. I couldn’t stand the mere thought of this bitch near my flat.’

 

But her worst fears were answered when Hiko opened the door and watched the trenchcoat bitch pressed against the silver haired man, so close that not even a sheet of paper would fit in between them. The flu mask tangled almost taunting from Kakashis left ear while he feverishly moved his lips that were still hidden from Hiko by the annoying white fabric. The shorty had the sudden urge to puke on the boots of the bitch when she heard a pressured moan from the woman. Hands roamed over bodies and tongues danced hastily like there was no tomorrow. She watched the making-out-session for three more heartbeats and even coughed, but the perverts didn’t stop. Instead they got even more desperate and continued to stick their tongues into each others throats.

“Fine. Get back on your own, you horny dork.” grumbled Hiko and turned to the exit. “I’m not so desperate to watch a fucking peep show.”

The woman left her bodyguard behind, stomping through the hallways and pouting. How dare Kakashi would make-out with such a whore! Such an impudent rude person, insulting Hiko and not even apologizing.

‘Stupid ass fucking asshole… God, because of her I’m working up a very serious Tourette-syndrome!’

Finally Hiko exited the massive building and stopped. She placed her hands onto the curves of her hips and breathed the fresh clean air. Then she let the soft breeze of the wind calm her troubled mind down, the soft chirps of the birds in the trees and the from time to time noise of the road near to Sabaku Savings also did their thing. At her car she tugged two times at the car door before the brunette realized it wouldn’t open up for her. She grunted annoyed when she recalled that Kakashi had still the keys. No music for her.

“Great. Just great. Now I have to wait for the perverted idiot. I hope that he at least doesn’t forget protection.” she mumbled and tapped at her knee. The rhythm made her after a few minutes sleepy, so she dropped it and fiddled with her cellphone, first informing Kakashi about her whereabouts, then playing ‘Snake’. It was boring, but it would be even worse without the game.

Suddenly a ring interrupted her and thankful for the distraction she took the call.

“Yes, you idiot? What’s up?”

Obitos cheerful voice echoed through the speaker. “The sky. Who are you calling an idiot?”

“You, Uchiha. So, tell me. Did something happen?” Relaxed she leaned against the frame of her red beetle, crossed her legs and smiled while listening to the words of her friend.

“You know, Rin-chan texted me today and she said that she wants to meet up! Can you believe it? I, Obito, who was rejected over and over again by different woman has finally a girl who is interested in me! And she asked me, not the other way around! I’m so happy, I could dance the whole time!”

“That’s good to hear. I’m happy for you too. Maybe you can also get rid of your virginity.”

“Hey! That was uncalled for!”

“Even I had at least my first time before I completely gave up on sex, so go for it.” joked Hiko. But then she realized her mistake, because Obito abruptly felt silent. His voice wasn’t friendly anymore when he spoke again.

“The dreams began, huh?”

 

The shorty sighed, removed her glasses and covered her tired eyes. “Is it so obvious?”

“You always try to joke around about sex when you had one. How bad was it?”

“On a scale from 1 to 10? 7, probably 8.”

“This bad… You know that you can always come to us if it gets worse.”

“I know, thanks man.”

“No problem shorty.”

Hiko couldn’t resist but to smile. Later she would place it on the lack of sleep, but then she suddenly whispered into the phone. “Obito? I love you. You are always…”

“Hey.” She had to bite her lip to keep her from crying when she heard the gentle voice. “I love you too, little sis. And you had always an open ear for me, so this is nothing. Just remember that we are your family, okay?”

“Okay.” With a stifled sob Hiko wiped the single tear away that escaped her self-control and pinched her cheek. “Now it’s better.”

“That’s great. Hey, can you help me with my preparations for my date with Rin-chan? Kisame and Itachi are too…”

“I know what you mean. Yes, everything for my brother. When is it?”

“This weekend. Can you come to me at Friday?”

“Wait, today is… Wednesday, right?”

“Yep. So in two days. Uhm, and maybe… Could you please ask Kakashi to come with you?”

“What? Why does this pervert needs to come too?”

A desperate sigh trailed out of the speakers. “Because he is _a man_. I mean, you are great and the best person I could ask for, but… It’s like girls who go together on the toilet, you know? I need also some manly advice here.”

She chuckled weakly. “I can ask him. But I don’t know if he has time for us this Friday, maybe he has a date.” Her lips turned into a scowl when she said that.

“A date? Why? And why did you call him earlier a pervert?”

“I was just at Sabaku Savings, because of the new hacker that breached the firewall here. And as I was done with my work, do you guess what he did? He embraced the bitchy chef of security and nearly choked her with his tongue!”

“No!”

“Yes. And the bitch dared to call me ‘dwarf’! And currently I’m waiting for him since twenty minutes at my own car and can’t drive to the police station because he has my car keys! When they are at least fucking like rabbits they could do it in private and not in the middle of a bank and did I mention that he has my keys!?”

“Do you truly know that they’re doing it?”

“Maybe I have exaggerated a bit, but only to get my point across. I swear, if her tongue would dip a little bit deeper into his throat it would stick out at the back of his neck!”

“Uuuuuuh!” A low whistle came from the Uchiha. “But why are you angry? You had no problem when Kisame occupied Itachi when they weren’t together yet. So why now? Only because the bitch is the one he kisses or is there some other reason?”

 

Suddenly Hiko stumbled over her words. “That isn’t… No, that- I mean it’s okay to… It’s just that she’s a bitch and Kakashi should look a little bit deeper into a person before making-out with someone…” she muttered, before she threw a reassuring glance over her shoulder and saw the man they were currently talking about waving lazily at the purple haired woman who stood in the entrance. “Obito, he finally decided to grace me with his presence. We will talk later. Bye.”

“You have to tell me everything ab-!” Fastly the female pressed the red button and ended the call, then Kakashi reached the car and got in. Hiko followed him quickly inside. Suppressing a frown, the woman buckled up and instead grinned at the cop. “You and Mitarashi-san, huh? The scene that I saw was quite heated.”

“Why didn’t you say something?”

He was angry. With a furious tug at his jacket he ripped the keys out and started with a sharp motion the car. “It’s my job to protect you while we are out of the station, so why did you leave without me?”

Hiko crossed her arms and growled. “To your information, I tried. I tried to talk to you, but it seemed like most of your blood rushed to a lower place instead to your brain. And I really didn’t want to look like a stalker, so I left. Sorry, but I’m not interested in your sex life.”

“Then you should have ripped us apart! It’s my job, so let me do it!”

“Your job is to kiss the living daylights out of Mitarashi-san?”

Kakashi tightened his grip around the wheel that his knuckles were drained from all blood. “Stop that Hiko. You know exactly what I mean. Even when I’m… occupied otherwise, then stop me from whatever I’m doing and drag me along with you, even when my jeans are down.” He turned the wheel and took the next diversion, his jaw tensed and his black eyes set straight at the road.

Hiko watched him and nibbled at her lower lip, unsure what to do. It was true, both of them made just now mistakes, but she didn’t want to apologize first. It was his fault for making out with the bitch and not hers! However, he didn’t see it this way, so she had to take the first step.

            ‘Stupid prick. You stupid stupid stupid…’

She grumbled lowly, before placing her glasses again in their rightful place. “Sorry Kakashi. I shouldn’t have run away like this and probably also inform you thoroughly about my whereabouts. I’m sorry for making your task more difficult.” Slightly annoyed the female huffed and turned to the window beside her. The roads of Konoha flew by, only interrupted by the few stops at crossings. For May it was warm, the sun shone brightly upon the buildings and a little breeze made the heat comfortable. Little children played in a park, while the parents sat in some distance and chatted happily. A friendly scenery and Hiko smiled when she saw a kid falling flat to its face, but a girl helped the boy up and then they played together.

‘So cute. Such little sweeties. I wish I could be a mother, but I can’t. Yeah, physically it’s possible and no problem at all, but I don’t want to have sex. I _can’t_ have sex with someone, never.’

Beside her Kakashi shifted on his seat. Then his hoarse voice cut through the silence. “I’m sorry too. I got distracted by Anko-san and that is not acceptable. This will not happen again.”   

 

He looked for a quick moment at her and coal eyes meet blue ones. She smiled and then he chuckled too. Without words both understand that this matter was solved.

“You perverted womanizer.” said Hiko and shook her head. “You can’t even go to work without bewitching a woman.”

The silver haired man grunted as a response. “It wasn’t my doing. She was the one who cornered me and then… It got out of my hand.”

“Poor Kakashi. The evil Mitarashi-san has forced you to drop your mask and kiss her. You should probably arrest her, but she seems like the type of woman who enjoys being tied down. Am I right?”

“…We only kissed.”

She waved at him. “Sure, everything you say. I waited at my car for twenty minutes and I know that it’s long enough for a quickie. I just hope that you didn’t get a weird disease.”

Kakashi speed up and passed a car. Under his mask it wasn’t visible, but Hiko could swear that he blushed a little bit. He probably never had such a talk with someone else, so she had even more fun in teasing him a bit.

“And I assure you, we only kissed! It was long, sloppy and a little bit… yeah, heated, but nothing else happened.”

She clicked amused her tongue. “Sloppy, huh? Interesting description. If I browse through “Icha-Icha-Paradise” will I find this word somewhere? Please, don’t answer, I know that it must be in there. How did that actually happen? I mean, she cornered you? That’s weak.”

The man rolled his eyes while turning into the street where the police station was located. “I don’t know. First she flirted with me, then I got somehow her number, then we talked a bit more and then…” Kakashi ruffled confused through his silver mane, “We ended up making out.” With skill he parked Hikos car at the parking slot reserved for the KPD and turned it off.

“That’s what you call sexual attraction.” stated the shorty and felt a distant pain in her heart when she thought about her friend with the unfriendly bitch. “Just be careful, okay?”

Askingly Kakashi glanced at her, while she fiddled with her backpack. “Careful? Why?”

Hiko pushed her glasses up and smiled gently at him. “Not only female hearts can break, you know? Just… be careful. I don’t want to see you hurt because of someone. Then I had to kill the person and it would leave such a mess behind. Imagine, the blood and the screams…” With a low chuckle she snatched the car keys from him and hopped out of her beetle, leaving the stunned and happy man behind, who again had an idiotic smile on his lips.  

“Aah, yes. I almost forgot. Obito wants to meet up with us two at Friday. Are you free?”

Behind her she heard the closing sound of the door and footsteps when he followed her, surely with the hands in his pockets like always.

“I would like to.”


	14. Date advice

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hiko and Kakashi meet Obito and give him some sort of advice. But both get also something from Obito in return.

“Hiko! Kakashi-san! Thank god you’re here!”

Obito opened the door to his apartment and on his face was an expression unrecognizable to Kakashi, a wild mix between happiness, tension and fear. He was only wearing an undershirt and black boxers, but the woman beside him didn’t even flinch at the half naked state of her friend. Instead she passed the nervous Uchiha without any hesitation. “Hey idiot. Do you really want to wear that to your date?”

Obito looked down on his body, obviously surprised at his clothing. Then he laughed hoarsely and scratched the back of his neck. “This and a few bits of clothing more. What’cha waiting for Kakashi-san? Step in!”

He followed the brunette and the raven into the surprisingly clean and neat flat. Kakashi had thought that it would be messy, but the Uchiha seemed to take good care of the style of his own space. A reign of different plants resided near the window and the walls were plastered with pictures, taken by Obito. There were images of Hiko and Itachi as children, as teenagers and as adults. They smiled into the camera, alright, mostly Hiko smiled. Itachi wasn’t the type of person to smile for a picture. Some new pictures were also pinned in between, with Kisame and Itachi arm in arm and Hiko, making bunny ears behind the blue giants head. Kakashi looked closely at the images, shifting to the next when he finished scanning the last and sometimes smiling when he saw a funny scene.

Hiko stepped beside him and rubbed her chin. “You have added some more, Obito. Don’t you get in trouble with all the needles you used?”

The Uchiha had slipped into a loose sweat pant and a white shirt while his guests stared at the pictures. “The landlord doesn’t know, so keep quiet. Did you see the latest? It’s in my Top Five.” He pointed at an image right beside the door to the entrance are. Kakashi was curious and leaned closer.

It was from their gathering nearly a week ago. Obito had managed to capture all four persons in one frame. Hiko just raised her hand to throw a water balloon at Kisame, who was unaware of the hit. The blue giant looked into the camera, the black hair ruffled and clothes wet. Kakashi himself was sneaking up behind Hiko, also a balloon in his hands and brightly smiling underneath his mask. Only Itachi wasn’t facing the camera, he sat still at the porch with the back to Obito and sipped on something.

Hiko chuckled lowly and sat down on the 3 seater couch. She crossed her arms behind her head and winked at the two men. “I must say that it’s also one of my favorites. And Kakashi? Do you like it too?”

 

The silver haired man was speechless. A lump has formed in his throat, effectively shutting him up. Alone the simple fact that such a photo was taken stunned him, but that Obito had hung it to the other images AND exclaimed that it was one of his favorites…

‘At the latest I had to thank Hiko now that she befriended me. I never imagined that something like this could happen a year ago and today I’m standing in the middle of a friends living room, together with another friend, trying to comprehend the simple fact that I have friends.’

“Kakashi?” Careful Hiko called the silver haired mans name out. “Is everything alright?”

Sharply he nodded. “Yes, more than that. I’m more than alright.” He felt his hands tremble and clenched them into fists. “Maybe…” he coughed nervously, “Could I have a copy of this photograph?”

Obito grinned brightly at him. “Sure! I will give it to you at Monday, I don’t have a printer here.” Hiko elbowed the Uchiha and shot a glare at the tall man until he sweatdropped. “I could print it in high quality…? Ow! Man, your elbow is sharp… Okay, I will go to a printer shop and print it on the _good_ photograph paper.”

“I told you more than a hundred times that the printer at the police station is as good as crap!”

“But you also said that you’re not into printers and you have only a 50/50 chance of being right…”

“That’s not the point! Who’s responsible for all the technical devices at work?”

“…”

“Don’t give me that look, dobe. And you know that’s me. So call me your highness or else.”

“Or else? What could be worse than… No, I didn’t mean it like that! Stop thinking about a new wicked plan of yours!”

“Stop me if you dare, Uchiha. Go on, I wait for you.”

Kakashi watched the two persons banter, Obito getting with each second closer into a corner and Hiko cornering him in said corner, always wearing a smile on her lips.

‘They can play the proper adults when needed, but I like both of them more when they are like this: open, teasing and arguing with each other about something so easy. I’m happy that Hiko is again herself. I was scared for a moment back then.’

Wednesday was a rather confusing and at the same time satisfying day for Kakashi. After they had cleared their discussion, he and Hiko continued their own tasks at the police station, before going home together. When he asked her about the beer, she laughed it off and explained that it was from the evening before. And her tiredness was from the expanded research she had worked on, regarding the hacker and watching out for someone who was bragging about breaching Sabaku Savings. Hiko was a serious worker and couldn’t stand it if a cybercriminal who could be captured by her was free when she would be able to get him into prison. She was proud about her record and said that she wanted it to stay perfect, with all means. And if it meant to work late after midnight and reading poorly written paragraphs, then she would do it.

 

With a loud clap Kakashis attention focused on the shorty, who clapped loudly for the Uchiha. “I’m impressed. But don’t you think that watching a movie together at the first date is a little bit… how should I put it? Impersonal?”

Obito crossed pouting his arms. “You’re years behind grandma. Watching a movie is now hip and fresh.”

“Good for you and your poor brain that you were wise enough to call for a second opinion. Say Kakashi, is a visit at the cinema fit for a first date?” Askingly Hiko glanced at him, waiting attentively for an answer, just like the raven beside her.

The silver haired man shifted on his feet. “You know, cinema is good for a second or third date, but not the first. The woman usually wants to get to know the man involved and in a theatre you can’t talk in peace. Settle for a restaurant or something.”

Hiko turned triumphantly to her friend, who let himself slump into a sturdy armchair. “See? Told you so.”

“Hmpf.” Obito grunted, but then his face lit up. “And what should I talk about? I don’t want to scare her somehow and I always seem to talk about improper things.”

“You said she messages with you, right? Are you yourself during your conversations?” she said.

The raven scratched his cheek sheepishly smiling. “Well, yes. Did I do wrong?”

Only now Kakashi settled down on the other side of Hiko and looked straight into the Uchihas eyes. “No and knowing this I can guarantee you that topics for talking is your smallest problem. If she can keep up with your usual attics in written form, you only have to worry about other things.”

Hiko nodded. “I can totally agree. Be yourself, woman usually notice if something is off about their date.”

Now something strange happened, something that Kakashi couldn’t grasp. Obitos eyes widened at Hikos statement and he could see an unspoken question in the expressive orbs. The woman weakly shook her head and smiled almost sadly at her childhood friend. In return his forehead wrinkled slightly, like he was a little bit angry at her for her attitude, but didn’t want to pressure the shorty. She then rolled her eyes and huffed, just like a teenager who was questioned by his overprotective parents. That made the raven only more furious and he gestured her to leave the living room. Towards Kakashi Obito waved and smiled warily. “I have to talk to her for a moment. Please, make yourself comfy.”

“Thanks…?”

Curious the cops eyes followed the Uchiha. He wanted to know what they were talking about. What were they hiding from him?

 

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“Dammit, Obito!” Growling Hiko sat down on his wide bed and stared up to the angry Uchiha. “Do you want to draw a picture for him? That I was raped and imprisoned for a week by my overly possessive psychopathic boyfriend? How do you draw something like this anyway?”

“Stop making jokes about it.” His mouth was pressed into a thin line and Obito looked really pissed, an expression that she had seen only three times in the span she was his friend. “God Hiko, stop making jokes about that. That’s sick. I can’t stand that anymore, you and your smiling face when I know that the only thing you want to do is cry until you’re empty. You’re hurting yourself more than healing.”

Anger swept over the woman. “Do you think that I like this?” she hissed. “Do you really believe that I like the way that I handle my life? But it gets harder every week to get up and keep up my façade, but it’s the only thing that I can do. The only way how can I stand _myself_ , Obito. By smiling at you and my other friends, by making jokes about that incident and being for a week in a year the person that I was before that.”

“But that isn’t you!” Desperate the man kneeled down in front of her, his face at her eye level. His orbs pleaded her, begged her to… to… She didn’t know what he wanted from her. “Hiko. Please, stop this. It’s not you. It’s just not like you, being down like this. You are witty, you have a sharp tongue, you are a stunning beauty,” he stopped her from protesting, “Don’t talk back about this matter, you are beautiful, despite what you believe. I can see you with your scars and I have never seen such an impressive personality ever before. And you aren’t the person from eleven years ago, _because_ of what happened and you will never go back to it. Celebrating it like this, being drunk, staying up all night and doing what the hell you’re doing when you lock yourself up can’t be a solution to your problem.”

She laughed dryly at his kind words. “Then tell me what would help me, because I tried so many things that I can’t stand another therapy, another support group or another meditation session. I know that you believe I don’t try hard enough, that I only have to put myself back together, but you forget that I’m the one who suffers. And you have seen the outcomes. You have seen it.” Hiko stretched her right arm out, the sleeve was rolled up and revealed the cutting scars and her tattoo. Pained Obito stared at the thin silver lines, before he closed his eyes from the memories that crashed into him.

“You found me in my blood. You know how it destroyed me to be ra-!”

“Don’t say it!”

“Raped. Raped, Obito. Raped by a psycho who loved to drink my blood. It’s the reality and not a movie that you can pause if you want. And it happened, even if you try to shut me up. You have found me in time to save me and I’m thankful for that. But don’t interfere with my personal handling of this situation.”

Gently she lifted his chin up and rested her forehead against his. For an outsider it would look like an intimate gesture of lovers, but for Hiko it was showing her affection to her brother, nothing else. “It’s my own way and no matter how dark and twisted it is, I will walk it nevertheless, because I can only move forward, hoping that one day I will see the light again. And it became much brighter since then, because of you, because of Itachi and Kisame, because of my work that I love, because of all the people that I know. And until that day, when I step into the sun again, my brother, please let me walk that path, no matter how wrong it seems to you. I will still love you at the end of the day, if I will be the current Hiko or another one.”

 

“You don’t need to change.” whispered Obito. She felt his body trembling when he suppressed a sob and felt his hands gripping carefully her forearms. “There is no need to change. Please Hiko. Please. Don’t change because of that fucker.”

“He is indeed a fucker. And I will only change once a year, promise.”

He laughed weakly, small tears dripping from his eye lashes. “I said that you shouldn’t make jokes about it. You’re a twisted witch, my sister.”

“I give my worst after all.” chuckled Hiko. Her own eyes were dry in comparison to Obito, who had to wipe his tears away. But she also felt the paining sadness in her heart when she watched him like this, suffering instead of her.

“Hiko?”

“Hmm?”                                                                            

Obito looked pleading at her, now with less passion but more warmth in his gaze. “You don’t have to promise me that you only change once a year. Promise me instead that you will take every chance to capture the love that you deserve and not be scared when a problem comes up. You are strong, I can’t doubt that, but your love life is even dustier than mine. Promise me that you will seek love again.”

Hiko shook her head, but smiled with melancholy in her eyes at him. “Sure. Under the circumstance that someone wants a scared, scarred shorty with a sharp tongue. I will try my best to not let this poor human flea. Promise.”

“That was everything I wanted to hear.” Sighing Obito stood up and rubbed his hurting knees. “Now I will have arthritis in the future. Are you now satisfied?”

The shorty felt that his anger has calmed down enough to allow her point of view in his quotation. But she didn’t know why he insisted on such a stupid promise. Nobody was close enough to Hiko to fall in love with her. The only humans she let close were Itachi, Kisame and Obito. Itachi and Kisame were happily together and Obito was too much of a brother to her to even consider the possibility of bounding with him. And Kakashi… He had now Mitarashi-san, maybe he could become happy with her. With Hiko the only thing that would await a man were constant fights and panic attacks.

            ‘Nothing good would come from a relationship with me.’

 

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

“Oh, come on!” Hiko snarled annoyed when she stepped on another street from Kakashi. “You’re an extremely greedy landlord, you know that?”

“It’s the capitalism that forces me to do this. I get 21 000$ from you.”

Desperate she looked on her money, a pitiful pile of One-Dollar-Notes. “I’m afraid that I don’t have enough money. And I also don’t have any reserves…”

Kakashi smiled his curved-eye-smile and shuffled contently his cards. “Guess that makes me the winner.”

Obito propped back on the couch and finished his drink. “Finally. This round of Monopoly took too long for my taste.”

The silver haired man gestured at the pouting woman, who started to pack the board game again into the box. “Hiko was the problem here. You were easily devoured, but she was as stubborn as a mule and didn’t want to go down.”

“Down with the capitalism, hip hip hurray for the socialism!” muttered the female and snatched the cards away from the lanky cop, who only laughed at her attics.

“Is she always like this when she lost?” he asked, still smirking underneath his mask.

“Only after hard and long battles. And Monopoly tends to be long and hard.” Obito slapped on his legs before getting up and walking into the kitchen. “Is anybody else hungry? I could feast on a horse right now.”

After Hiko and Obito had returned from their private talk, they pursued Kakashi to play Monopoly with them and he grumpily obliged. The Uchiha didn’t own a large table, so the three had to sit on the carpet in the space between couch and TV like children. His unwillingness however didn’t stop him from stripping Obito from all his game money, but Hiko was another topic. She had averted all his streets that it almost seemed like witchcraft. But in the last round the misfortune struck her hard and she stepped constantly on all his streets.

At the mentioning of food Hikos face lit visibly up. “Can we order something? Please Obito!”

Kakashi dusted his unstained clothes off and took a quick peek at his cellphone. Nearly 9 p.m. Ordering some food sounded like a good idea. His stomach grumbled at the mere thought of pizza or some Asian take-out. “I also wouldn’t say ‘No’ to some fast food.” he stated.

“Okay, okay.” Obito surrendered to the pleading eyes of Hiko and the amused stare of Kakashi and searched for some prospects of restaurants. “Any preferences?”

The female thought for a moment, then she shared a glance with the still sitting silver haired man. Without words they communicated and in unison they blurted out: “Pizza.” Then Hiko giggled at the Uchihas confused expression, who then rolled annoyed his eyes.

“You two are even worse than Itachi and Kisame. Do you practice that?”

“Sometimes. We try to read each other minds and complete our sentences…?”

“…”

“Kakashi that was your signal! The word was ‘too’!”

“Didn’t feel like it.”

 

With a face that expressed her amused state, Hiko huffed playfully and waved her index finger, just like she wanted to lecture a little child. “You’re a meanie. Please, get immediately out of here.”

Kakashi leaned back on his hands and smirked. “If I get on the way a Peperoni Pizza, then great.”

Obito scribbled it absent minded down. “Okay, one peperoni, one mozzarella and one with fries on top. I’ll make the call then.” And like this he vanished inside his bedroom again.

“Don’t look at me!” yelled the brunette when she saw the raised eyebrow of the silver haired cop. “It’s his strange tic, not mine! I love cheese and especially mozzarella.”

“I’m just wondering. This combination would fit you somehow. In comparison, mozzarella is plain and boring and you’re not like that.”

“Is that a compliment? Because it didn’t feel quite like one.”

He shrugged lazily. “You can take it either way.” he murmured, suddenly overly conscious of Hikos face. He didn’t intend to compliment her, but he was glad that he did, because the females mouth lifted into a beaming smile and on her cheeks appeared a faint flash of pink. Fumbling on the long sleeves of her panda pullover, she stepped closer to Kakashis place and kneeled beside his legs down. Suddenly he smelled her special scent that he had recognized at their first meeting: vanilla and raspberries. In the back of his analytical mind he questioned the source, was it her shampoo or simply soap? But when he felt Hikos slender fingers ruffling through his hair and playing with a few strands, the cop had to stop himself from jolting at the surprisingly cautious touch.

“It’s soft…” Her voice sounded earnestly shocked. Nevertheless Hiko didn’t stop her ministrations, in fact she even leaned closer and inspected his hair closely. “I expected it to be rough, but it’s soft. How do you do that?”

A little bit flustered Kakashi shrugged. “Don’t know. It was always like this, I don’t actually do something…”

“Hmm.” Concentrated the female shifted her position now completely on her knees and brushed in the process his lower abdomen. The heat radiating from her small body surprised the man and unconsciously he also shifted closer to her, that his flank touched her legs. She didn’t seem to notice, behind her thick glasses the vivid blue eyes were focused on the silver mane in front of her. Then her lips turned into a small pout and the crystal orbs locked with his coal ones. “That’s unfair. Do you know how much I had to invest into my hair? Here.”

With her words she reached to his left hand, leaded it near to her own hair and placed one thick curl between his fingers. Like satin the strand flowed over his fingertips. Kakashi was stunned at the softness and twirled the streak around his index finger. “But you did a good job.” he said. “It’s beautiful.”

“Yours too.”

 

Kakashi was once more baffled at the honest nature of Hiko and her natural blunt words. For the shorty it was easy to mock someone, but if she offered some nice words to a person, you would instantly know that they were true. She told Kakashi straightforward that she liked his hair, like she told Kisame that she was jealous of his height or Obito that she liked his photography. He had never been like this, so it surprised him even more when he discovered that he liked to compliment the brunette.

‘And so I like to have Hiko near me. It feels good, somehow peaceful. Hanare never had her aura, she was beautiful, but it is more the beauty of a snowflake: cold and fragile. Hiko instead… feels warm. And I can’t bring myself to turn away from her.’

“Pizza is ordered and-! Oh my, oh my, what do we have here?” Smirking Obito stared at the two persons at his carpet and Kakashi let Hikos hair fall down like he had burned his fingertips on them, but the shorty reacted much calmer at the loud Uchiha. Careful she gave the silver mane one last tug, before she pushed her glasses up and turned to her childhood friend. “I just said that I like Kakashis hair. Look, it stands up like he stuffed his fingers into a socket, but it’s so soft!” To underline her words, she ruffled again over the mans head.

Her fingers seemed to remain a little bit longer at his scalp than before, but it also could be his imagination.

Obito walked into the kitchen and sighed when he opened the fridge. “Yeah, I’m sure that he could make commercials for shampoo. Whatever. Does anybody wants something to drink?”

Immediately Hiko jumped on her feet and Kakashi strangely missed the body radiating heat beside him. “Do you have lemonade?”

Hiko took a peek over Obitos shoulder and her happy face dropped to a disappointed expression. “Guess not… Fine, then I will just drink some water.” she said.

“You know that the supermarket isn’t far from here.” stated the Uchiha. “A two minutes’ walk. I will go and buy it for you, alright?”

“You don’t have to…”

“But I want.” Playfully he ruffled through her free hair, not hindered by the usual present beanie. “And I also went out of beer, so I will kill two birds with one stone! Kakashi will surely accompany me, right?”

“Sure.”

“Then it’s settled!” Obito launched into the entrance area and slipped a blue hoodie and shoes on faster than Kakashi could follow. He had only one arm in his jacket, then the raven grabbed him at the shoulder and opened the door. “Bye!”

Hiko stuck her head out of the living room and waved. “Bye! Wait, do you have money?”

Obito pointed at his pockets. “Right here. You sound like my mother, you know.”

“Just because you would tend to lose your head if it wasn’t safely secured at your body.”

Kakashi chuckled while the other man flushed a bit and scratched his cheek. “You didn’t have to scream it out aloud. We’ll back in a few minutes, okay?”

 

He yanked at Kakashis shoulder and together they set off to the supermarket. Obito lived in a nice district, a little bit worn down, but still decent, so it was no problem to walk around at such a late hour. And the man was also right when he said it was only a short walk. Soon the bright shining sign of “Hozuki Market” came into sight. A yellow page informed the visitors of the store that the little shop would close soon due to some “internal problems”.

Kakashi enjoyed the silence between them and had his hands stuffed into the pockets of his jacket, but suddenly Obito spook up when they entered the supermarket. “Listen, Kakashi-san…”

“If it’s about the scene you saw earlier, I swear, there’s nothing-!”

“Relax. Man, I haven’t even started yet and you assume I’m going to scold you. No, it’s not about earlier, but I must say I’m interested when you two got so close.” Obito patted reassuring his shoulder. “Usually Hiko isn’t fond of body contact. I’m glad that she warmed up so fastly to you.”

Unbelieving Kakashi shook his head. The two men searched inside the market for the aisle with the drinks, but it was big and some corners were slightly unorganized. “Hiko isn’t fond of body contact? She pokes people all the time, slaps them, hugs them…” His voice got weak when he recalled her behavior. Sometimes the shorty jolted away from a touch when it surprised her, or hesitated for a second before she took the offered hand for a greeting. Only when she was with her close friends she didn’t react _scared_ to sudden touches or accidental brushes.

Obito crossed his arms behind the head and huffed. “Now you noticed. Yeah, Hiko can’t stand being touched, but touching someone else is fine for her. But that isn’t my point now. See,” he turned suddenly left and Kakashi had to jog to catch up, “Next week she has requested for some vacation. The chief granted it and usually one of us, Itachi or I also request some holidays, but this year Itachi was denied and Kisame has to cover up his business. Luckily you are here.”

The Uchiha stopped before the aisle with drinks. Kakashi nearly stumbled into the man, but somehow managed to dodge and came abruptly to a halt. “Why?”

For a moment the two black pairs of eyes met, then Obito rested his chin in the palm of his hand. “I want you to look after her a little bit. A quick check up in the morning when you leave, a short look when you get home. Nothing special.”

Kakashi spotted the favorite drink of the female just above them and reached out to the six pack of lemonade. When he had the package safely in his hands and saw that Obito meanwhile got some beer and cider, he raised an eyebrow. “She is an adult. Hiko doesn’t need someone to _look after her_.”

“You don’t know her as we do.”

 

“What do you mean, I don’t know her?”

Obito clicked his tongue. On his face creeped a shade of concern and melancholy, an expression that Kakashi knew all too well from himself. “It’s not my turn to tell you,” he answered slowly, “but I believe that after this week she has told you everything that you need to know. Probably.”

Kakashi thought that the Uchiha added something, but he mumbled it under his breath, so the silver haired man couldn’t hear it. Placing the six pack of lemonade at the cash register, he waited until Obito payed for their purchases and they were again out on the street before investigating further. “And why exactly should I follow your words? I mean, Hiko and I are only friends for some weeks, not years like you guys. So why should I?”

“Isn’t it obvious? She has opened her heart for you because of that special feeling of her and I trust her feeling. You aren’t an asshole, because then Hiko wouldn’t even bother with you. And like this I _entrust_ you with her wellbeing for this week, got it?”

“Okay. Okay. I’ll do it.” He didn’t know that the foul Uchiha could glare like this, but maybe the ‘I-will-kill-you-if-you-disobey-me-glare’ runs in the family.

Satisfied Obitos pace got faster, unaware of Kakashis confusion. “It’s easy. Just listen at her door, when the music is happy or angry, you can relax. If it gets sad, then start to worry and if it gets depressing or creepy, like songs for children with some disturbing tone under it, knock the hell out of her door. Hiko will not open up, but I will give you my spare keys to her flat. Only knock to give her a warning that you’re coming in. And…”

Abruptly he turned around, his face shifting between concern and worry. “And when she acts… _strange_ ,” Obito scowled at the word, “When she cries or screams or is drunk, when she does anything that isn’t like herself, please, call us. Hiko tends to be difficult around this time and I don’t want to pressure you into nursing her.”

“Hey, you said that she selected me because of a _feeling_.” growled Kakashi and moved the six pack in a more comfortable position. “Then let me deal with it. I want to know what’s going on here and if it’s the only chance to find out, then I will even wear a nurse costume.”

“Alright. Just call us if it gets too much, okay? You’re cool and also my friend, so…” Obito laughed embarrassed. “Man, I didn’t think that you would like her so much already. Usually you’re so aloof and give those special ‘Do-not-approach-me-vibes’ off, but just now I could tell that you were clearly worried. I’m glad,” he chuckled and the low rumble echoed in the stairwell, “that Hiko was right about you, Kakashi-san.”

 

Before the silver haired man could retort with an annoyed and even though embarrassed snarl, they stood before Obitos apartment and Hiko opened, on her face plastered a grin. “That took awfully long, you two.” she mocked both men while opening the door wider to let them through. “Even the delivery man was here in the meantime. I had to pay!”

“And I brought for you your sour as fuck lemonade.” Obito threw one package of glass bottles into the woman’s direction and she catched it easily. “That your face can stay perfectly still while drinking this goes beyond my horizon.”

Kakashi went into the living room and placed the six pack beside three cartons with a pizza logo printed on it at the kitchen counter, before he got his wallet out and searched for some money. Already with a 10$ note in his hands he wanted it to give to Hiko, but she refused with a repellent gesture. “I got you Kakashi.”

“But…”

“No buts.” Single minded the shorty shoved the hand away from her, winking at him in the process. Her nose wrinkled a little bit when her lips curved into a smile. “Truth is, we cover always each others expanses and don’t pay back. We are a lazy bunch and money isn’t important to us. Can you live with this?”

Kakashi stood perfectly still for a moment, enjoying the sudden close proximity to the brunette. Again her sweet innocent smell flooded his nostrils and overthrew even the strong scent of the freshly hot baked goods at the table. “Yeah.” he rasped finally and pulled away. “I can live with this.”

“Great.” Hiko spun around and opened the pizza box at the top. “This one is Obitos. All the fries… Do you think he would notice if I steal some from him?”

“Probably not.”

Kakashi watched the female picking five fries of the others pizza. The smile on her face was genuine.

‘Obito said ‘when’, not ‘if’. Does that mean that Hiko will be out of her mind? But why? Why should her smile fade? What will happen and what happened to her?’

Only when the Uchiha came back from the toilet and discovered that some of his fries were stolen, that Kakashi realized the raven was right. He didn’t know Hiko at all.


	15. Curtain Call

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The chapter before Hiko spills everything.  
> A bit of alcohol, some swearing (let's be honest, a lot of drunk swearing) and a tiny bit of fluff.  
> The tiniest bit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I mentioned some songs in this chapter and I don't own a single one of them.

So far, Kakashi thought when he locked his door, the job was easy. The weekend was over and at the first two days the music from Hikos apartment was happy or angry. Only yesterday, after he came back from the police station, a sad song trailed through the massive door. But then she had skipped it and Kakashi entered his own home, hastily stripping his sweaty clothes off. Summer came over Konoha with all his might and the air conditioning at the KPD only worked properly in the lower levels. All policemen in the main office had brought fans or ventilators to work, but that didn’t help against the thick humid air creeping into the bureau. Inside the apartment complex it was delightful cold and Kakashi inwardly danced everytime he entered the building.

            ‘And again.’

More practiced than he wanted to admit, the man rested his ear on the door to Hikos flat. For a moment he heard nothing, but then the deep sound of a bass let the wood vibrate slightly.

 

_And you can see my heart, beating,                                           “Russian Roulette”_

_You can see it through my chest_

_I'm terrified but I'm not leaving, no_

_I know that I must pass this test_

_So just pull the trigger (trigger, trigger, trigger)_

 

Kakashi recognized the song from somewhere and his organized mind told him that the background was Russian Roulette, a game with a gun, loaded with only one bullet. And whoever got the luck to pull the trigger when the one bullet was in the chamber…

‘I think that counts as sad-slightly creepy. But it’s not depressing, so I think I can let it slip this time. I hope it don’t get worse than this.’

His fingers brushed the spare key that Obito somehow managed to place inside his jacket. Hopefully he didn’t had to use it today.

In jeans and darkred t-shirt, the thin grey hoodie thrown over his shoulder and his helmet jammed under the arm, Kakashi walked away from the door and started his day. Humming faintly he got his phone out to text Anko-san and ask for a meet-up at weekend. The answer came almost in the same minute.

            _Anko: Why wait so long? ;)_

_Kakashi: I have appointments. But Saturday is free._

_Anko: Then I will wait. After all it also heightens the pleasure_

_Kakashi: Wasn’t last Sunday enough?_

_Anko: Oh never sweetie._

The cop chuckled lowly. He met up with Anko-san at Sunday, a spontaneous date and it climaxed in two climaxes for both of them. They quickly agreed that a relationship wasn’t in their interest and that sex was the only thing they wanted from each other. With a newfound swing in his step Kakashi breathed in and started his Yamaha, in his thoughts at the police station.

 

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Apparently he was wrong. It could get worse.

The first indicator was that Konan crossed his path when Kakashi entered the apartment complex in the evening, a pained expression on her face and earplugs in her hands. Without another word she gave them to him and passed by, leaving a confused cop behind. Ruffling through his hair he stared at the screaming yellow plugs, then he shrugged and stuffed them into his pocket.

The second indicator was the faint melody of a lullaby that greeted him when Kakashi exited the separate stairwell. It wasn’t loud enough to be called a nuisance, but it send shivers down his spine when he could hear the text from his own door.

 

_Follow, sweet children                                                              “Come little children”_

_I’ll show thee the way_

_Through all the pain and the sorrows_

_Weep not poor children_

_For life is this way_

_Murdering beauty and passions_

_Hush now, dear children_

_It must be this way_

_To weary of life and deceptions_

_Rest now, my children_

_For soon we’ll away_

_Into the calm and the quiet_

“It goes like this since three hours.”

Genma stuck his head out of his apartment. He moved the senbon from one corner of his mouth to the other while he spoke. “I know that Hiko-san does that once a year, but it’s like always creepy as fuck.”

“Once a year?” echoed Kakashi while he fought with the lock of his own door.

“Yeah and this time it’s worse than ever. I live in this complex now for five years and it was never like this before. Hopefully she stops that in time, tomorrow I have the double-shift.”

“I will work on that.” mumbled Kakashi, finally unlocking the door. He turned to the other man, only to see teary eyes blinking in awe at him.

“You’re a holy man, Hatake-san. May God and all sacred powers be with you.”

Genma shut the door with a loud clap that almost drowned in the next song, remarkably stronger than the last before.

 

_I can't even remember how it started.                                        “Painted smile”_

_A nagging voice._

_My normal then departed from me._

_Primal urges spiriting my senses away,_

_Foggy glimpses of the boy I used to be._

_Preyed upon by the lowest of society,_

_They're parasitic,_

_Demanding your conformity._

_Pushing limits,_

_Things are gonna get real ugly._

_Ripping through the last shreds of my humanity._

            ‘This is without a doubt creepy.’

Kakashi fastly stripped out of the sweat stained clothes and slipped into loose baggy pants and another black t-shirt with a red swirl printed on his chest. Rummaging through his pocket he finally claimed the spare keys, stumbled almost over his shoes before he slammed his door shut and nearly crashed into the opposite door, in his hurry reduced to a clumsy person. He knocked, but nothing could be heard from the apartment, except for the loud music. He knocked again, only to be sure that Hiko recognized that someone would enter, then he fumbled a little bit with the key.

Surprised he looked down on his trembling fingers. Why were they shaking? He wasn’t afraid, or was he? He couldn’t tell right away, but then it dawned on him like opening curtains in an old theatre.

The man was worried about Hiko. Simple worry for another person caused his nature to turn upside down, deducing a usual composed officer into a clumsy, shaking man. If he wouldn’t be so confused right now, Kakashi would actually laugh about this deeply.

“No time for this.” he murmured and finally hit the key hole. As the door opened, the creepy music got noticeable louder. The melody resounded in his brain, echoed between the walls of his head and kept stuck in it. Like a disease it spread and Kakashi was almost afraid of entering the living room, where Hiko must be.

            ‘Come on, what is in there to be scared of? Hiko and she surely won’t attack you.’

“Hello?” Trying to be louder than the now ending song, he stepped into the living room. Darkness spread in the room and he had to wait a moment before his eyes were adjusted to the sudden missing of light. First he noticed the bottles around the couch. All kinds of alcohol, from soft sorts like beer to the hard stuff laid around, piling near the couch. A foot dangled over the armrest, a small slender foot, the toes curling and uncurling to the beat.

Then the smell hit Kakashi, the scent of a person who sweated a lot and hasn’t showered for some time, plus the thick air of a room who wasn’t aired for a while. Together it was a fragrance that he wanted to forget as soon as possible. The man stepped determined to the window and opened it wide, in the process he ripped the curtains aside, letting the soft light of the evening sun into the room.

 

No reaction came from the person on the sofa, so Kakashi walked to the blaring radio and turned it off. The abrupt silence seemed almost louder than the music before.

“Hiko?” he asked carefully and only now his attention was fully on the woman, “Is everything…?”

It was horrible. He gasped loudly and quickly his hand flew to his mouth, trying to catch the shocked expression again.

            ‘That isn’t Hiko. It can’t be. I mean, only three days?’

Her small form was cladded into the grey old sweatpants and a beige tank top with a red ‘Happy Birthday!’ printed on the chest. That was everything positive to say about the scene that was laid out in front of the cop. Hikos face was dull and lifeless, nothing resembled the cheerful and energetic woman from a few days ago. The greasy brown hair dangled around her head, rimming the expressionless eyes. The skin was pale, missing the sunlight and her fingers, laying on her stomach and entangled, twitched from time to time, like spiders fighting with each other. She looked like she lost all her will to live and that scared Kakashi the most. Hiko wasn’t someone who resembled a puppet, unemotional and waxy, but a person smiling and laughing.

Slowly the female turned her head to him and her eyes, not hidden behind thick glass locked on his figure. No recognition lit up as she scanned Kakashis whole body. A shiver, cold as ice ran down his spine and unconsciously he stepped backwards, away from those merciless orbs, measuring him from head to toe. Kakashi saw eyes like this countless times in his times at the SFU. Mostly broken children had them, enslaved by older kids or adults to do things that were so cruel that they had to grew up faster or die a merciless death.

“Hiko…?” Warily he raised his hands, unsure what to do. Was she drunk? Was she sober? He couldn’t tell.

Hikos eyes fluttered. “Wha…” With a groan the brunette sat up, swaying lightly from right to left and back. “Why…” The words were blurred, so she was drunk he deduced, as drunk as a skunk. Tired the shorty shook her head, her mouth hanging open and blinking slowly. She looked a little bit like the goldfish Kakashi owned as a child. The silly picture helped him to overcome the first shock and carefully he got closer to the disorientated woman.

“Hiko. It’s me, Kakashi.”

She mumbled something. Her fingers still fought with each other, clutching faster and faster into the flesh, a blank expression on her face, all the while her upper body rocked back and forth.

Kakashi took another step. “Hey. It’s me.” He was now standing close before her place, his knees nearly bumping into the cushions. Her smell was even worse as first expected when he leaned forward, his hand stretched out to her. “Hiko.”

 

Abruptly her head spun around, so fast that her hair became a blur of brown mess and her blue eyes widened in horror. Even before her scraped lips parted Kakashi knew something horrible to hear would come out.

“N-no…” Hiko whimpered and clutched into her thighs, “Not y-you…” Pure fear dawned in her face. “No’ you, p-please, not you… I thought you’re gone, why are you here, I w-was safe and know you d-destroy even that…” The slurring words fell out of her mouth, stumbling over single vocals and stuttering whenever a dry sob hit Hiko. “Please,” she cried and the first tear glistened on her cheek, “le’me go. Let me finall’ go. I can’t l-life like this, no’ when you’re still around, hoverin’ always i-inside my head, invadin’ every thought and every m-m-moment of my life… Giv’it back.”

The next tears followed the first, strolling down like raindrops at a window. Kakashi didn’t know what to do, with a weeping Hiko in front of him, so he did the only thing that came to his mind, the only thing that would call himself down as a child whenever he had a nightmare.

Carefully approaching the small female, he got to his knees that their faces were almost at the same eye level. Then he slowly hugged the woman, reassuring her that someone was with her and cared, whatever she had now in mind. Her body tensed under his embrace and Kakashi thought for a moment that she would totally break down in his arms.

Oh boy he was wrong.

In a second the silently crying soft Hiko was replaced by a screaming and raging harpy. “Don’t touch me! Don’t ya dare to fuck’ng touch me!” Digits clawed into Kakashis flanks and he had almost loosened the hug, but then he instead tightened the grip and pinned her arms to her sides. His head was snuggled into the heavily shaking crook of her neck, breathing the scent of sweat and alcohol in. She continued her struggle and her yells.

“Don’t touch me! Stop! STOP! STOP THAT! Don’t TOUCH ME ever again!”

“Hiko. It’s me. Kakashi.” said the man over her shouts into her ear. “Come to your senses. It’s only me.”

The brunette huffed angrily. “Only me, yes, that’s what he said. And then the nice lil’ boy from down the street raped the small innocent girl, oh well. Too late to worry about that.” Suddenly a dry laugh rummaged through her chest, Kakashi could feel the bitter sound more than hear it. “’Celebrate your birthday’, he said. ‘It will be fun’, he said. Didn’ mention that he was the one getting’ all the fun. Asshole fucker.”

 

Kakashis mind couldn’t process what he just heard. There he was, his friend –probably his best friend- in his arms, who suffered from mood swings caused by alcohol and she blabbered something about rape? Then the puzzle pieces began to fall into place, one by one, putting the little shreds of information together he had.

‘She can’t stand being touched. But she is always so open… A great therapist maybe? But when… Genma said she’s doing that once a year and he experienced it for five… Even later back. Obito and the others must know about this, or else he wouldn’t have asked me to look after her. One of them tries to stay always with her during this time? Why?’

Hiko still mumbled, but at least had stopped her attempt to get free. It was like she had surrendered to the situation, totally unwilling to do anything against it. “Still think that he is somewhere, waitin’ for ‘nother chance... Could also be my imagination. So many questions… So many questions I can’ answer. There’s somethin’ missin’. I miss somethin’.”

“Hiko,” the silver haired man rasped his next words out, afraid to hear her answer, “did someone… rape you?”

Her blue eyes squinted as she smirked at him brightly, showing of her pearly white teeth. “Hundred points, dear Watson. You hit the jackpot today.” She continued before Kakashi had even time to think. “Hundred, oh hundred… I also thought I hit the jackpot with him. Such a great boy, so nice and gentle. Fuck that. Fuck that, the lil’ piece of shit and his fuckin’ glasses, his fuckin’ attitude, his tics, his grin, his eyes, his hands, his… Everythin’ about him.” Her mood circled again, from sarcastic to nearly spitting out of disgust. Kakashi couldn’t see it, but he was sure that her face was distorted into a mask of hate, making her usual soft features hard and sharp. She trembled in his arms, but at least Hiko didn’t try to escape again, if out of exhaustion or if she didn’t care about his embrace anymore.

Suddenly hands gripped his flanks. It wasn’t painful, but surprised him. The tremble distorting her whole body rummaged in her chest, Kakashi could feel it in his own, so close they were flushed together. A sob, dry and painful escaped her and rang in his ears, then Hiko snuggled closer to him.

“…’Kashi… It’s you…”

“Yes.” murmured the man. Breath ghosted over his skin when her lips moved against the crook of his neck.

“Kakashi. He was here, I saw him. It was so scary. Please,” she begged and hot tears met his skin, “don’t leave now. I don’t want to be alone again. Please.”

Soothing he let his right hand rub her back in lazy circles and was glad when he felt the body in his arms relax. “Sure. I will stay with you.”

Kakashi almost missed her whisper, if it wasn’t her mouth connected to his bare skin. “Thank you. Thank _you_.”

 

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

Sunlight burned in Hikos eyes, piercing the lenient darkness of sleep. She grumbled and snuggled closer to the cushions, burying her head into a crease. Her cheek was pressed against the underground and she huffed contently when the light faded away. Then her head revolted against the movement. Pain, crashing in waves over her mind and washing every other thought away, made Hikos eyes open up. First thing she saw were the TV and the small table before her couch, almost hidden under countless glass bottles.

            ‘Good job, now you have to get rid of the massive hangover.’

Hikos tongue felt furry when she traced the outline of her teeth with it, tasting something that reminded her of a dead animal in her mouth. Her lips turned into a scowl automatically.

‘First, some painkillers. Second, something to eat and clear water. Third, a cold blissful shower.’

But when she turned on her belly and tried to prop herself up on her elbows, the underground beneath her shifted and Hiko almost lost her balance. Pain hit her again and she groaned, while shielding her eyes from the sunlight. Then she carefully lifted the shield and blinked through her fingers around. For a moment she was disorientated, was her couch always this high? Then the light snore coming from somewhere above her head warned Hiko, that she had slept indeed on her sofa, but _someone else did too_.

Because she had left her glasses on the nightstand beside her bed, everything was blurry and Hiko had to squint her eyes to see something. The first thing she noticed was the broad chest on which she slept soundly, her head snuggling into the crook of the arm. Underneath the thin fabric of the two layers of clothes she felt some impressive abs, softly flexing against her own stomach when the shorty wiggled a little bit closer to the comfortable warmth surrounding her. Two arms, strong and muscular were slung around her waist, supporting her body that she couldn’t fall down accidently in her sleep. But it wasn’t a tight grip and Hiko never felt more secured as in this embrace, so gentle and nice was the feeling. Unconsciously a weak moan escaped her lips when the tall figure beneath her shifted a bit, searching for a more comfortable position on the small couch. In the process her breasts were pressed against the hard muscles and she felt the trickle of excitement running through her body, the special excitement that made her nipples hard as diamonds and her secret place tingle that she had to press her thighs together.

‘NO! Bad Hiko, go down, will you? You don’t even know who it is that lies underneath you, with those strong arms and rock hard stomach muscles and the nice scent… God, I love that scent.’

A mix, strangely familiar to her. Hiko sniffed the man and almost purred like a cat in heat when she recognized the sweet, but also typical manly fragrance.

 

Being a victim of sexual violence didn’t mean that she didn’t experience sexual tension from time to time. No, Hiko had also primal urges like everybody else, but she tried to suppress them with all her willpower. She still could feel attracted to someone, she still took care of her own needs if it got unbearable and she sometime longed for a night full of long, steamy interaction. But the shorty had to admit that she was scared to death to let another person this near again, so she dropped any ‘Sex-Love-Marriage-plans’.

A thought entered her mind, a thought that should be screaming at her with a big, fat loud-hailer from the moment she discovered that she slept on top of a man in her own living room.

            ‘Who the fuck is he? God, why I’m so extremely short-sighted!’

In concentration Hikos tongue parted her lips when she crawled over the chest to get closer to the face. Thankfully he didn’t seem to be disturbed, in fact the snore got only louder and Hiko tried to fight her blush when her hands brushed over the muscular chest, tracing accidently the defined outlines of a well-trained body.

Now she was near enough to see more of the face as a blurry mess. And she groaned embarrassed when she recognized the always present flu mask, the silver ruffled bed hair and the upper part of Kakashis face, the eyes peacefully closed and totally unaware of the woman, who tried to get up as fast as possible without waking him up. But the arms –Kakashis arms!- hindered her and like this Hiko had no choice but to wake him up instead of silently making her way out.

“Uhm… Kakashi…?” She bit her lower lip, waiting for the cop to respond, but nothing happened. With a sigh she struggled carefully her right arm free and poked his cheek. “Kakashi. Wake up. Come on, this gets even more embarrassing with each passing minute.”

He grumbled weakly, but then his hug tightened a little bit and Hiko found herself pressed against her friend, the face buried in the soft crook of his neck and breathing in the incredible fragrance of him. Somehow her free hand found the way into his messy locks and flushing Hiko pulled her fingers out of the silver hair.

With some effort she propped herself up, a plan forming in her head. The woman leaned closer that her mouth was near Kakashis ear. Ignoring the comfortable giddy feeling in her stomach, she whispered the worst possible things for him. “Sweets are the only thing in your fridge and I’m not at home to cook something. A burning pile of “Icha-Icha” books. Gai challenging you to a ridiculous match. Standing in front of the whole police station and your mask falls to the ground.”

 

Suddenly Kakashi groaned annoyed and his coal eyes opened fluttering. For a moment the look was sleepy and confused at the sight of the shorty so close to his face, but then something seemed to snap into the rightful place. “Hiko?” The husky voice, rasping because of his sudden awakening, crawled right into her brain and send a pleasurable shiver down her spine. She didn’t show that, though.

“That’s my name.” the brunette said and wriggled with her eyebrows. “But I would appreciate it if you could let go of me now.”

He tilted his head to look at the still embracing arms and blinked sheepishly, still in the frail depths of sleep. Then, like it was the hardest task he had ever done, Kakashi let Hiko go and watched her with his mysterious eyes standing up. She was aware of the asking stare, but acted like she didn’t notice it. With a lazy yawn she stretched and heard some bones pop at the motion. “Nrrrgh…”

“You said to me that you were raped.”

Hiko froze. In her back she heard Kakashi sit up, the fabric of his clothes rustling faintly and also with cracking bones. He must had a hellish night, because the cozy two seater was definitely too short for his tall figure.

            ‘I have to explain it. Fuck, I hoped he wouldn’t see me like this.’

Her arms pressed to her sides, the hands clenching and unclenching, Hiko only crocked her head, to show the male that she heard the question. “Give me half an hour, then I will…” she rubbed the bridge of her nose and sighed deeply, “I will explain everything to you. Today is Thursday, right?”

“Yes.”

“Then you should call the office for absence. This will take a while.”

Kakashi already had his phone out and dialed the number of the police station. Before he pressed the call-button, he coughed awkwardly. “Hiko…” he said, but the woman interrupted him with a sharp snarl. “No questions!” Much softer she continued, “It will all make sense afterwards. But please, don’t question me yet. Trust me in this one.”

On her heels she spun around and smiled almost apologetic at him, her hands folded behind her back, gripping so hard into the flesh that it hurt.

Kakashi measured Hikos stance, inch by inch and apparently came to the conclusion that it was alright. With a short nod he pressed the green button on his phone, while the shorty exited the living room on wary feet. Inside the bathroom she stabilized her shivering self at the edge of the sink.

 

The round mirror showed Hiko how much of a hopeless mess she was right now. Dark circles were under her eyes and her hair was greasy. The skin was pale and the first signs of pimples spread at her chin, what always happened when she had too much alcohol than her system could handle. In the reflection her eyes darted around, hopping from one catastrophe to the next. She groaned in despair and hid her face in her hands.

            ‘Really? Someone saw me like this? Nooooo…’

Without looking, she angled out of the medicine cabinet hidden behind the mirror a little dose of painkillers, took one white pill and gulped it down. Gurgling with a mouthful of water to get rid of the bitter aftertaste, the brunette allowed herself to breed her self-loathing a bit longer, but then she spit out and shook her head, earning another (hopefully the last) flash of pain racing through her brain. “First, a quick shower.” Hiko mumbled. “Then brush your teeth, fix something to eat for both of you, then tell your miserable story. No problem.” She stripped out of her comfortable, but smelling clothing and entered the shower. “No problem at all.” she said when the water rained down on her, washing the sweat, rest of tears and smell away.


	16. One truth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Finally Hiko tells her secret to Kakashi.

Hiko placed a plate with eggs, bacon and a bun before Kakashi while sitting down on the dinner table, her own breakfast already in front of her. “You can eat. Meanwhile I will begin my story, okay?” she said, her head tilted to the right. She had fastly changed her clothes to her oldest green sweatshirt and long loose pants.

The mans eyes squinted lightly. “And if I have a question?”

“Questions are not allowed. Just listen to me first, afterwards I will answer everything that I maybe left out in your opinion.”

She almost saw the questions running around in his mind, but then he sighed in defeat and nodded. “Alright. Then thanks for the meal.”

He grabbed a fork, while Hiko first went for the bun on her plate. Her fingers tucked at the baked good, plucking it to tiny pieces and curling them into small globes. Like this she ordered her thoughts, decided how to start the story.

“It all probably began,” she said warily, “when I met the one who tortured me. Yes, tortured me. I told you that I was raped, but it’s only a part of it, a tiny, small spark of the whole incident.” Unaware of her motion she rubbed the tattooed forearm, trailing the road of the ink, feeling the straight scars hidden underneath the painting. “Kabuto Yakushi is his name. I was seventeen at this point and quite a shy girl. The typical wall flower, reading books, helping out in the library and such. I had a circle of friends, but no one was close to me like my friends now. Sunagakure is after all not known for his great spirit and high school also.”

Only now she swallowed the first piece of her bun. Hikos eyes stared bluntly at the wooden table, not seeing a bit of the actual texture. She let another piece of bread vanish in her mouth before she continued.

“We met in said library. He had to do some extra work for a teacher and searched for a book about the medical use of poisons. I helped him and somehow we talked. You resemble him a bit, only the hair color though. For the first time in my life a boy was interested in me, a younger boy on top of that. Only one year, but you know how it is. Being in a relationship with a guy or girl in another grade is something great in school, I never understood why. Kabuto was… He was nice. He looked at me properly and said that I was cute with my thick glasses. I can exactly pinpoint the second I started to fall for him. It was when he brushed my hands as I gave him the book he searched for. Kabuto smiled so sweet and shy, a blush forming on his face. Only in books existed boys who blushed at a simple touch, that was what I thought and I was also excited that the books were right.”

 

Hiko paused for a moment, then she chuckled and shook her head. “The week after our first encounter we casually met in the hallways, greeting only with a wave. But in the breaks when I was at the library helping out, Kabuto came and talked with me, passing the time. I never asked about his other friends or a possible girlfriend and he didn’t bother himself with something trivial like this. I fell for him, hard. This little sociopath was my first crush ever.” She took a fork with egg, but didn’t eat it right away. Instead she stared at it, like a scientist would stare intensely at an interesting stone or plant. “Then I brooded over the possibility of him having a girlfriend way too much. One of my friends mentioned she found him sweet and I overheard. The weeks afterwards I inwardly sobbed at the thought, because she was far prettier than me. In the classroom, in the line at the cafeteria, just everywhere. Thankfully I never broke into tears in front of the others. I also tried to loosen our contact by avoiding him, but one day the fucker catched me in an empty hallway. My heart pounded heavily as he trapped me with his arms, at my back the wall and in my face his handsome features. Yes, naturally he was handsome, but the type of sweet kind charm that mothers would love. A nice little boy for a small innocent girl.”

Finally she devoured the scrambled egg. Savoring the taste, Hiko placed her left elbow at the table and rested her chin into the palm of her head. Her brown hair, now without any signs of grease, dangled wildly around, curling in the humid air that came from the outside.

“Kabuto asked me if something was wrong. I couldn’t say anything, because it was too much like a scene out of a silly romance that I read the night before. He got closer and at the sight of him my mouth decided to confess my feelings. That was maybe the moment he decided to have his ways with me. But who can tell?” She waved with the empty fork. “Anyways, he also said that he liked me and from this moment, we were a couple. I graduated naturally before him, but we met outside of school almost every day. We watched movies together, we went to the park, hold hands. Things that all love-driven teenagers do. Until he talked me into having sex with him.”

 

Hiko looked up from her almost untouched food to Kakashi, who just chewed on the last bite of his own breakfast, the flu mask covering again his mouth area. His coal eyes were fixed on her, cold anger burning in them. She smiled sadly at the man. “There’s still something left in the pan. Take it, please.”

“If you say so.” Kakashi stood up. The legs of the chair were painfully streaking over the PVC on the ground and as he went around the counter to fill his plate once more, Hiko had the time to eat some bites. She didn’t taste it, she only chewed on the food to ease the painful sting of hunger that rumbled in her stomach. When her friend sat down again, half of her plate was empty. “So… The first time, huh?” he asked and tugged at his mask.

Hiko nodded, her eyes focused on her breakfast. “The first time. But it wasn’t the actual rape. I thought that Kabuto was special and so I gave my virginity to him. Afterwards it became a routine that, when we met in his house, we would sleep with each other. And slowly he started to manipulate me. He didn’t like my clothes, so I changed it. He didn’t like my taste in music, so I changed it. He didn’t like my hairstyle, so I changed it. He also didn’t like my current friends, but I didn’t want to let them go so easily. Like a spider or a snake he waited for his chance, then he went for the strike. When I wanted to meet the few friends I had back then, Kabuto would insist in staying with him and too often I listened to the sweet words and compliments he made.”

She ruffled through her slightly damp hair and huffed. “It was my fault. I shouldn’t had listened. But I was young and dumb and thought that he was the one that would stay forever with me. So I declined the offer of my friends over and over, until no more offers came. They gave up on me and through the love shades that I wore I didn’t care about it. And then my eighteenth birthday came. And oh, how deeply I regretted not keeping in touch with them.”

“Then…”

“Yes. That’s when it happened. We celebrated my birthday by going into a club and you have seen me dance. Some guys approached me and flirted and Kabuto wasn’t happy about it. He kept it bottled up, though, until we were going to his flat. At this time, I spend only one day in a week at my parental home, you could say that I was totally under Kabutos control then. I slept there, ate there, everything. But for him it was not enough, apparently. As soon as we entered his flat, he started to grope me quite painfully and for the first time, I was scared because of his sudden change.”

Hiko recalled the exact words he spit into her face and the scary expression on his face when he had cornered her.

‘ _”You are my possession and I will never let those filthy pigs touch you. And you had not even the decency to reject them, no, instead you cheered them on with that smiling face of yours! Now I will teach you to look only at me…”’_

She felt the growing anger in Kakashi rising, like you could feel an upcoming earthquake with your feet. Hiko raised her head and scratched with an embarrassed smile her cheek. “I can’t recall how long it took me to realize that this wasn’t like him. Long enough to be halfway done, only then I started to fight back. It was useless after all, because I was small and not skilled in fighting stronger and bigger opponents, hell, fighting until then seemed like something impossible for me. I never saw the need to learn some self-defense techniques, because who would want to attack a plain boring glasses girl? I didn’t realize that the most dangerous people are the ones near to me and when I did, it was too late.”

 

Kakashi suddenly growled lowly. “Hiko, you don’t have to tell me everything. Just listening to this makes me want to meet this…this…”

“Asshole? Fucker? Bastard? I tried some, but nothing seems to fit him.”

“I will went with ‘Bastard’, thanks. I want to meet this bastard and punch him nearly to death.”

Chuckling Hiko patted the big hand on the table to calm him down. “Stop it. I’m grateful that you feel like this, but it’s useless. A thing of the past, nothing else. And it wasn’t even the worst. I did say that rape was only a tiny part of my… unlucky encounter, didn’t I?”

His onyx eyes closed in a painful motion and the forehead was wrinkled in concentration, Kakashi nodded to show that he was barely controlling his emotions, but listening. The shorty couldn’t understand why she felt so happy about it, that the usual uptight man was angry and hurt for her sake, but she decided that now wasn’t the time to think about it. Instead she also closed her own orbs, her mind already playing the cruel memories.

“I… fell unconscious during the first time. As I woke up I was tied to his bed with ropes that cut the blood running through my hands and feet. Kabuto had a part-time job, so he left me there during the day, but in the night he ‘played’ with me, that’s how he called it. He gave me almost nothing to eat or drink and letting me got to the bathroom was also out of the question for him. And he slept with me. Again and again and again. When I tried to fend him off, he punched or kicked me, whatever he could do to inflict damage. Afterwards he would snuggle to my side in a sick imitation of…” Helpless she shook her head. “I don’t know what we had, but now I think that he always thought about me as his property. It was not a healthy relationship that I’m sure about. And he was obsessed with my blood. Kabuto loved to bite me, ripping on my skin until it would break and drinking it. He said that this marks would always stay on me, brand my body as his own. In the end he was right. Those bites never faded.”

“Where?” Kakashis voice was silent, forced to stay calm and collected, but the faint cracking of his teeth when his jaw grinded betrayed the man. Hiko only gestured wary at her hidden breasts and thighs. “Everywhere where he had the best access to while raping me. Like this he had all the time in the world to suck my blood. In the police file he was officially called “Vampire” because of his habit. Yeah. Uhm… I think I will leave out other details, that would be too much for now. Anyway, after a week he vanished. Kabuto completely left me alone in his flat and was nowhere to be found. Two days I laid in this bed, still bound and gagged. Thanks to the landlord, a nice redhead called Sasori, I was released. He noticed that something was fishy and opened the locked door, only to find me, weakened, thinned, hurt, covered in a mixture of nasty liquids. It must have been a picture that he will never forget, the poor guy.”

 

“You feel sorry for the one who found you?”

“Why not?” asked Hiko back and shrugged. “It must be a pain in the ass to try to bring this apartment on the market again. Or maybe not, some people have a thing for creepy stories… Well, Sasori called the cops from Suna, they freed me, took me into the police station and called my parents. That was futile, since they were out of the country doing whatever they did. So I had to go through all the countless questions, the interrogations, the pitiful stares and looks, the reporters that tried to interview me, the hospital check-ups all alone, without anyone at my side. No more friends, my parents working somewhere, no other family… It was hell. First…” the woman sighed and rummaged through her uneaten food with the fork, “I didn’t even believe that it was real. That I was really free and not tied to the bed, that I didn’t dream this, that it was over. But the torture only began back then. The nightmares came and kept me up in the night. I visited therapist over therapist, but it only got worse with each couch and each talk about my torture. The police searched feverishly for Kabuto, but never captured him. Like he was a ghost and vanished into the afterlife after he was done with me. My parents came back from their work holiday and finally I had the hope that they would react to me. Maybe a little pity or a hug, but guess what my father said? ‘I knew that this boy was trouble. Be grateful that he didn’t kill you.’ Mother went even farther. ‘It’s your own fault for hooking up with him.’ To make it short, around my nineteenth birthday, one year after this, I tried to kill myself. I was depressed, couldn’t sleep properly, was scared of everything. Like a rabbit always looking out for possible threats. I never left my flat, over the passing time I moved out of my parental home, only when I really had to. I cut myself to release some of the stress. To feel something else than the constant fear.” she mumbled weakly. As a proof Hiko rolled up the sleeve of her sweatshirt and showed Kakashi the thin lines at her wrist and forearm, glistening silver in the sunlight. He hesitated for a second, but then his surprisingly cool fingers trailed one of the thicker scars. Tingles wandered through her system at the soft touch, comfortable nice tingles that made her hyper aware of the intimate ministration.

“I was very lucky.” With a little smile the shorty claimed her arm back. “I cut the main arteries at my right arm, where the tattoo now is. But right at this day, just like someone up in the sky or whoever is responsible for a wonder send Obito and Itachi the wish to visit me in Sunagakure. We kept a close connection even after my parents moved from Konohagakure, yes, originally I was born here, and they were worried because I didn’t answer any of their letters or calls. They barged in and found me in my bathtub, a pool of blood running out of me. While Itachi worked on the wounds, Obito called an ambulance.”

She didn’t want to talk about the hours the doctors fought for her life, about the minutes she was actually _not breathing_ or the few moments of absolute despair when she found herself awakening. Even the memory made the female sick. Back then it felt like another failure, another mistake to open her eyes again. Hiko had cursed herself for not being able to die.

Now she knew how lucky she had been. “They stayed with me the entire time. Waited for me until I woke up again. Still in the hospital they pushed me into a serious talk, what was needed.”

 

Kakashi nodded slowly when Hiko fell silent. He had folded his arms and leaned into the back of the sturdy chair. The tight shirt didn’t left any space for imagination and the loose baggy pants hung only barely on his narrow hipbones and once more the brunette was reminded of the fact that her friend was really attractive.

            ‘Unlike me.’

Resolute she pushed this forbidden thought out of her brain and focused again on the story. “Obito was out of his mind. He paced up and down, constantly bragging about how stupid I was to end my own life, if I was a retard to think anything was solved by this. Itachi didn’t say anything, he only stared with his ominous glare at me. You know, the one when someone dares to steal the last dango stick from him. They continued their lecture until I broke into tears. Together they managed to do what not even a therapist made me. Simply crying out my sadness, anger, fears, until everything was washed away. Afterwards Obito apologized deeply, he nearly crawled before my feet, but I loved them only more after this. They never gave me up. And at this day I decided to live again, for them. Because they deserved a friend who could gave them the same love they showed for me. I visited various other therapists, learned how to deal with my anxiety, tried to become normal again. I turned my life around, starting with my career choice. The police academy in Sunagakure was harsh, but I made it as one of the best graduates, then I moved to Konoha, because I wanted a fresh start and my brothers are here. And then I got the job at the KPD and… yeah. This was it. That’s the whole thing.”

Silence fell over the room and neither of them wanted to be the first to break it. The weight of the sad-melancholic story crushed every pitiful attempt to show sympathy from Kakashi and Hiko was glad that he didn’t even try to say one of the meaningless standard-sentences she heard all too often. She didn’t say anything about the anxiety or panic attacks, nothing about the years she flinched even at her brother’s approaches, nothing about the hard work and things she did to be sane again or anything about the complexes she had overcome.

“And why were you drunk then?” asked the man, still with his arms crossed and leaning back.

“Because… It’s the anniversary of my torture.” Hiko knew what he was going to say, even before the words left his covered mouth.

“ _Anniversary_? You’re celebrating this?”

“No.” The woman shook wildly her head. “I don’t celebrate. It’s more like… The whole year I don’t really think about what happened. And in this special week I’m taking some private time, take holidays and get smashed, because of the thoughts that I have. The memories get too painful and all I can think about is him. I relive the moments, every single one of them, from the moment Kabuto rapes me to the countless times he ridiculed or insulted me. It crushes me down, Kakashi, and I can’t think straight anymore. The alcohol is the only way make it… bearable.” Suddenly tired, Hiko rubbed her eyes with the back of her hand.  “I… I know it sounds crazy. But like this I can function the rest of the time.” She felt like an idiot everytime she tried to explain it properly, but for her it made sense.

But Kakashi didn’t stare at her like she was a mad woman, in fact he only nodded. Then he chuckled lowly, a sound that Hiko didn’t expect. “It’s hard to believe that you were shy once.” he said with an amused wink.

 

“But I was!” Playfully Hiko leaned over the table and slapped his arm. “After I was determined about my future and life, I thought that being shy wasn’t the type of person I was anymore, so I simply said the things that were always in my mind loud and clearly. I was like this all the time, but I suppressed it out of… I don’t know, childish shame? And I also felt like the old me hindered my healing process, because she was the one that was appealing to Kabuto. So I changed and I like my new self. It was necessary, for me and my wellbeing.”

“I also like it. I don’t think a shy Hiko would be able to keep up with me.”

“Even the shy Hiko could kick your ass a hundred times, believe it.”

“Are you copying Naruto? This is it, I’ll tell Itachi-san to keep you away from the main office. I’m stuck with him already every shift and can’t hear his ranting about ramen or the fox pet he has anymore.”

Hiko smirked at Kakashi. “I think that Naruto is quite endearing. Energetic, positive, somehow charismatic… And the mix between his blue eyes, blonde hair and the tan. I can understand why Hinata-chan fell for him. If he was only a few years older…” She wriggled with her eyebrows.

The man crocked his head to the side, in his eyes an unspoken question. “You’re still into relationships?”

“It was a joke.” sighed the brunette. “First and foremost, my cute little subordinate likes the boy, so I would never go for him. And second, I’m not the person for long lasting relationships or even short-lived flings. I’m scared that it would happen again, though I now that my thinking is irrational. Kabuto broke something and I can’t repair it, how much I try. Instead I’ll help others to find love when I see someone who needs help, like I tried to help Obito last weekend.”

 

“I don’t know what to say.” Kakashis voice filled the room, carefully selecting the right words. “I can’t even imagine what you’ve gone through, and you still care about others. I saw some victims of sexual violence, broken down and untrusting each person coming up on them. And yet you are here, still able to smile, still able to open up to others and even helping them without thinking about yourself. You’re probably one of the strongest, most impressive and courageous persons I will ever met.”

Hiko felt a blush rising. “N-no!” she stuttered, “It’s not i-impressive, j-just the o-only way to l-live like e-everyone else…”

Underneath the mask she could see his lips lift into a gentle smile. “And on top of that you can’t see it how amazing you are. I’m truly stunned, Hiko.”

The brunette rested her forehead on the table and groaned loudly. “Don’t say that! Nooooo…” Her whole face burned from happy embarrassment. Kakashi found her admirable! Inwardly she squealed and rolled around on the ground, madly laughing that someone found her admirable.

A low rumble resounded through the air. “Are you trying to hide your blush? You had to wear a mask like me to achieve that. Even your ears are red!” chuckled Kakashi and laughed even harder when Hiko placed her head with the chin on the table and stuck her tongue out. “Well, at least I’m not reading some smut in public!”

“That’s extremely weak, you know that, right? I do not blush because of the topic of my favorite novels.”

“Ah, shut up.” she murmured, heavily pouting. With a determined jolt the woman stood up and finished her breakfast in record time, before placing the two dirty plates inside the dish washer.

“Do you want to play a game?” she asked suddenly.

Kakashis eyes squinted in suspicion. “Do you have a secret chamber for cruel sick games and a puppet on a tricycle? Then no.”

“Na, sometimes I wished I had, but the only games that I play are electronical. I got a new Beat’em-up-title, something with ninjas and I thought it looked interesting. Are you in?”

“Fine by me.” Kakashi moved from his place on the chair to the cozy two seater they had slept on, while Hiko, the perfect host like always, got some cold drinks from the fridge. She threw it at the man and he catched it mid-air without even looking.

An annoyed glance met the brunette. “If that had hit me, I could get you into prison. I’m a police officer and that was an attack with a blunt object.”

“Stop whining kiddo. And you catched it, so where’s the problem?”

“The problem is that you _almost_ hit me.”

“God, Kakashi, I didn’t know you could be so petty. Just try to beat me in the game.”

During their teasing Hiko started the console and TV and placed a controller before Kakashi, who looked curious at the device. Together with another controller she sat down beside him and huffed contently when she folded her legs underneath her body. Then she smirked at her friend. “I should let you know that I already practiced a little bit, so please don’t sob into my sofa.”

Kakashi picked up his controller and smiled back. “We will see.”

 

(…)

 

“You’re good.”

“Mhm.”

“But this should be-! No! Nonononononoo!”

“Got you.”

“Aargh! Man, this is getting intense!”

“You sound like you enjoy it.”

“Naturally! After all battling someone beneath your level is unsatisfying as fuck. I would choose a long hard battle that I lose in the end over an easy win.”

Kakashi pressed a combination on the controller and started a true storm of punches and kicks, all directed at the player selected by Hiko. She blocked them, then threw Kakashis figure and gained a quick pause with her attack. 

Suddenly Hiko changed her tactic. With her index finger she pointed at the screen, while running away from the electrical charged attacks from Kakashi. “You resemble your character a little bit.” she said and dodged again. “I mean, the hair style is almost the same, then the scar over your eye… I can’t say if the face resembles, but there are some similarities. Maybe I can order the costume over the internet. What’s your size?”

The man only grunted, too focused on the actions on the screen. Finally he hit Hiko and finished her, what she quitted with an annoyed huff. Only then he looked at the female. “Did you say something?”

She snickered at his asking expression and shook her head. “Nothing that matters anyway.” Dropping her controller on the couch in the space between their bodies, Hiko yawned, then tilted her head to the silver haired man. “So. We played now two hours and it’s a draw. Do you want to do something else?”

Instantly he got from somewhere (Hiko didn’t notice any pockets on him, so she assumed it was simply magic) the screaming orange novel “Icha-Icha-Paradise” out. “I’m content with reading my book, thanks.”

“How many times have you read it? You could recite the whole text from memory, I’m sure.”

“And? It’s my favorite.”

“Oh? Then please, enlighten me. Why exactly is it your favorite novel?” The woman rested her chin into her hands, amused at the sight of a suddenly nervous and jittery Kakashi, who clawed into the cover of his book and didn’t dare to meet her eyes. He mumbled something inaudible and rubbed with the intention to hide his embarrassment the back of his neck. So she leaned closer to the man, innocent curiosity on her face. “What? You said something. Could you repeat it please?” the brunette asked.

“U-uhm… That’s… Y-you know, be-because… Well, th-there’s…” stuttered Kakashi totally out of his character.

 

Chuckling Hiko poked the tip of his nose, her legs crossed on the couch and also noticing the bright red upper face of the other. “Aaaaaw, are you blushing?  It must be really hard to explain then. For now I will let you off the hook, but someday you have to answer this question. Don’t want you to faint of blood loss or something that’s even more ridiculous. After all,” her chuckle grew louder and she again poked Kakashis nose, “you’re a respected police officer and dying from a nosebleed would be too awkward.”

The man rolled his eyes. “Maa, Hiko is such a tease. I don’t like it because of the reasons you believe. I like it inasmuch as the protagonists go through a harsh time, but they don’t waver, instead they stand together their ground against them, side by side.” Gently he browsed through the pages. The faint rustle of the paper calmed Hiko and also fascinated she watched the slender, but strong fingers caressing the rims of each sheet. “Their devotion to each other surprises me everytime I read the story, despite reading it for the hundred or thousand time. And,” a twinkle in Kakashis coal eyes appeared, “the explicit scenes make it even more rewarding rereading it.”

“I knew it!” Laughing the brunette leaned backwards, her hands clenched into fists and placed in her lap. When she had collected herself again, Hiko smiled gently at Kakashi, who returned the glance quite confused (it was hard to keep up with her sudden mood swings, she knew it too).

“Thanks for not pitying me.” stated the woman directly. “I… I met a lot of people who only saw the victim and not my personality anymore when I revealed my past. No matter what I did, they looked at me with those unbearable compassionate eyes. They treated me different from this moment on, tip toed around ‘dangerous’”, with her fingers she made quote marks, “topics and such. I’m not made out of glass and treating me still like you do normally means really much to me. So… I wanted to say thanks to you, Kakashi.” With a grin she ruffled through her hair that dried over the last hours.

And Kakashi returned her smile. Relaxed he sat at her sofa, gently smiling at Hiko and for a moment the woman felt her heart stop, only to speed up significantly.

“I already stated that you’re an incredible person.” he said. “You live your life despite experiencing something terrible and that’s something not everyone can do. And because of your past you became the person you are now and maybe we haven’t met under different circumstances… I don’t even want to imply it was a good thing that happened to you, hell no! But I was able to be your friend because of your horrible relationship somehow. Do you understand my blabbering?”

She nodded, tears dwelling in her eyes. So he continued, not aware of her quivering bottom lip or the increased blink rate. “So… I think I’m trying to say that I’m glad that you shared this with me, because now I understand you better than before. It explains quite a lot and… I feel closer to you.” Kakashis hoarse voice slipped away, trailing lower and lower until the end, then he fell silent. Hiko felt that it was foreign for the man to speak about his feelings and so she was even more impressed and proud that he was able to be open like this with her.

‘You’re life was very lonely, huh, Kakashi? Gosh, now close your gates woman, do you want to scare him away with your big tears?’

 

“I also feel closer to you.” she mumbled, suppressing her trembling voice as far as she could, “It’s always a relief for me to tell a friend of mine my past, but beforehand I’m always scared of the outcome. I think I can promote you now to the highest level of my friendship scale.”

He raised an eyebrow. “Friendship scale? Do I have to ask?”

“Obito invented it once on a party. The lowest level are merely acquaintances and such, the highest are obviously filled with my family and closest friends. I wanted to say that I believe I can rely on you now as much as my brothers.” the brunette said. Out of a strange impulse she leaned to the man. Her small arms slipped around the broad chest and like this, Hiko pulled herself close to Kakashi. First she noticed the tension in his body, but then he relaxed under her touch and returned carefully the hug, placing his own arms around her shoulders.

“Sorry Kakashi.”

“For what?”

“When I’m emotional, I become a hug monster. And since you’re the only one around…”

A low rumble rummaged in his chest. Hiko could sense it directly, since her face was pressed against his upper body. “I don’t mind. If it helps you, I can be a hug-pillow.”

She stifled a laughed sob in his clothes, but she was sure that he felt the slight wetness at his skin. After all the woman was also a little cry-baby during the anniversary-week, a fact that she didn’t like to show to anyone besides her closest friends. Everything could make her break into tears, from sweet little kittens playing with wool to the goddamn scene in ‘Titanic’. And the words from the silver haired man definitely made her emotional.

Kakashis hands moved in soothing circles at her back. He hummed lowly a lullaby, something that other people wouldn’t expect from him, but Hiko learned in the short time with the cop that he was deep down also a softie like her other brothers.

Warily she snuggled closer to the comforting heat of his body. “Kakashi?” asked the female.

“Yes?”

“Could we… stay a little bit longer like this?”

Another chuckle that shook her whole figure. Then she felt his hands weakly playing with a few strands of her brown hair. Kakashi answered finally while twirling one lock around his finger, like he did a few days ago at Obitos flat. “Sure. As long as you want.”

Hiko smiled into the black shirt of her friend and tightened slightly the embrace. “Thank you very much…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't have any references or experience with rape, so I apologize when Hikos story isn't the most... real? I don't know how to name this. What I want to say, I'm sorry for all the ones who have go through something like this or something similar and I apologize if my description isn't credible.


	17. End of May

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kakashi realizes something and it doesn't want to accept that. Or: How dreams can change your perspective.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alert: the tiniest bit of smut in form of a dream. Nothing too serious, I believe.

The next two weeks were a blur for Kakashi. One day merged into the next, filled with patrols, desk work at the main office, happy chats with Obito and dinners with Hiko. He also met Itachi whenever Kakashi visited the shorty down in the IT department and one time Kisame was there too. He never experienced something like this, the state of simple satisfaction that came along with great company and close friendship. It was new for the man and sometimes, deep in the night when he couldn’t sleep, Kakashi would toss and turn and wonder if the next morning would also be like this, waking up to the impatient knock of the female neighbor, who tried to make him stand up in time.

But Hiko didn’t let him dwell in his dark thoughts. With her positive nature she always managed to chase those dark thoughts away, making him smile or laugh instead.

Her past had shocked Kakashi at first, but then he simply accepted it. It was nothing he could change, even when he wanted desperately, and Hiko seemed to be okay except the anniversary. But from this day onward he catched himself sometimes only staring at the shorty, searching for the little, almost non-existent hints that he had ignored in the first weeks.

And Kakashi saw them. Everytime Hiko had to walk in crowded space she hesitated at first, before putting up a smile and shrugging it off. When a random person suddenly touched her accidently, the brunette would tense or went pale for a second. He bit his inner cheeks as Hiko, usually cheerful and nice, turned everytime into a shy unsecure person scared of everything around her when she was touched. The hate for the bastard who did this to her grew steadily and one day he revealed his protective mind to Obito. As a response the Uchiha patted with a sad smile the silver haired mans shoulder. “We all feel like this. But the case was given up long ago, before Hiko moved to Konoha. So the only thing we can do for the stubborn shorty now is making her happy.”

Kakashi learned also a few things about himself, mainly character traits he didn’t know he possessed. For example his childish side. Playing board games with the circle of his new friends and doing silly things like building up a pillow fortress or simply visiting the local zoo. Mostly Hiko and Obito dragged the others along to a fun activity, but Kisame once mentioned an aquarium he would love to visit and Itachi threatened the rest of the group to tag along (he didn’t need to bribe them though). Also his new protective state of mind towards the only female in their group. When the group was out on a night and Hiko stumbled over a hump in the sidewalk, Kakashi was already on her side helping the female up before the others could even wonder about the shorty’s sudden absence. She thanked him with a beaming smile that amazed the man everytime he saw it, like rereading “Icha-Icha-Paradise” for the hundred time without getting bored.

 

Also the bounds with the males in the group grew over the time. It became a daily occurrence for Kakashi to chat with Obito, who could be surprisingly thoughtful and wise sometimes. They mainly joked about their work, but from time to time Obito mentioned his girlfriend Rin –he had thanked Kakashi and Hiko with tears in his eyes for their advice!- and the silver haired man asked about their state. Itachi was icier than his cousin, but he also warmed up to the new addition, mainly because he and Kakashi would battle over different games, from Monopoly to poker or even Karaoke. And Kisame, the blue skinned giant, was a man with lots of opinions on political or economic topics that covered his own, so their talks could last after midnight, when the others had long went off to another topic.

But nevertheless the one person he trusted the most was Hiko. Nearly every evening he visited her, ate dinner and then stayed for some hours. Sometimes they just talked about meaningless things which evolved fastly into especially ridiculous conversations, like the one time Kakashi dared to make a remark about Hikos food, which she quickly turned into a battle over the right to host the next shared dinner. The man admitted his defeat, because he didn’t want to drive a food poisoned woman into the hospital. Sometimes he would watch her working on her PC, typing like a machine gun on the keyboard and concentrated to the point he couldn’t even sneak up on the brunette and give her a good scare (another new thing Kakashi loved to do). Then he sat down on her couch and watch TV or read his book until a grunt or huff from Hiko announced her success or failure, but the latter happened almost never. Kakashi could talk about nearly everything with her and she would patiently listen, at the end trying to give advice to him. But he avoided to mention his friend-with-benefits Anko, who he met up maybe every weekend for some stress relief. Hiko didn’t like her and for some strange reason it seemed to be a mutual dislike, despite that the two females only met for ten minutes. Whenever Kakashi got out of the bed and started to collects his clothes, Anko would comment on his eagerness to leave her flat.

“Your little friend is waiting for you, isn’t she?” And in the purple haired woman’s voice would be always a strange undertone, like she implied a deeper relationship between the man and Hiko. In those moments the cop doubted his own judgement in bed partners, but quickly denied such a thing. Hiko was his friend, so he could never…

            ‘ _You’re lying to yourself and you know it.’_

In fact, it got more difficult to ignore the attraction towards Hiko the more he spent time with the brunette and the more his perverted mind imagined her in lewd ways. Best example was his latest dream about the energetic female.

 

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_“Please, Kakashi.” Her sweet voice was breathless when she pleaded him to touch her more, her cheeks dusted red in pleasure and the puffy lips swollen from previous kisses. He understood immediately. Slowly Kakashi followed her wish and started to caress her flanks, smirking on the expression that grew on Hikos face when his fingers danced over her bare white skin. She whimpered weakly when he added his tongue here and there, licking off the sweat. “Kakashi…” she gasped when he nipped on her stomach. “Please! I need you!”_

_He chuckled lowly before he slid up and catched the females lips with his own. Feverishly she answered every move of his mouth, pressing against him, making Kakashi feel every delicate curve of her breasts and hips. When they separated once more, her iceblue eyes were dazed by lust. Hiko gently pulled on his hair, twirling single strands between her fingers and smiled at him. Without a word needed, the man lowered himself again to her and kissed the female, this time more focused on drawing every possible little sweet cry out of her when his tongue entered her mouth. And he was very successful._

_Hikos stifled moans vibrated through Kakashis body, so did her high suppressed cries and twitches as his hands continued their ministrations from before, gently outlining the hills and valleys and oh-so-slowly reaching for the brunettes already wet cavern. Her back arched when his cold fingers met the hot center, what made their lips lose contact. Desperate Hiko clawed in his back. He felt her nails breaking his skin, but Kakashi didn’t mind it. He liked the pain inflicted on him, because it was her reaction to his seductive actions._

_“Tell me what you feel.” he growled while circling the clit with torturing brief movements. “Tell me exactly how you feel.”_

_On her forehead was a thin layer of sweat. Single drops rolled down and vanished inside her chocolate brown hair when she trembled under another touch. “I feel… hot.” she answered finally. “I feel you, Kakashi. I feel your finger moving, p-pleasuring me… I feel like I’m going to e-explode anytime…”_

_“Then it’s good.” With a chuckle he leaned down and placed a quick kiss on her neck and breathed the extremely arousing scent of warm vanilla and raspberries in. “I also feel you Hiko. Everytime you moan for me when I do this,” his knuckles rubbed her outer lips, “and everytime I do that,” his left hand spread her legs wider while caressing her inner thighs, “I get harder. Do you know how much I want his? How much I long for you? But I want this to last a little bit longer…”_

_“Kakashi…” Breathless Hiko stared up to him, totally open under his intense stare. Her slender arms laid now flat on the bed, not even trying to cover her milky white breasts. The silver haired man trailed lower and his gaze shifted to the flat stomach, showing no signs of her love for food. He himself kneeled between her legs, while admiring her form. But she was ashamed, Kakashi saw it in the way her cheeks flushed what made the brunette even more adorable._

_“Kakashi…” Suddenly the woman called him with a low seductive whisper and Kakashi leaned again to her lips to capture them once more, because he needed them on his, the sensitive touch and the addictive unique taste of Hiko. She entered his mouth and he let her, happily forfeiting the battle of dominance this time. Her tongue invaded him with skill, flicking against the sensitive skin and playing with his own slick muscle until he groaned and started to kiss back, what the woman answered with a low animal growl. Surprised Kakashi jerked at a sudden touch on his small back, a lazy yet unbelievable affectionate gesture. Their lips lost contact. He hissed at Hikos dancing fingers and closed his eyes, when she trailed even lower, touching his buttocks with curiosity. “Hiko…”_

_Innocently she looked up. “Yes?”_

_“I can’t… I need you now. Please.” Kakashi begged the woman to understand. He never pleaded the partner in his bed for something, but here it felt right for him. Lust had formed a heat deep down in his groin, a lust he never experienced before with another woman. It was only Hiko and at the same time she was far more than only Hiko. In her blue dazed eyes he saw a glint of understanding and with a reassuring smile she nodded. “I need you too…” she whispered._

_Hastily like a virgin, totally not like him, Kakashi positioned his erection at her entrance and kissed her one more time. He felt the small body underneath his own, quivering out of nervousness and pleasure at the same time. “It will be alright.” he murmured between two quick pecks. “It’s me.”_

_“I trust you, Kakashi. D-do it. I’m r-ready for you.” stuttered the brunette. And slowly Kakashi pushed-_

 

The well-known loud aggressive knock on his door woke Kakashi up. For a moment he was sleepily trying to process what happened. Then his mind relived the dream and his mouth escaped a groan when he noticed that his member enjoyed the pictures as well. He was hard beneath the boxer shorts he wore to sleep and the object of his perverted mind stood right outside of his flat.

Grumbling he got out of the bed, from time to time throwing an annoyed glance at the dripping erection. “I’m awake, okay?” he yelled when Hiko knocked again.

“Just rise, little sunshine!” The cheerful voice of his friend echoed even through the door loud and clear. “Today is another nice day in Konoha and I made pancakes!”

“Yeah, yeah… Just let me dress beforehand, okay?”

“Uuh, get you out of the wrong side of bed?”

“Not everybody can be such an early riser as you!”

He passed the entrance door and entered the bathroom, still only in the light underwear and aroused. Hastily he stripped out of the boxer shorts and freed the hard and twitching erection. The last thing he heard before entering the shower was a little giggle from the female and the faint closing of her own door. With a huff Kakashi twisted the knob that changed the water temperature. He knew of four different levels from left to right, first ‘hot as hell itself’, then ‘comfortable warm’ and ‘comfortable chilly’ and ‘cold as the arctic’. Today he needed at least the last to control his hormones.

            ‘Maybe I should even try to bath in ice water. Maa, this was very…’

            ‘ _Interesting? You also want to know how Hiko is in bed, huh?’_

‘Who the fuck are you? And how was that interesting?’

‘ _Oh come on, Kakashi! Usually you’re such a smart kiddo! I’m your subconscious, the part of you that knows all your dirty little fantasies about your best friend. And it was interesting because now you have to work your way through the common questions!’_

‘Common questions?’

_‘Such as: “Am I interested in her?” or “Is it sexual attraction or love?” or “Is the lovely Hiko interested in me?” God, I love those situations…’_

‘No! Hiko is my best friend and colleague! I can’t be in love with her!’

_‘They all say the same thing at the beginning, but then… Yeah, then… You will notice in time, my friend, that you feel much more for her than the friendship you try to maintain by every possible means. Oh look, my time for today is up! See you around!’_

‘W-wait! I don’t want to know how Hiko is in bed!’

“Great. Now I lose even to the voices in my head…” groaned Kakashi. With a lazy twist of his wrist he changed the water temperature to the right until it couldn’t go any further and turned the shower on.

 

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Hiko jolted when she heard a high pitched scream. The source seemed to be Kakashis flat and a little bit nervous she fumbled on her white shirt underneath a black vest. Around her neck dangled a screaming red loose tie and together with the black jeans with cuts at her knees she looked a little bit like punker, but today she thought it was necessary. The brunette needed every extra layer of clothing and protection she could get, because of the dream she had this night.

Another nightmare from her torture, but thanks to the heaven not as vivid as usual. Hiko also managed to sleep again for a few hours, what was an impossible feat a few years ago. But even though she seemed to gain a thicker skin against her replaying memories, at the day afterwards she would always feel a little bit vulnerable and exposed, so today she wore an outfit that granted her with extra confidence.

‘But the nightmares became less mortifying over the weeks. After eleven years I think it should be normal that the dreams aren’t as scary as before. Not that I’m complaining, hell no! But… they are a part of me and to suddenly lose a part of me is making me jitterish, even if it’s those things.’

A rapid knock on her door announced Kakashis arrival. With a smile she opened, only to look into the grumpily squinted coal eyes.

“Morning.” he grunted, his hair still wet from a shower. The man brushed past her and a small drop of ice cold water met Hikos bare hand. “So you discovered the arctic water in the shower, huh?” she asked and followed Kakashi into her living room, where breakfast already waited. Two plates filled with tempting smelling pancakes, topped with maple syrup and some fresh strawberries stood on the dinner table.

“Hn.” The silver haired man huffed and sat down on his chair without another word. He was cladded into a light black sweatshirt that clung tightly to his fit form and a normal jeans, but despite the casual clothes Hiko had problems to fight the blood creeping up to her cheeks.

Over the weeks she spent in close proximity to Kakashi, the brunette realized something. It began when he comforted her during the anniversary and only grew with each talk, shared dinner or simple touch she initiated. The warm bubbly feeling inside her stomach soon heightened into a tickling emotion, like Hiko had drunk ten cans of her favorite lemonade successively. Everytime Kakashi stood with his curved-eyes-smile at her door she felt it, so every time she joked with him, but whenever they touched, may it be accidently or intended, the soothing comfortable emotion would grow to a hay fire, consuming every logical thought.

 

Hiko was confused. She never felt like this before, except for the one time in high school and always tried not to love again because of this, what lead eventually to her demise. All the time the female had averted to fall in love again, only to be buried underneath it like an avalanche as soon it happened again. And she was hurt when she saw Kakashi messaging Anko to another date. Sure, he didn’t utter a single word about the purple haired bitch, but Hiko wasn’t stupid. Every weekend he had no time and returned late in the evening with the aura of a man who previously was laid.

‘And he’s my friend and probably only sees me as one. So I have to hide my feelings in order not to make him uncomfortable around me, because I don’t want Kakashi to lose as a friend. He’s precious to me. So… Even when it hurts, I have to keep smiling and wish him the best, when Mitarashi-san is the one he wants.’

Hiko watched her friend nestling on the flu mask and quickly averted to look at him. The mask wasn’t only for a sensitive nose, but also to hide Kakashis lower face from the world. She didn’t pry into his private life, convinced he would reveal his reasons as soon as he was ready to share it. In this department he was much like her, after all.

Silently they ate, only interrupted by single grunts or huffs.

Suddenly the cop shook his head. “Any sign from the hacker yet?” he asked, in his voice an unspoken apology. Hiko tilted her head as she smiled reassuring at him. “Nothing. And I don’t think I will catch him. The trace is dead cold now, because of various reasons, for example time, difference in skill and the minimal invasion at Sabaku Savings. I will report Nagato-san that he escaped.”

“Damn. But I guess he must be a really high leveled hacker to avert you.”

Inwardly Hiko sweatdropped at the unexpected double-praise, but kept her calm composure up. “Yeah. I never saw something like this before. Anyway,” quickly she stuffed her mouth with another bite of pancakes, “you know today the chief will deploy us for the summer festival?”

Kakashis forehead wrinkled in concentration when he sliced his food. “I knew that we host it, but not that we have to take part.”

The summer festival of the KPD would be like every year a big event. Just like a normal festival the officers had to prepare stalls typical for summer activities, such as little restaurants with Takoyaki or fried rice, stalls with games and fun things for children or info corners about the work and different departments of the KPD. It was advertisement and open-door day at the same time.

“It’s a tradition for the KPD officers to watch over the different stalls and even lead them if they like. For example you could take part in the haunted house, but there’s already Orochimaru. Or work with Gai at one of the info counters.” explained Hiko and counted the different possibilities on her fingers. “Obito wanted to be one of the officers working on the photo booze and Itachi will host the technical things around the stage that will be set up.”

“And what are you going to do?” asked the man and placed the cutlery on his already emptied plate.

 

Hiko shrugged and also finished her breakfast. “I think like every year I will work on a food stall. It’s the only thing I want to do.”

“Nothing else?”

“Nothing else.” answered the female and took the dirty plates to her dishwasher. “Like this I’m not the center of attention and I’m able to do what I like. A win-win-situation.”

With an annoyed huff Kakashi stretched. Like a lazy cat he rolled his limbs, once more reminding the brunette of a wild animal. 

“Then I will think about something.” he murmured almost inaudibly, before getting up and stepping behind Hiko. She felt his warmth radiating and crashing against her sudden cold skin, so close he stood beside her. Then Kakashi leaned down and cradled his arms around her slender shoulders, embracing the shorty gently.

“Sorry that I was grumpy.” His husky voice travelled into Hikos ear and made her shiver. “You’re right, I got out on the wrong side of the bed today.”

“No problem at all.” answered Hiko and returned after a second the hug. Under her fingers she felt the powerful muscles of Kakashis back moving lightly. “That’s what friends are for, right?”

Something strange happened. Hiko thought for the blink of an eye that the silver haired man tightened his grip around her body, almost like he didn’t want to let her go. Her cheek was pressed against his chest and like that she felt the beat of his heart through the ribcage, picking up a slightly faster pace. Then, just as fast as the flash of a lightning, it was over and Kakashi loosened the embrace. “Right. That’s what friends are for.” he rasped before ruffling through her already combed hair.

“Hey!” Acting scandalized Hiko put on a pout and stepped back. To hide her shaking fingers she tried to order the now messy brown mane and send an evil glare at the chuckling man. Her heart accelerated at the sudden touch and it ached a little bit at Kakashis casual answer. But she played the cheerful best friend nevertheless. “That took me some time!”

“Maa, then grow at least some inches, then maybe it wouldn’t be so tempting to mess with your hair.” said the cop and waved at her. Then he spun around on his heels and exited the living room, still chuckling and his eyes curved in the way that made Hikos stomach feel like she was in a rollercoaster.

Desperate the female yelled after him. “I’m leaving in five minutes, you hear me?”

“Loud and clear.” Then the sound of the closing door resounded through the flat and Hiko, suddenly feeling weak on her legs, leaned heavily on the kitchen counter and pressed her right hand over her fastly pounding heart.

“Calm down, you silly thing.” she growled angrily, her hands clutched into the thick fabric of the vest and feeling the heartbeat. “He’s only a friend and he looks at you only this way, so calm down.”

 

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Hiko had to drag Kakashi out of his flat to arrive punctual at the KPD building. All the way she grumbled at him, while he sat in the co-driver seat and watched the environment outside, from time to time nodding or grunting unresponsive at her. In the end she just rolled with her iceblue eyes and parked her car.

“I swear, you do this on purpose every morning. You should have learned your lesson by now.” she snarled sharply before locking her little beetle. Kakashi just got out in time and followed the shorty on her feet, when she stomped in the direction of their working place. He had his hands in the pockets of his jeans, the always present leather jacket slung over his shoulders when he catched up to the fast walking female. “Maa, it’s not intentional, I swear. I’m not late, everyone else is just too early.”

“Cut the crap. You’re a habitual latecomer, just admit it.”

“Nope. You’re just too eager to make me in time.”

“What do you want to imply, Hatake?”

“It would be less stress for you to leave me in my peaceful slumber in the morning, instead you decide to cause a ruckus and wake me up, plus you get agitated because of my habits.”

“Like you would complain. In the end I’m making even breakfast for you, you punk. And didn’t I catch you with “Icha-Icha-Paradise” just 15 minutes ago?”

He rubbed the back of his neck while entering together with Hiko the main office. “True, true… But I had to end yesterday at a good part of the story!”

Annoyance build up in her, created by the old-new emotions inside and the stress of nearly getting late. With a snarl the brunette opened the door to the main office and slipped in, not without slamming the gate into Kakashis face when he tried to follow. Smirking satisfied at the ‘bonk’ and the weak curse behind her, Hiko quickly vanished in the crowd of officers that had gathered in the big room.

“Did I miss something?” she whispered when reaching Obitos side.

“Only the customary phrases. ‘Bla blab la, I’m the boss, bla bla bla…’ By the way, where did you left Kakashi?” The Uchiha looked over the mass of people, attempting to find the well-known silver hair that stood out like a light in the darkness.

Hiko didn’t even make the weak try to sound innocent. “Maybe he is patching himself up, the lazy freeloader he is.” She crossed her arms over her chest and watched intensely Nagato, who stood in front of the crowd, ignoring the increasing worried stares at her figure.

“Hiko… Don’t tell me you…”

“I didn’t do anything!” she hissed. “It was the door, okay? I had no personal contact with his thick-headed scalp!”

“You mean you hit him with a door into the _face_?”

“…Maybe…”

 

Suddenly said man appeared behind Hiko, a growing bump on his forehead and an angry expression in his onyx eyes. He yanked at her shoulder and hissed furiously at the female. “That was uncalled for!”

She didn’t even flinch at the enraged tone. Instead she freed her shoulder from Kakashis grip with a tensed twitch and straightened the fabric of the clothes she wore out. “I believe it was needed. After all one says “He needs to have some sense slapped into him.” Can you feel the sense now Kakashi, the sense of a working clock?”

“Goddammit! I slowly start to think that you’re the one that got out on the wrong side of the bed! Did I do something to upset you this much?”

“Yes! You make me late on purpose!”

“I already said that it wasn’t on purpose! I only tend to forget the time whenever I read!”

“Then don’t read in the morning! Is it so hard for you to keep your nose out of the porn for a few minutes?”

“In fact, yeah, it is!”

“Now you’re like a pettish kid! What comes next, calling me an evil little devil?”

“You’re-!”

“I’m impressed,” hissed Obito and stepped between the two glaring opponents, “that you managed to keep this conversation at a low level. But shut up, both of you!”

For a moment Hiko considered to keep the fight on and she saw the same urge in Kakashis eyes. But then she shook her head, remembering where they were currently located. With a grunt she turned again to Nagato, who hadn’t noticed the small commotion and continued to talk about the importance of good teamwork.

            ‘Isn’t it ironic?’

“Fine.” The brunette catched the growled word from the silver haired cop, before a shuffle in her back told her that he left for now. Then a tired sigh from Obito. “It was really rude from you.”

She didn’t answer.

“But I never saw you this angry before. And arguing with someone at _this_ level isn’t also your usual habit.”

Hikos index fingers twitched lightly, but she still didn’t react.

“Maybe you feel something for Kaka-!”

She shot her best ‘I-kill-you-slowly-if-you-dare-to-continue-this-sentence’-look at the Uchiha. “Shut. Up.”

 

“Now let’s get to the deployment of the single stalls.” said Nagato and waved with a clipboard. “We have a new addition to the usual show program. Yuhi-san mentioned it and with the higher-ups I decided that we should try it. The participants can be mixed, but will mainly consist of female officers. It’s a dance show for the visitors. But to give everyone some time to think it over, so we will decide this at the very end. Before that we will go through the usual stalls. But please remember that the festival is held at the June 15, that means in two weeks, so every needed work has to be done until then. So, the first will be the workers on the information counters. Who wants to be a part of them?”

Like this the morning turned into noon. Like Hiko proposed to Kakashi she raised her hand to the food stalls, for the rest of the time she stared blankly around, pouting and also in the back of her mind regretting her violent outburst. It wasn’t like her to resort to violence, even when she said some things that could be misinterpreted. After all she harbored only for few people enough anger to actually wanting to hurt them and Kakashi definitely wasn’t one of them.

            ‘I have to apologize. Deeply.’

Obito elbowed the shorty, what woke her up from her thoughts. “What?” she whispered, quickly looking around. Then her blue eyes settled on the grinning raven head, who pointed with his thumb lazily at Kurenai, who fondled with single strands of her hair. “Will you join? I’m thinking right now about it.”

She huffed amused. “You know what happens. No thanks, I don’t want to puke in public.”

“You’re exaggerating. You don’t puke, you just are so nervous beforehand that you become a quivering mess.” murmured Obito back. “You should try it.”

“But-!”

“Now we’re coming to the dancers.” announced Nagato and scribbled fastly the name of Kotetsu beside Izumos (both wanted to work as guides). Then the intense purple eyes darted over the female population of the department. “Are there any volunteers?”

Suddenly Obito grabbed Hikos arm and yanked it into the air. “Here!” he screamed and the officers in their proximity turned to the two friends, “Kobayashi-san wants to take part!”

Furious like the mascot of her nickname, the brunette tried to wriggle out of the grip, but failed miserably. Then she settled for glares and silent curses, while Nagato wrote her name down, both his eyebrows raised in mild surprise. “Great. That makes the first. Is there anyone else?”

“I hate you.” Were the first words thrown at Obito when he let go of her massacred arm. But he had the nerve to smile like an idiot down on the woman.

“You will love me, I promise.”

“Uchiha, I have heavy stage fright! How do you think this will work out!?”

“You’re a big girl Hiko. And in the arcade it wasn’t a problem anymore. I think you will manage that.” stated the raven head with overflowing confidence.

Hiko paused for a moment, then she turned with a wicked smile to him. “That was a totally different situation! I had no other choice but to deal with all those people staring at me! And I don’t have to show up at the stage if I was thrown into prison because of murder before the festival.”

It was a plus point for him that he didn’t back down when confronted with her murderous glare, but she noticed a thin layer of sweat on his forehead. “My my,” Obito whispered, while Nagato wrote the next name down, “you’re not thinking about killing me, right?”

 

Her expression intensified. Like ice from the arctic a cold flame burned in Hikos eyes. “Get out of my sight.” she calmly stated, knowing that her glare said everything. And the loud Uchiha knew what was healthy, as soon as the crowd dispersed into their original departments, he quickly vanished to his own desk and hid behind the monitor.

“Kobayashi-san!”

Hiko lowered her anger to a decent level and spun around to a small group of woman, standing around Kurenai. Tenten Fa, also a young student in the main office, waved beaming at her. “Join us! We have a lot of things to discuss!”

The brunette almost clicked annoyed with her tongue. Fine, if Obito wanted to push her into the deepest circles of hell, she would at least trying to give everything she got to make this dance show a fucking success.

            ‘Maybe I can stay in the background. This wouldn’t hurt too much…’


	18. All in between

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some kind of snippets-chapter with different situations.   
> Over the time span between the assembly for the summer festival and the beginning there are some things in between, Kakashi tries to figure out what he feels and Hiko is willing to hide everything for his sake.

Kakashi was slumped down on his own sofa in his own flat and pressed a bag of frozen vegetables against the bump. It still hurt whenever he touched it only slightly, but the iciness of the bag dulled the pain to a bearable level. He shifted to find a more comfortable position, but hissed when a sharp sting flashed through his brain.

‘I can’t believe she hit me with the door! And because of what? Nothing! Absolutely nothing!’

The scene replayed for his eyes, like it did throughout the whole day. One moment there was Hiko, her hips swaying from side to side as she stomped angrily through the door. The next the massive wood of the gate hit Kakashis forehead and he found himself sitting on the cold floor, holding the bruise with both hands and trying to recollect what happened just now.

The silver haired man groaned. Because of the vivid dream he had in the night his eyes automatically trailed to Hikos curves, like they did in the car whenever she was too concentrated at the traffic to argue with him.

            _‘She’s sexy when she’s angry. That’s what you’re thinking.’_

‘Not you again!’

_‘Oh yes, it’s me, your inner self. And let me tell you, you did a marvelous job in pissing her even more off. Did you see the angry glare she sent us when we snapped at her? I never saw Hiko this pissed before!’_

‘What!? You’re telling me this? She was the one who couldn’t let go of our discussion!’

_‘And for a short moment you thought about kissing her to shut her mouth. Don’t lie to me, because I know every little brain cell like the back of your hand.’_

‘And so what? It doesn’t mean anything! So maybe I had a short second of weakness, but that doesn’t mean that I’m in love with Hiko!’

_‘You were jealous when Obito announced her participation as a dancer. You don’t want to let the rest of the department see what you have seen from her. Besides, do you remember the body roll Hiko did at the arcade?’_

‘…’

_‘And that’s the reason why! Gosh, soon you have to admit that you love the witty, intelligent, stubborn and stunning shorty next door! I can’t wait for this moment!’_

Before Kakashi could shut those traitorous thoughts up, someone knocked on the entrance. It was short and weak, just like the one at his door hesitated to announce his presence. Groaning and ignoring the short flashes of pain that jolted through his brain whenever he moved, the silver haired man stood slowly up and stumbled to the door. While moving the bag with vegetables into his other hand, he fumbled with the single security lock he had, but then it was open and he ripped eagerly at the entry.

“What?” he growled as he saw Hiko standing in front of him, clothed in sweat pants, a loose lightblue hoodie and the expression of deep regret edged into her face. With trembling fingers she pushed her thick glasses up, before raising a basket into Kakashis view.

“I’m sorry about today.” she said clearly, despite the obvious nervousness that swayed in every syllable. “I shouldn’t have reacted so violent, it was improper and really uncalled for. I should have instead stayed calm and not like a little demon crush the door into your face. Please Kakashi, can you forgive a thick-headed mule?”

 

His eyes squinted in suspicion as he watched the female fidgeting on his doorstep. “What’s in there?” Kakashi pointed at the basket and hastily Hiko answered, visible happy that the man didn’t close the door immediately.

“Another part of my apology.” She showed him the inside of the basket, three boxes with food and some painkillers. “I never tried making Miso soup before, but I believe that the grilled mackerel and eggplants are edible at least. And I assumed that your head must hurt, so I got some medicine against it…” Hikos words got weaker until she only mumbled the sentence.

Kakashi watched the shorty shifting from side to side while he changed again the position of his provisory cold pack. Unconsciously he hissed when it hit his forehead, what made the expression in her face only guiltier. “Fine. I forgive you.” he said at the end and gestured his friend to come in.

The obvious shame in her features didn’t lift completely, but it got weaker as she stepped in, the basket pressed against her chest like a shield. “I was never in your flat before.” she murmured and looked around in the similar shaped living room. “You did a good job.”

“Thanks.” grumbled the silver haired man. Suppressing a groan he sat down on is previous spot and let the back of his head rest on the backrest of the couch, meanwhile Hiko settled the pot with food in the kitchen. He heard her soft footsteps on the tiles and a huff, then the murmur of water and the sound of a pill thrown into a glass mug.

“Here.” Hiko placed a cup of water on the small table in front of him, the painkiller happily sizzling in it. “I’ll prepare your food.”

She wanted to escape from his presence, but Kakashi rolled his eyes and grabbed her wrist before the female could again vanish inside the kitchen. Her iceblue eyes widened at the sudden touch, but she didn’t jolt away like she did a few weeks ago.

The man tugged her careful to his sitting form, the grip onto her arm so light that she could break it without any effort. When the brunette stood between his legs, nibbling on her lower lip and averting his gaze, Kakashi chuckled weakly. “Could you please look at me Hiko? I’m not angry anymore, promise.”

“I would be in your position.” mumbled the shorty.

“But I’m not. It’s okay now. You apologized and I accepted it, because I was at least partly responsible for your reaction.”

“It was totally my fault!” Her eyes shortly shifted to the bruise on Kakashis forehead and hurt grew in her orbs. “I shouldn’t… I mean, I know that violence isn’t a solution for anything! I should have… should have reacted much calmer!”

 

The guilt in her shaking voice surprised Kakashi. Asking he tilted his head, ignoring the quick sting of pain.

“I can take at least this much. Don’t worry.” Out of impulse he ruffled reassuring through the chocolate brown mane of her and snickered when a dust of pink appeared on her cheeks. “But next time please use a gun or something that kills in an instant, because dying from headaches isn’t really heroic.”

Hikos worried expression softened a bit. A little lift of her lips showed her relief and quickly she nodded, before reaching out to the bag of frozen vegetables that was still plastered on Kakashis forehead.

“Can I take a look?”

“Fine by me.” He dropped the bag into his lap and watched the female leaning closer. Her slender left hand covered gently the right side of his face, the fingertips massaging lightly his temple. Meanwhile her right hand shifted gingerly to the bright red bruise, exploring with caution the edges and stopping whenever Kakashi took sharply the air in.

The man however had other problems. First it was no problem to ignore the close proximity between them, but now Hiko had even leaned closer to him. Her breasts were directly before his eyes and he followed every little motion, while the delicious scent of vanilla and raspberries filled his nostrils.

Luckily the pain let him focus everytime when it got too arousing to watch Hiko further and the cold pack in his lap hindered his member to show how much he liked the ministrations of the woman. Nevertheless he thanked the heavens as she stepped away from him that he had learned to control his hormones to some point.

Hiko didn’t seem to notice the state Kakashi was in and beamed relieved at the man. “I’m glad nothing serious happened. Or were you nauseous and your view got blurry?”

“No.” rasped Kakashi. “Nothing else happened.”

“That’s good to hear. Are you hungry?”

“A little bit.”

“Good enough for me.” Still smiling the brunette left him on the couch and entered the kitchen. And the silver haired man used her absence to calm his suddenly fast beating heart down, his mind swimming in bitter-sweet emotions.

 

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Hiko scowled when she saw the scandalous outfit Kurenai had in her hands. “No. Not even the devil itself can persuade me to wear this.”

The red-eyed woman looked pleading at the shorty, who sat in the middle of a shop, surrounded by piles of other rejected clothes and the rest of the female dance group. “Kobayashi-san, we spent already the half of our free day at the mall. This isn’t as bad as you think!”

Hinata, who was similar to Hiko dragged into the dance crew, shook her head. “I-I must say that Yuhi-san is r-right. It’s n-not as b-bad as the others.”

Tenten, Ino and the pinkhaired girlfriend of Sasuke called Sakura Haruno, who came two years ago as an Internship into the forensic department nodded accordingly.

Again Hikos lips turned into a disgusted frown when her eyes set on the short jeans hot pants and the deep cutted black tank top, that would clung to her chest like a second skin.

‘That’s not your main problem here. It would definitely show off your scars, even the ones that are safely hidden between your legs! My god, how do I get out of this?’

Tenten, the cheerful young and somehow tomboyish woman, grinned at the shorty. “Just try it on, then we will see if it is as scandalous as you believe!”

Ino squealed and clapped her hands. “Right! Try it on!”

Also the other woman joined the shouts and in the end, the struggling shorty had no other choice than to enter the changing room and strip out of her loose jeans and long-sleeved sweatshirt.

“Oh look,” she grumbled when the hot pants and tank top were in place, “just as you thought.”

It was even worse than she imagined. The bite marks at her sternum glistened brightly in the light and flared whenever Hiko moved. Also the marks at the breastline were shown to everyone who had eyes in their head. Only the scars between her thighs weren’t visible like she originally thought.

“Kobayashi-san?” Kurenais voice resounded at the other sight of the curtain. “Could you please come out and show the outfit to us?”

“Can I stay in here? I mean, forever?” grumbled Hiko.

“Come on!” It was the pinkettes loud voice. “We want to see it!”

“Yeah, please Kobayashi-san!” Now Tenten joined too.

Desperate the shorty tried to get out of the tight tank top, but only managed to nearly rip the fabric in the process. Fastly she tugged it again over her stomach, when the curtain suddenly opened and Kurenai dragged her out.

 

“No! Don’t-!”

“Don’t be such a sissy Kobayashi-san, we only want to see…”

The female cop first didn’t notice that the cheerful voices of her subordinates faded, she was too occupied in stopping the struggling shorty from getting again in the security of the changing room. While holding Hiko in place, Kurenai processed the shocked stares of the younger woman, all of them directed at something beside her, to be exact, directed at the brunette, who froze to an unresponsive statuette.

Meanwhile Hiko felt like someone ripped her stomach out and dropped it from a flying plane onto the ground. Her vision narrowed to a single dirty spot near her shaking feet and she concentrated deeply like her life depended on it. Sweat poured from her forehead and her knees went weak when she felt the asking stares of the other females around her. Her mouth opened without Hikos permission and stumbled over the defensive words.

“U-uhm… I think th-the hot pants aren’t so b-bad… Just the t-tank top should change…” murmured the shorty and tried to pull the neckline higher. “It’s a little b-bit…”

“Deep cutted. Yes, you are right Kobayashi-san.” answered Kurenai. Then she turned to the still silent girls. “Maybe you can find something else, _more fitting_ , in the meantime.”

Like rabbits chased by a hawk the four females spread in the shop, while Hiko fastly hid again in the changing room and waited for the undoubtable questioning that would come.

Kurenais soft voice trailed to her ears, calm and collected. “Kobayashi-san? Why do you have such big scars on your body?”

“Because I was a victim once, Yuhi-san. And that is everything what I’m going to say.” Hiko cursed her shaking voice for showing the woman outside of the small stall how much she was afflicted by this incident. Her breath hitched painfully with every gasp she took and the brunette wasn’t able to stop a single tear from falling down. With a furious gesture she wiped it away and slipped out of the black tank top, still trembling from her raging emotions. She was so upset that she nearly didn’t catch the silently spoken words from outside.

“I understand. We will not ask any further, okay?”

“Okay.” In her casual clothes Hiko exited the changing room, still not daring to meet the eyes of anyone. But then she scolded herself for her foolish attitude.

‘Now stop this, Kurenai said she won’t investigate this. Calm down and try to act like everything is alright.’

A forced smile appeared on her lips as she looked up. Hinata, Tenten, Ino and Sakura stood around the changing stall, all of them had various long-sleeved tops in their hands and pitying looks in their eyes.

“So, what’s the next top?”

The tension in the air lifted nearly in the same second the words left Hikos mouth and soon the group of females acted like nothing ever happened. But the shorty knew that all of them asked themselves how she got those scars.

 

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Usually Hiko would’ve protested when someone covered her eyes and leaded her to a strange place, but Obito had taken the role of her kidnapper and even told her he would use a blindfold on her. Nevertheless the female had to force herself to accept the black cloth over her face.

“Where are we going?” she asked for the tenth time, nervousness rummaging through her insides. The only thing she heard was the rustling of Itachis car (the loud raven preferred to take the bus or train) and the faint noises from the outside, changing in correspondence to their position.

Obito clicked his tongue. “Don’t be such a nuisance. I’m driving in Itachis car, it’s Kisames tie on your head. Where we will go then, huh?”

“Thanks. And why do I have to be blindfolded? Waits an exorcist there for me, to get the unholy demon out of my body? The fact that I can’t go into the church since a few years bothers me a lot, but it’s such a pain in the ass that I start to burn everytime I enter one.”

“Funny,” snorted Obito. “No, just a… meet-up.”

A premonition dawned on Hiko. The way he answered, slightly nervous and also expecting a negative reaction told her enough, at least more than she wanted to know.

There could be only one reason why Obito would blindfold her and be nervous about it.

“No. No, no, no, no. Let me out.” She ripped at the cloth, but the knot was too tight. “Get this thing off of me! We will not celebrate my fun-fucking birthday today, I will not celebrate my birthday ever again!”

Sweat ran over her neck. Her heart beat fast. No way she would celebrate _that_ day, in no universe there was a chance she would celebrate the day she was raped. She had talked that principle into the Uchiha cousins and they seemed to accept that. But now here she was, apparently on the way to a surprise party in the circle of her friends who should understand!

Obitos calm voice disrupted the curtain of sheer panic in her mind. “We’re not celebrating your birthday today Hi-chan. We’re getting together, we will have a fine meal, for once cooked by us, we will have a good time. And maybe you will also get some presents, but not for your birthday, only because you’re always a great friend and sister to us. Just as simple.”

“Obito, I can’t! I can’t! And I won’t-!”

“Shut up.”

Surprised at the harsh tone the brunette stopped her attics. The car turned, then halted. Obviously they reached their goal, but the raven didn’t exit the vehicle. Instead he sighed aspirated out, then fiddled with the knot at the back of her head. One tress was tied into it, so she hissed when the male not-so-gently tugged at the fabric. When the tie slipped down, she squinted her eyes at the sudden light, but then Hiko looked at her brother, who rolled the tie around his wrist. Totally captivated by his own movements Obito first finished the task at hand, before he met her eyes and smiled in apology.

 

“Sorry for that,” he murmured, “but seriously, you have to get your shit together. You can’t go on like you do now. Sure, you worked hard to overcome your problems. But there’s still a shitload of work to finish and we want to help you with that.”

“But… My birthday…”

“It’s not your birthday today, right?” Grinning he pointed at the already opened front door. Itachi and Kisame stuck their heads outside, the blue-skinned giant with worry, the raven with his normal unemotional expression on his features. “It’s just a usual meeting of us friends. The only unusual will be the presents. Just take it as our gratitude for many years of help, advice and cooking you gifted us with. Now smile. Everyone is waiting.”

“Really? Then where’s Kakashi?” grumped the shorty to herself while exciting the car, scanning shortly the area around, noticing the Yamaha of the silver haired cop was missing.

Kisame drew her into a big hug, like usual, but today it seemed to last a little bit longer. Not that Hiko complained, in comparison she answered the embrace with just as much enthusiasm. It helped her and when he settled her again down on her own feet, she playfully hit the fisherman into the ribs. “I hate you, all of you to be exact.”

He shrugged with a shark-smile. “You’ll get over it, I’m sure. Just wait until you’ve seen the desserts Itachi created, mousse au chocolate.” In the small orbs of Kisame shined a little blissful flame. “I swear, if I hadn’t fallen in love with him until now, it would’ve happened after he descended around 3 a.m. into our bedroom, in his hands two cups of the sweet chocolate and with flour in his hair.”

“There’s usually no flour in mousse au chocolate.”

“Really? Then what…”

“I don’t know.” answered Hiko truthfully and watched with a grin how the expression of faint horror dawned on Kisame. But before she could continue to destroy the image of the perfect little housewife, a certain roar of a motorcycle resounded through the neighborhood. Kakashi arrived, the wheels of his bike spinning on the turf before the house, almost like straight out of an action-movie, making Itachi scowl at the flying grass in the air and Obito curse, because some dirt was catapulted into his face.

“Am I too late?” In the same second the detective set a foot on the ground, he hauled the black helmet off of his head, revealing the lightly deranged gravity-defying mane and the always present flu mask. Even underneath the colored glass of the helmet he wouldn’t take it off and Hiko scoffed in annoyance when Kakashi broke into an invisible smile when he saw they didn’t even had time to move into the cozy home.

“Stupid blockhead.” Nevertheless the brunette felt her heart flutter at the sight of her neighbor waving at them, then Obito occupied him, throwing his hands into the air and Itachi by his side, who was just as threatening as a hunting lion at the sight of cleaning up the mess the silver haired man managed to make in only a few seconds. “Can’t even get punctual to a party. There may be the term ‘fashionably late’, but he’s overdoing it.”

Suddenly Kisames big hand laid upon Hikos crown. “He suggested it, you know?” he said calmly and patted her head, with a gentleness no one thought Kisame could possess. “The meeting. He said you would give in when we handle it as a usual get-together, not as a birthday-party.”

 

“What…?” Hiko had no idea Kakashi thought so much about the story she told about herself or that he even tried to make things easier for her. Not to talk about throwing a party (the shorty grew a little bit fond of the plan in the meantime). She continued to watch the three men bickering with each other, Obito and Itachi giving Kakashi the infamous Uchiha-glare, while the victim could only try to pry his way out of the lecture.

Then her blue eyes wandered further over the scenery, only to catch a dot of colorful wrapped paper from behind the three figures, strapped to the back of the Yamaha. The pang in Hikos heart surpassed any other she had in a long time. But unlike the last ones, this one grew out of happiness.

That she had people who cared for her.

That there were people who worried for her sake.

That those people formed a strange, funny, unpredictable family, somehow connected through twisted bonds, but those bonds were strong enough for anything. And that even the latest addition was extremely entangled into the business of them, talking the others into making a last effort to throw a birthday party for the brunette, made Hiko extremely happy and giddy.

Kisame noticed her predicament between laughing freely and stifling the dry sobs in her chest, so he drew her in another tight hug, this time weakly calling the others over. Despite having a discussion going on, they followed immediately and soon the shorty found herself circled by her brothers and the man she loved secretly, but today, she decided, she wouldn’t worry about that.

In between her childish giggles Hiko pressed a few words, the lips widened into a bright smile, while pesky tears burned in her eyes. “I love all of you, you know that?” she said and laughed out as Obito saluted like a devoted soldier, the spiky black hair shining in the sun. Then she looked quickly at Kakashi, hoping he wasn’t repelled, but there was something in his partly covered features which resembled her own emotions right now, just as overthrown as she felt. And again her heart fluttered, even stronger than before and Hiko stopped her traitorous hands from reaching up to her chest and claw into the heavily beating organ. “Hopefully you fools also got me some cake, otherwise I will have to yell at you dorks later.” she said instead, just as much teasing as she spoke the truth. Then she breathed after a significant pause in and continued with a little grin: “After all, what’s a birthday party without a cake?”

 

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Kakashi watched amused the quivering woman beside him, who was safely tugged underneath her fluffy blanket, but covered her face with the fabric whenever the murderer jumped at another innocent victim.

“I thought you exaggerated when you said that you were easily scared.” he chuckled. His giggle was answered by an evil glare, what made him even more giggle.

“I thought we were going to watch “Lethal Weapon”, not some random horror movie!” Hiko hid again under the blanket when another teenager died a bloody death.

They had met for a movie night and Kakashi, the curious person he was, decided it was time to test the horror-abilities of the shorty. And he wasn’t disappointed. Since the movie started, his eyes laid the whole time on the woman. Her eyes were glued to the screen and she nibbled on her lips, from time to time screeching and glancing embarrassed at Kakashi, before another action on the screen catched her attention. Watching her was far more interesting than watching the movie that he rented only for this purpose.

Another jumpscare, another death and Hiko screamed a very girl-like screech. Suddenly Kakashi found himself with an armful of heavily shaking woman, pressed against his side and hiding her face in the crook of his arm. He chuckled again and felt Hiko suddenly tense. Hesitating and slowly she looked up, her eyes wide and dazed with shame. “S-sorry…” she mumbled and tried to turn away, but the next jumpscare catched her cold and she whimpered again in despair.

“Maa, just come here.” said Kakashi and gestured the shorty to move closer. “Like this I can’t watch all those silly teenagers die in peace.”

“Are you sure?” Hiko fumbled nervously with the edges of her blanket, while her eyes darted back and forth from the screen to the man beside her.

“I’m sure. Now come.”

For a moment she stopped, unsure what to do, but then the cruel murderer catched the next victim and abruptly the scared female snuggled into Kakashis arms, who smirked beneath his mask. He ignored the warm, bubbly feeling in his stomach and the annoying voice of his self-proclaimed subconscious (it could be after all the first sign of madness) and settled for enjoying the attics of the shaking and gasping Hiko, who clutched into his side tightly, but loosened the grip whenever she noticed it.

 

(…)

 

“Hiko?”

Nothing.

Kakashi tried again. “Hiko? The film has ended.”

The shorty mumbled something inaudible and nestled closer to him. He felt her hot breath ghosting in regular waves over the bare skin of his. The simple shirt he wore ride up during the movie, caused by the tight grip into his flank and he didn’t want to interrupt his friend in her horror.

            ‘Guess I have to bed her… No, fuck, this sounded definitely wrong!

For a moment Kakashi simply watched the woman, sleeping cradled against him, then he grunted and carefully got up, noticing every little sign that could indicate Hikos awakening. As he finally stood, the man removed the blanket and folded it neatly, before slipping his arms underneath her body and picking Hiko up. Almost automatically her head fell to his chest and the strange warm feeling appeared again in Kakashis stomach, but he pushed it merciless aside. Nevertheless his face flushed a little bit when Hiko sniffed on him on the way to her bedroom and again mumbled something that sounded faintly like: “…mhmm… ‘Kashi…”

Gently Kakashi placed her on the wide bed. Then he looked warily around, after all it was his first time in her bedroom. There was nothing extraordinary, only the long body pillow that was almost bigger than the female and the nearly breaking shelf, propped with lots and lots of books of different kinds stood out. The man smiled when he saw the screaming orange cover of “Icha-Icha-Paradise” laying on her nightstand, a bookmark signing where she left the story. She almost finished the book though, despite the preparations of two totally different stalls at the same time.

Suddenly a whimper from her. Immediately Kakashi spun around and stared at Hikos face wrench in pain. Her whole body twitched under the force of the nightmare torturing her mind and helplessly the silver haired man watched the shorty, unsure what to do. Should he wake her up? Then how should he do it? Simply poke her until she was awake or shaking her violently?

“…Please… Someone…” Hikos eyes fluttered, but didn’t open. Her voice was weak, causing the words to sound even more desperate and pleading.

Kakashi made his decision when a low whimper escaped her lips again. Silent like a hunter he settled down beside her and reached out for her round cheek. As his cold fingers touched the bronze skin, the man leaned closer to the sleeping shorty, until his silver hair mingled with her own brown locks. “Everything is alright Hiko. Nobody wants to hurt you now.” he whispered, hoping his words would reach her brain. “I don’t want to hurt you. You are my friend, my best friend.”

Meanwhile he stroked softly her cheek in soothing calm motions, trailed the line of the bone laying underneath and was relieved when he saw Hiko visibly calming down after some time. She didn’t jerk wildly anymore, also her whole body relaxed and a small smile spread on her lips.

Himself also smiling Kakashi carefully removed his now warm fingertips from Hikos skin and got up. With practiced movements he tugged the blanket out from under the limp body without waking the female up and spread it over her, before he exited the bedroom. One last glance over his shoulder to be sure that his friend was alright, then he closed the door and huffed. The joints in his shoulders cracked as he stretched thoroughly. “What a movie night…” Kakashi sighed disappointed, but couldn’t stop the smile on his face.

 

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_ChatRoom of the KPD_

_Private Conversation between: HikoK. ; ItachiU. ; ObitoU.; KakashiH._

_HikoK. : So, how’s all your work doing guys?_

_ObitoU. : great ;) me and Asuma work great together! But he blabbers about my lack of will whenever I message with Rin-chan… -.-‘_

_ItachiU. : The technical devices around the stage aren’t difficult to handle, so yes, it’s going good._

_KakashiH. : Gai is going on my nerves, but it’s alright. After all I’m used to it._

_ObitoU. : aah, you’re working at the info booth? Prepare to be swarmed with people!_

_KakashiH. : ?_

_ItachiU. : You weren’t informed about it, huh?_

_KakashiH. : Informed about what?_

_HikoK. : Obito, I want you to take some photos! xD_

_KakashiH. : Informed about_ what _??_

_ObitoU. : at your command my fair lady!_

_ItachiU. : The theme this year is “Western tradition”, if I’m informed correctly._

_HikoK. : Truth to be told, the chief is an otaku (sort of) and he really, really likes dressing the officers into costumes. And this year all the people who have to work at the outside and serve the visitors somehow have to be a maid or a butler._

_ObitoU. : this means I can impress Rin-chan with the uniform! \\(*.*)/_

_KakashiH. : Please, tell me that’s a joke._

_ObitoU. : as a proof I can send one of the pictures I made last year ^^_

_HikoK. : you will not!_

_ObitoU. : *pic*_

_ObitoU. : too late…_

_HikoK. : noooooooo… (-///-)’_

_KakashiH. : do you have those cat ears still at home?_

_HikoK. : this is stupid, I’m going back to work_

_KakashiH. : but Hiko… I think it’s cute ^^_

_HikoK. : that’s making it even worse, dammit!!_

_KakashiH. : I want to see it! Please…_

_HikoK. : noooo… (/\\) never!_

_ItachiU. : This is getting ridiculous to watch. I’m out._

_ObitoU. : aaaw, but they are so cute when they are flirting…_

_HikoK. : WE ARE NOT FLIRTING_

_KakashiH. : it’s not a flirt_

_HikoK. : WE ARE JUST FRIENDS_

_KakashiH. : she is my friend and colleague and we will never be like this_

_ObitoU. : okay, okay calm down. My, just a shot in the dark._

_HikoK. : not funny >:(_

_KakashiH. : I’m handcuffing him and you can do the torture_

_HikoK. : alright. Catch him._

_ObitoU. : oh fuck…_

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_Two days before the summer festival:_

“Hiko? Can we talk for a moment?”

“What is it idiot?”

Obito didn’t answer immediately, instead he dragged the small female with him, who was in the dance uniform, the jeans hot pants and a black tight t-shirt with a round neckline. Only when the two of them entered an empty broom closet, Obito hastily looking around like someone followed him, the Uchiha answered her.

“Tell me now honestly what you feel for Kakashi.”

“What? Are you kidding me?”

“You understood perfectly. Now answer my question.”

“This is stupid and a total waste of my time. I’m leaving.” But before Hiko could make the threat reality, her friend blocked the only exit. With crossed arms he looked at her, an eyebrow raised and a serious expression on his face.

“Just answer me. Do you love Kakashi?”

“Obito, let me out of here!”

“Not without an answer.”

“I refuse to say anything!”

“Yes or no. It isn’t so hard.”

“Then no! I don’t have feelings for Kakashi!”

“Not even a little bit?

“No!”

Obito shook disappointed his head. “You’re lying.”

Hiko growled as an answer. But that didn’t impress the raven head, in fact he leaned heavily against the door and crocked his head to the side, just like a curious scientist in front of a new discovery. “You’re lying to me, Hiko. Once again: Do you love Kakashi?”

“No.”

“Do you love him?”

“No.”

“Do. You. Love. Him?”

“No!”

“Hiko… Do you love him?”

Suddenly feeling weak, the shorty hid her face behind her hands. “What do you want to hear from me, Obito?” Hiko whispered, depression and hopelessness in her voice. “Tell me what you want to hear.”

“Simple, the truth.” stated the Uchiha.

“The truth, huh? The truth is: I can’t love him. Because he doesn’t see me this way, because he has someone else, because I am who I am. So don’t force me any further, I beg you. Please, don’t push me over the edge of admitting my love for this thankfully blind mole, because hiding my feelings is so much easier than facing them.”

 

The emotions dwelling in her since she discovered the painful love to the silver haired cop raged in Hiko, but she suppressed them merciless. Her sharp fingernails digged into the soft flesh of her palms and helped her to concentrate. She breathed sharply out and raised her head, until she could see into Obitos face. “As long as he is happy, I’m happy. If he finds bliss in the arms of another woman, I will wave him a goodbye whenever he sets off to her and listen patiently whenever he decides to talk about his love. Because that’s what I do. Endure and wait. Because I’m a good friend and that’s what good friends do. Encouraging their friends and helping them if rough times come up.”

“But K-!”

“No.” Hiko pinched the bridge of her nose. “Don’t say it. Don’t say anything. Could you just please hug me? Because I feel like crying into my brothers arms right now.” She stretched her arms out with a helpless smile and watched his expression fastly switching, until he settled for a gentle, also helpless nod.

“How could I deny my little sis such a simple request?” he murmured and circled his arms around her shoulders.

Unbeknownst to Hiko, the man they were talking about stood right outside of the broom closet and had eavesdropped, in his arms some cartons with flyers. Kakashi had heard Hikos enraged voice and decided to step in if something would happen, but the content of her talk with Obito let him freeze on the spot. He only heard the females sad admission of her feelings for someone, but not the name of the person who was able to catch her heart. His own grew heavy as he listened to the soft sobs of his best friend and the coos of her brother and carefully he stepped away from the door, cautious to not make a sound.

‘So Hiko loves someone… Such a lucky bastard. How can he not see that she’s beautiful and intelligent, her sweet smile when she’s embarrassed or the way her nose wrinkles when she’s annoyed? How can someone ignore such a devoted person like Hiko, who is willing to endure personal pain in order to make the one she loves happy?’

_‘And why do you feel like this? Come on, don’t let me down now.’_

‘Feel like what?’

_‘Your chest hurts, you feel like you could puke any moment and your fingers would tremble if they wouldn’t be occupied right now. And that is called…?’_

‘…’

_‘Oh, you’ll take the phone joker? Well, I tell you because I’m feeling generous today. You’re in love with Hiko and now you feel like shit because she loves someone else! You heard her confessing her feelings for another man and you want to beat him to a bloody pulp, because you love her! You visited Anko not for the last two weekends because you would’ve kept thinking about the woman you love while fucking the snake-loving maniac! And the various cages in her flat creep you out, but that’s not the main point.’_

Kakashis jaw tensed under the countless memories from Hiko; memories that let his heart jump in happiness. The female laughing when she was chased by him in Itachis and Kisames garden. Her energetic and life-loving nature, showing in every action he had seen. The sweet pout on her face when he accidently told a spoiler from “Icha-Icha-Paradise”. The hugs they shared in the privacy of her apartment, friendly and comforting and lately letting Kakashi feel giddy and strangely wanting more of Hiko when they let go of each other.

 

“I’m in love with Hiko…” Mindless Kakashi murmured those words and felt his heart throb as an answer. So it was true. During the time they spent together he fell for the cheerful, happy, laughing, caring, stubborn, emotional woman, he, who had sworn never to love a colleague again. Pained the cop closed his eyes and rested the back of his head against the cold walls beside the door to the broom closet, in which Hiko still cried into Obitos shirt. Yes, he was in love with her, but somewhere along the way she fell for another one. The realization that he came too late, like always when it was important for him hurt more than anything else. A sharp pierce right through the beating organ, merciless and ripping at his well-placed masks. Then, after a few moments of reconciliation, he picked himself up, breathed shakenly in and continued the path to the main office, in his mind only the memories of the friendly past when his defenses didn’t decide to be overrun by a witty harpy.

 

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_ChatRoom of the KPD_

_Private Conversation between: ItachiU. ; ObitoU._

_ObitoU. : and? Did it work?_

_ItachiU. : Since he came back from his errand, Kakashi-san is absent-minded and clumsy. I can’t work like this, what have you done!_

_ObitoU. : absent-minded? In a positive or negative way?_

_ItachiU. : Maito-san approached Kakashi-san for another match and he snapped quite aggressive. Now the green-loving bowlcut is sitting depressed in a dark corner and Kakashi-san went for a walk, his orange book holding upside-down! So tell me, does it sound ‘positive’ or ‘negative’ to you?_

_ObitoU. : :/ man… but the timing must’ve been perfect. He had to hear us!_

_ItachiU. : Maybe he didn’t like to hear Hikos feelings. Maybe he really sees her only as a dear friend and jokes around. You do it too and you’re with another woman. After all the only hint you have are some random comments._

_ObitoU. : it’s more than this. I went with them for a lunch and they were acting so lovey-dovey that it even outshined you and Kisame! She kept sneaking glances when he wasn’t looking and he peeked at her when she was concentrated at her food. Hell, even the ramen cook noticed it!_

_ItachiU. : That doesn’t act like a safe proof._

_ObitoU. : I also heard them talking over the phone! I swear, under his mask Kakashi grinned like an idiot when he talked with Hiko and he denied it when I asked further! He_ must _be in love with her!_

_ItachiU. : Another option is that he simply misunderstood. Maybe he heard only Hiko admitting her love to someone, not to him specifically._

_ObitoU. : Could be… When I tried to say his name she interrupted me and then she cried… Man, what could I do…?_

_ItachiU. : I can’t let you handle this alone anymore. I went along because it was for Hiko, but now she is pained. I’ll join this and drag Kisame also into it._

_ObitoU. : that was my plan all along ^^_

_ItachiU. : -.-_

_ObitoU. : HA! An emoticon! Who are you and what have you done to the real cousin of mine!?_

_ObitoU. : …_

_ObitoU. : Itachi?_

_ObitoU. : Goddammit, not again…_

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The change of sceneries is indicated by the 'xxx' line, so I hope you don't get confused. The single snippets happen in the order I wrote them. I wanted to try it like this, so I can have some change in pace and write different short situations, so it was just as much training for myself as fun to create those situations. ^_^


	19. Summer festival - Part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hiko tries to be a friend while Kakashi tries as well... With not much effort.

Hiko stuffed the last part of her two outfits for the day in the bag. One was the spacious maid uniform which she would wear when she was working at the food stall and in the other, noticeable smaller bag, the hot pants and the black shirt for the dance. The female decided to change only at the police department in the IT office, since this part was closed for the visitors. Practiced Hiko slipped into her comfortable sneakers and grabbed her keys for the car and flat. In an old jeans, which was already stained and a little bit ripped through the years, her beloved panda pullover and the always present beanie, she locked the apartment and spun around to knock shyly at Kakashis door.

“Come on, it’s time!” she said and listened for any sounds, “You promised me today to be punctual!”

‘But he was weird the last two days. He only stayed for dinner, then quickly left afterwards. Maybe he noticed something and wants to sever the ties with me? Hopefully not… I tried so hard to hide my feelings in order to not lose Kakashi as a friend…’

She sighed and shifted the heavy bags to her right hand. Her knuckles were already raised to another, more rapid knock, but then the door opened suddenly.

“Maa, I’m in time. But I could need a helping hand here.” said Kakashi and leaned relaxed against the doorway, the arms crossed over his naked chest. Around his neck dangled a loose red tie and Hiko followed the thin cloth swing lightly, endeavored not to ogle at the pale skin, the nicely developed muscles and the most impressive abs she had seen in her whole life. Thankfully he wore already the black dress pants, but they hung dangerously low from his hipbones.

“You see…” continued the man, while Hiko tore her eyes from the broad chest, “the chief offered us two different sets of uniforms and I can’t decide which one I should chose. On the one hand there’s the classy combination, but I don’t think that a full grown tuxedo fits me and on the other hand is a more casual vest, but isn’t it too lax?” Smiling he tilted his head, the eyes closed and curved.

“N-no.” coughed the shorty and shook her head to clear her dazed mind. “J-just wear what y-you’re comfortable w-with. I’ll… uhm… wait in the bag and store my c-car in it…” Flustered Hiko spun around and almost ran down the hallway, determined to get away from the half-naked Kakashi and the forbidden sinful thoughts building in her.

“Stay calm Hiko.” she murmured as she opened the back of the small red beetle. “He’s just attractive, nothing else. And this idiot tends to forget the common sense, he probably only wanted to tease you. It doesn’t mean anything.”

Fighting the heavy blush that had stained her whole face, the shorty pinched herself in the back of her hand. The short sting of pain helped, but not much.

 

Hiko got on the drivers seat and closed for a short moment her eyes. It got harder and harder for the woman to ignore and push aside her feelings and accidents like this didn’t make it easier for her. She already knew that Kakashi was gorgeous, even without seeing his face completely. It wasn’t only his outward appearance, Kakashis personality and the little quirks he had, but the way he treated her in comparison to the rest of the world. He relaxed in her proximity, may it be in the safety of her home or in a brief talk during a break. “I like nearly everything about him…” the female whispered absent minded while her fingers played with the car keys. Then she chuckled weakly. “Only his habit to be late annoys me… A little bit.”

But it was a part of him and somehow even this mistake she found adorable.

Kakashi finally got out on the street. He was dressed into the more casual option, a black waistcoat over a white shirt and buttoned while walking his right sleeve. Together with the still loose red tie, the mysterious flu mask and shining shoes he was stunning and Hiko almost regretted to wear some of her oldest and most worn-down clothes. Despite only being a friend to him, she wanted to let him see her best side.

Kakashi looked confused around, then he saw the conspicuous car and rushed over to the co drivers seat. “Yo.” He said while buckling up.

“Hey. So you went along with the more comfortable version.” remarked Hiko and started the car.

“Yeah. Why don’t you changed first in your apartment?”

“I have to change nevertheless and at the end of the day I want to wear flat shoes instead of the ankle-breakers I’m forced to slip in. And in the skirt I can’t drive.”

“Should I be worried?”

“Worried for the ones who have to endure my wrath.”

He grunted and nodded, before settling his chin into the palm of his hand. “Hiko?”

She didn’t answer immediately, but after passing a crossing the female threw a look at him. “What?”

“Is there someone you’re interested in?”

‘Since when is my love-life such an interesting topic? First Obito asks and now Kakashi? It’s true, people who are happy in a relationship want their friends also to find love.’

“Why do you ask?” Her insides felt like they were burned and frozen at the same time. She would favor a bath in acid over confessing her romantic feelings for him.

“I’m just curious.”

“You know that I’m not into relationships.”

“It doesn’t mean you can’t be interested in someone.”

            ‘Damn, he’s sharp. At least Kisame would fall for this faint.’

Hiko sighed. When Kakashis interest was piqued, nothing would stop his questions. She had to lie to get away, but also stay just as close to the truth as possible, because the cop could sense lies just like a bloodhound. She nibbled first on her lower lip, unsure what she could reveal, but then with a resolute sigh the shorty spoke up.

 

“If you want to know so desperately, fine. Yes, I’m interested in someone, but he’s already in a relationship and seems happy, so I will not interfere. And it’s not like I’m fit for a real bound, so I will cheer for him from the sidelines.”

Silence for some minutes. But just when Hiko thought Kakashi had dropped the topic, he spoke again, his eyes following the fast passing outside world. “You know, I’m here for you. If this bastard hurts you somehow, if by accident or intended, just tell me and I will make him recognize your feelings or beat him to a bloody pulp. Just… tell me, will you?”

At the absurd picture of Kakashi trying to punch himself, Hiko couldn’t hold the laughter anymore that build inside her chest over the whole situation. The man she loved first asked her about her love life, then offered the woman to kick his own ass!

The coal eyes turned to her, confusion shining in them when Hiko trembled in a helpless laughing fit. Nevertheless her giggle didn’t affect her driving skills, so the car still drove straight at the road.

“I understand, Kakashi.” she rasped finally and stifled the last waves of her laugh, “Thanks for the offer. I appreciate that.”

The man nodded, an eyebrow raised in suspicion. “You’re my best friend. It’s only natural to ensure that you’re happy.” he said. Nervously shifting on his seat, Kakashi scratched the back of his neck and smiled. “May I ask how he is, I mean as a person?”

Thoughtfully Hiko chose her next words, always aware she had to make them as vague as possible. “He is… an interesting personality.” she mumbled finally and blushed under the intense stare from the man at her side. “At first I didn’t think that we could understand each other, but it changed quickly. He makes me laugh, may it be intended or through his behavior… Sometimes he’s childish and a little bit cocky, but mostly he’s really kind and… _warm_. And he’s just like me, I think, hurt on the inside, but tries to hide it desperately all the time from the world.” While talking, Hiko stopped her car at the KPD parking park and turned the engine of her beetle off. Then she looked at Kakashi, a bright and helpless grin on her lips. “There are other things, things that would sound much more important to you, but for me… These are the first things that came to my mind when I think about him. We could sit here all morning and I couldn’t finish the list and what I like about him, so this must be enough.”

“Ah.” Again Kakashi nodded, an enigma like always. Or was it only Hikos imagination when she saw a short spark of sadness in his eyes? It was hard to tell, because it quickly vanished under the usual bored expression the man wore all day. “He sounds like a good person.”

“He is. One of the best.” answered Hiko weakly. Then she clapped determined her hands. “Now get out, you womanizer. I’m sure Gai waits already impatiently for you!”

“Don’t remind me. Will you visit me at lunch and bring me some food?”

She chuckled when she saw his pleading puppy eyes. “I will, I will. Promise.”

            ‘For you Kakashi. I will do it for you.’

 

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The whole time Kakashi worked at the info booth and dodged badly covered flirtations from females and also some males, he breed over the description Hiko gave him. Who could it be, the mysterious individual who captured the shorty’s heart? Was it someone from work or did she met him somewhere else? She took martial arts lessons every Tuesday evening, maybe he was also part of her training group. Or worse, maybe the lucky bastard walked innocently whistling through the passages in the KPD building every day, not knowing he was loved. At his brain flash the silver haired man couldn’t suppress a low growl anymore, too infuriated by the mere imagination he could’ve met the phantom already without breaking his bones.

_‘It’s even more entertaining to watch your thoughts as I originally believed. Jealousy is somehow satisfying, isn’t it?’_

‘Yes. Satisfying. Really, really satisfying.’

_‘But, as nice to watch your violent fantasies are, do you believe Hiko would be happy about you? I mean, she despises violence, especially if it’s directed towards one she has feelings for.’_

‘That’s because I don’t walk around and search actively for him. I know she would try to stop me if I would catch her love and then she would cry for sure. I don’t want to see her cry.’

_‘Aww… For me it’s like yesterday when you were a cold-hearted man, not getting involved with the business of others, and now look at you! You care deeply for her, placing Hikos well-being over your own. Your father would be proud if he knew.’_

‘Maybe I will one day visit and tell him. After all I can’t talk about my feelings for Hiko with Obito, Itachi or Kisame, they would skin me alive. He would like Hiko for sure, I believe.’

_‘Right. She’s a little bit like Mother. Her caring attitude and her smile are almost the same.’_

‘Yeah.’

Silently Kakashi chuckled. For once he was in sync with his subconscious. Indeed Hiko sometimes reminded him of his mother, but she was far more energetic and noticeable louder than the calm and gentle woman, who had woken Kakashi up with a soft knock on his door every morning. Hiko would barge in and tug demanding at the blanket, possibly even yelling some cheerful phrases. But both of them were great cooks, and both of them could be emotional. Kakashi remembered one time when his mother found a dead bird in the garden and cried silently for the animal. And Hiko broke into tears when reading a book, because her favorite character died an unexpected death. She didn’t even notice, until the man asked her about the stifled sobs.

Would the other man treat her gently if he knew about her feelings? Would he love her little attics or would he find them annoying? And if the mysterious man knew about Hiko, would he leave his girlfriend and be together with the shorty all day? Kakashis heart throbbed painfully when he imagined hearing them in her flat, laughing, talking or even love-making. Unconsciously he gripped hard into his wooden clipboard that the material cracked slightly under the force. He wouldn’t be able to stand it, hearing Hikos breathless moans or pleading cries, not caused by himself but by another man, begging for the release. He couldn’t stand seeing her afterwards, surely her blue eyes would glow in the aftermath of an orgasm, the chocolate brown hair tousled and wildly dangling around her shoulders and hickeys, only badly covered by a shirt around her neck…

 

He groaned loudly. Too loud. The woman talking with Gai beside Kakashi, who was cladded into a green version of the full tuxedo, inclusive an extraordinary bow tie, turned curious to him. “Is everything alright?” she asked, friendly concern edged into her face. She had screaming red hair and a nice looking face, but Kakashi was reminded of someone when looking at the female. Then his brain delivered the solution by laying a picture of Gais blonde student over her features. They resembled and the silver haired man was sure that before him stood Narutos mother.

Quickly he plastered a false smile at his face (not that she could see it) and waved at her. “Maa, everything is alright, Mrs. Uzumaki.”

Surprised the female broke into a giggle. “How did you know that? My son resembles my husband more than me.”

“Just an inspiration.”

“Then you must have really good instincts. But as interesting this conversation is, could one of you tell me where my dear son is right now?”

Kakashi pointed at the food stalls. “Probably around there. We have a ramen stall.”

She laughed and shook her head. “Someone knows my son well, I believe. Alright then.” Narutos mother spun around as she expected someone to stand behind her, but there was no one. Helplessly she threw her arms into the air and started to walk into the direction Kakashi advised her, grumbling and a scary front put up. On the way she discovered obviously the target of her expectation, a blonde tall man with the same cerulean eyes as Naruto, who talked lively with the chief. She sneaked up on him, grabbed rudely the ear and dragged him along with her, while he whimpered in pain and begged his wife to let go.

Gai followed the strange pair until they vanished between the stalls. “Wasn’t the blond man…?”

“Yup. The current mayor, Minato Namikaze. And she must be his infamous wife, the Habanero.” answered Kakashi, uninterested in the behavior of two of the most influential people in Konoha. Just like Gai he stared after the two people, but out of other reasons.

            ‘Somewhere in there must be Hiko…’

An idea hit him, an idea that made him smile and giddy like a little child at Christmas morning. A quick glance at his cellphone told him that it was nearly lunch time and the shorty promised him to bring him food. So why he shouldn’t visit her beforehand and eat at her stall?

“I’m out for a bit.” Before his partner could protest, Kakashi left the info counter before the KPD building and nearly ran over to the usually empty terrain beside the department, where now stalls of different sizes stood. Visitors from children looking in awe up to the many colorful booths to old people enjoying a nice and friendly day walked back and forth, but the cop was experienced enough to avoid the bunch of people. Instead he slipped behind the counters and made his way to Hikos stall, not caring about the outraged officers he disturbed.

 

Finally Kakashi reached his destination, a normal looking stall with some tables in front of, where a lot of people already sat and devoured delicious smelling food. Nervously the man wiped some sweatdrops from his forehead and ruffled through his wild hair, while his hawk eyes checked the surroundings for the energetic brunette. When he found her, a big tray in her hands and distributing drinks at the customers, Kakashis heart skipped a beat, only to accelerate heavily.

The maid uniform consisted of a wide skirt which reached to her knees, a white frilly apron above a black blouse with long sleeves, but Hiko had rolled them up in the warmth of the sun. Her thick glasses blinked in the light when she turned to the next customer. A hair circlet tamed her brown locks and white knee socks completed the outfit, together with black ‘ankle-breakers’, like she had called them. It must be unbelievable hot underneath all those clothes, but Hiko didn’t show any sign of exhaustion. Her smile was beaming at every customer and she laughed about the bad joke someone told. The female maneuvered easily in her high shoes through the narrow openings between the tables, balancing the full tray out with only one hand and even managed to pack even more plates on it.

Hiko looked for him like the most beautiful thing he had ever seen in his life.

“She’s incredible, right Kakashi-san?”

Obito appeared out of nowhere, a big camera in his hands. He took a picture of Hiko, then turned to the silver haired man. “It looks easy when she does it. But during the time at the police academy she had to work as a waitress to pay for all her expenses. It seems some of the skills are still in her.”

“Yes. She’s amazing.”

“Amazing. Yes.” The Uchiha nodded slowly while taking another picture of the smiling brunette. “That’s her. She never takes something for herself, only the things she already possesses. Sometimes she can be a bit dense, but overall she is intelligent to the point that it scares me. Stubborn as a mule, evil as a witch and with a tongue sharp enough to cut steel. Don’t you agree?”

“Hn.”

“She needs someone strong by her side, someone who can handle her… fits. A _really_ good friend, if you like to think about it this way.”

“Seems like it.”

“Aaargh…” Obito scrubbed furiously the back of his neck and growled. “I’m bad at something like this. Itachi should do it, not me. I’m more the type for surprise attacks. Bye Kakashi-san.”

Confused Kakashi turned to the raven, only to watch him vanish inside the crowd of people. What did he mean, ‘Itachi should do it’? Suspicion grew in the cop and he wanted to go after Obito, but then Hiko discovered him and waved.

 

“Hey! Kakashi! I thought I should bring you some food?”

He decided to question the strange words later. Meanwhile the man went over to the shorty and grinned down on her. “Maa, I had some free time and thought, why not visiting instead of being visited? After all we do it always this way.”

Up to close he noticed for once her crown wasn’t at the height of his sternum, but nearly reaching over his collarbones. Her face was closer than ever before, a fact which let his mind focus on her slightly pursed lips and the delicious scent of heated vanillas and raspberries, accentuated by some sweat. Kakashi would never admit to anyone he found in that particular moment not the right words to describe the delirious combination and that he needed some moments to focus again on Hikos words instead of her clothes and body.

“Right.” A dust of pink on her cheeks accentuated her face. “But don’t you think I have the more exhausting work from the two of us? Maybe I needed that break?”

“A break?” Askingly Kakashi looked at her. Only through a closer inspection he noticed her shaking arms, the thin layer of sweat at her forehead and the weak tremble of her feet. A little bit angry he nodded at the tray. “How long do you do this now?”

The brunette pushed practiced her glasses up while thinking. “Since the very beginning. Our stall became famous over the years and most visitors come directly to us to reserve a place.” she answered finally and moved the tray to her left hand.

“Then just take a break.” stated Kakashi, his hands buried in the pockets of his pants. His fingers twitched at the next genius idea that came to his mind, an idea that allowed him to occupy her during her free time today.

Hiko looked over the rims of her glasses at him, like a disappointed teacher would look at a rude child that disturbed his lesson. “Kakashi, I can’t just take a break. We’re shorthanded right now and lunch-time is near. It will get only more crowded.”

“And what if I’m kidnapping you?” With a smirk the man watched her expression change to a hopeful beam.

“Would you really do that for me?” she whispered and leaned closer to him. Playful Kakashi winked at the shorty. “Naturally.”

“Then do it now.”

“With pleasure.”

Like a flash he took the plate out of Hikos hands, settled it on the next table and grabbed her wrist. Dragging her with him, he waved at the surprised customers and the other waiters and waitresses, who recovered fast from their shock and screamed at the two fleeing people. “I will take Hiko with me for now! Remember, even when she laughs it’s all faked because I’m kidnapping her!”

Giggling like teenagers they escaped the fangs of the stall workers and speed into the crowd.

 

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

“Not so fast!”

“Is everything alright?”

“Yes, I’m okay, but you probably never tried to run in high heels.”

Warily Kakashis eyes set on the black shoes Hiko wore. “It doesn’t seem easy to me.”

She chuckled, but inwardly groaned as the leather of the shoes rubbed against the various blisters she earned through her hours of work. She knew it was a bad idea to buy them last, so she had no time to get accustomed to them. “It’s not easy, trust me. God, why again I’m doing this?”

“Because you like to work at the KPD.” answered the masked man.

“Ah, I knew there was a reason.” she mumbled and rolled her eyes. Then she elbowed him into the side, what he answered with a lazy grunt. “Thanks for my rescue. I don’t think I could’ve went on long enough to survive lunch-time.”

“Maa, I’m being only being selfish right now. No need to thank me.”

“But I do.”

Noticeable slower now they walked through the alleys, side by side. In their uniforms they catched some attention and one than more time either Kakashi or Hiko had to stop for a curious visitor and make photos with them. Especially young children swarmed around the female, who gently smiled at the little rascals, what caused the little girls to hug her legs and the little boys to get into arguments who was allowed to take her hand. But as the crowd of battling children around them began to block the path, Hiko raised her voice at the children. “Thank you really much for coming here today and I’m delighted by all of you. However now I’m very hungry and I want to spend my break with my friend here.” Hiko pointed at Kakashi, who stood lazily in his usual posture in some distance, safe from the cuddles and sticky fingers of children.

A small girl with plain brown hair, hidden by rose fabric, tugged shyly at the females skirt. “Is he your prince?” she asked innocently, but so loud that the whole group could hear it.

She felt the blush on her face, before she nervously laughed. “No, he isn’t. He’s my friend, not my ‘prince’.”

A boy with really small eyes interrupted. “Then Onee-chan could marry me one day!”

Another boy, who looked like a little rascal with his toothy grin and the wild hair, grumbled irritated at his friend. “Onee-chan will be my girl, Ame!” he snapped and crossed his arms in an imitation of an adult gesture. “She’s too pretty for you!”

“My father says it doesn’t matter, as long as my feelings are sinc… sincerereree… sincererus…”

“Maa, calm down.” interrupted Kakashi with a little grin on his face. “This Onee-chan has already someone she likes.”

“And it’s not you, Oji-san?” said the girl and looked with a comical asking expression at him, her hands clenched into tiny fists.

“No, it’s not me. And I’m not _that_ old.”

“But your hair is grey, just like my grandfathers’!”

“I was born with it, just like you with your brown hair.”

 

Hiko snickered and winked at the slightly annoyed man. “Oji-san needs also a break now. Would you all be so kind and clear the way?”

Under grumbles and some whispered insults the children fawning over Hikos attention slowly let them go. Hiko felt the intense stares on her figure when she walked through the passage together with Kakashi, a gentle smile on her lips. As soon they passed the mob, both of them picked up a slightly faster pace without needing to look at the other and when they put some distance between them and the children, the shorty giggled loudly. “Huh, Oji-san? Where’s your deaf-aid or your crutch?”

The cop raised an eyebrow. “And you had quite some marriage proposals now, Onee-chan?”

“I don’t know why, but kids love me. No matter where I go, if there’s a child, it will come to me and occupy my attention.” Embarrassed Hiko ruffled through her hair, what caused the hair circlet to fall to the ground. Just in time Kakashi catched the accessories and handed it back to the female, who took it with a thankful smile.

“Good reaction.”

“Finally my years of training paid off.”

“I wanted to say: good reaction… for an old man.”

“You didn’t just say that.”

“Oh, I did. In the end I found your weakness.”

“You’re mean to me!”

“Stop the pout and puppy eyes Kakashi, it won’t work on me.”

“We will see.”

“Stop that.”

“No.”

“Come on, that’s ridiculous.”

“No.”

“Oji-san…”

“Nope.”

Hiko huffed annoyed and slapped Kakashis shoulder. “Fine. Then I will escape for now, I have no respect for a kidnapper who looks at me with trembling eyelids.” She tried to get away, but fast like a snake the silver haired man grabbed her hand and stopped her flight. With squinted eyes he looked at the shorter woman, who felt the well-known bubbly feeling inside her stomach. “Kakashi…?” she asked with a slight tremble in her voice, as he didn’t loosen his grip around her hand, instead his fingers even tightened and entwined with her digits. It was an intimate, affective gesture, not a simple touch between friends. The brunette didn’t dare to raise her head and look into Kakashis eyes, too afraid to see the hidden emotions on his half covered face which however were sometimes for her clear like a blue summer sky.

 

His fingers slowly started to caress the back of her hand, drawing little circles on the white sensitive skin. Shudders erupted from this little motion and crawled through Hikos whole body, making her feel nervous, happy and scared at the same time.

            ‘I can’t… allow myself to give in. I have to stop.’

The woman couldn’t. She couldn’t let go of Kakashis hand, neither she was able to speak up. Everything faded away, the only thing counting for her was the small innocent touch, connecting them in the noise of a busy and lively summer festival.

His raspy voice teared Hiko out of her desperate, love-tainted thoughts. But Kakashis words made the devilish vortex in her head even spin faster, creating bitter-sweet illusions of herself and the man.

“Don’t. Please stay with me.”

Despite the missing volume, his words resounded in Hikos ears like Kakashi was standing directly in front of her and crouch down to her level. The brunette opened her mouth to answer him, but her voice died on the way out. So she softly claimed her hand back, feeling the little sign of hesitation before the masked man withdrew, but not without giving her hand a last gentle squeeze.

Hikos heart beat incredible fast. What was Kakashi thinking? Was he thinking at all? Was it another mock, like this morning? Or the worst outcome, did he know something? Did she tell too much and he figured it out? Was he pitying her now, inwardly shaking his head at her stupid silly feelings?

The female shook sharply her head and laughed nervously. The places where previously Kakashis fingers caressed her skin tingled, almost missing the warmth and the soft touch. “I will stay, no need to ask me. After all I was just joking.” she got out, before turning away from the silver haired man and walking down the valley, only now realizing that they shared this intimate moment in a rather crowded and lively place.

It could be a hoax of her confused imagination, but Hiko thought for a moment she heard a silent, but deep sigh behind her.


	20. Summer festival - Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Second part to the actions on the KPD summer festival, this time the whole thing in Kakashis perspective, who is a bit anxious that Hiko might find out what he feels.

 

Kakashi couldn’t suppress a low sigh as he watched the shorty walking away. It shouldn’t be like this, he only intended to hold Hiko back from leaving. But then he had felt her slender hand in his own, the strong but fluttering pulse underneath his fingertips and the delicious warmth erupting from her. Like his body suddenly belonged to someone else, Kakashi had watched his digits moving in circles over the back of her hand in a hypnotic pattern, luring him deeper and deeper in.

‘I’m not as strong as Hiko. She is able to cheer her friend on, but it seems that I can’t leave her alone. I have to work harder. This shouldn’t happen again, ever again. My self-control is lacking.’

_‘That’s your resolve? To leave her alone and be for her what she wants to be for her own love?’_

‘She’s my friend and loves someone else. Hiko deserves someone who will listen to her cries and I want also be one of the ones she trusts with this. I will not interfere and mess with her feelings, especially not now. It would be cruel, for both of us.’

_‘So you decided to suffer alone and watch from afar also the next time when she meets someone new? Will it be like this everytime Hiko will be in love? God, once you were a straight-forward man…’_

‘That were flings, nothing serious. And the one time I got really serious with a woman hurt me more than anything else before. I believe I’m scared that it could happen again, so I’m safer with being only a friend.’

_‘But Hiko is completely different from Hanare! Didn’t you say so yourself? What if she also-!’_

‘No. Don’t say it. Shut up. I don’t need another delusional hope that in the end gets trampled over.’

For a second the man stared irritated at the traitorous limp, then he huffed and followed his best friend. Soon he had catched up to her and to his relief Hiko didn’t act different, instead she still teased him about the nickname the brats gave him. Truth to be told, Kakashi didn’t mind it when the shorty called him ‘Oji-san’, only to hear her laugh when he feigned another pout was enough to get this addictive warm feeling deep down in his stomach. They talked about different things and visited without a rush the stalls, one by one.

The festival itself was a huge success, so it seemed to Kakashi. A lot of young people were interested in the departments of the KPD and asked for flyers and information. In a few years they would work here, if they managed to get through the harsh treatment in the police academy. Also the food stalls had many visitors and the two friends lined up for lunch when the sun reached its highest position.

Hiko turned with an asking look to Kakashi. “What do you want?”

He studied the board with the displayed kinds of food and decided after some time for Yakisoba and with a quick glance at Hiko added: “And the Tempura would be nice.”

Ino Yamanaka, a student of the forensic department took the order with a bright smile, while the brunette beside him raised an eyebrow.

“How do you know what I wanted?”

Kakashis shrugged, suddenly feeling flustered. “You mentioned once that you like fried food, so I thought…”

“It’s okay, I was only wondering. Man, and I believed that I was totally unpredictable.” grumbled the shorty and crossed her arms.

 

“Don’t worry, you always cease to do something unexpected.”

“Like what?” Hiko tilted her head and pierced the man nearly with her glare.

“Like… the one time when you dragged me to Itachi. You screamed suddenly ‘Bacon’ out with the explanation you wanted to surprise us.”

“Aah, now I remember.” The woman snickered at the memory. “That’s now nearly two months ago, right? Feels like an eternity.”

Kakashi joined in her laughter. “Right, and two and a half ago we met for the first time.”

            ‘And I didn’t know by then that I would fall in love with you.’

“Right! You seemed to me like an arrogant prick who would look down on small people, but I was wrong. And I never was more glad about a wrong assumption.” exclaimed Hiko.

“I thought from the very beginning you were interesting.” stated Kakashi calmly and watched the cheeks of the shorty flush in a lovely pink.

_‘And you call that ‘self-control?’ Sure, go on, make compliments. That will definitely do the trick!’_

Flustered the woman elbowed him. “Aargh, Kakashi, stop that! Now I’m all red!”

“You match my tie now.”

Together they broke into a laughter, but then someone (Kakashi would deny it later but at this moment he had the urge to kill) decided to interrupt them rudely. A pale long finger poked Hikos shoulder and she turned around and squealed at the man behind her. “Suigetsu! I didn’t think you would come!”

The young man, maybe around twenty, bared his shark like teeth in a wide grin. “How could I miss the KPD summer festival? It’s after all the climax of this season!”

Kakashi didn’t like him. He didn’t like the bleach white hair, also not the purple eyes of the boy. He didn’t like the way he stood there, a lax grin on his face. But foremost he didn’t like the happy smile Hiko had on her lips, one that was usually reserved for _him,_ when he knocked on her door and she didn’t even expect the man to come over. It was his smile, something only he and the woman shared and now this teenager who was still wet behind the ears drew it out? There was only one explanation and at the mere thought an ugly beast raised his head inside Kakashi.

He was the one Hiko fell in love with.

_‘Please, could you not jump on assumptions? Maybe he’s only a friend from her? You know how fast she’s able to make friends.’_

With growing jealousy Kakashi listened to the conversation between the two people, who totally forgot about his presence and blabbered wildly.

“I didn’t see you for a while. Were the preparations this year troubling?”

“Na, just the usual drag, you know how it goes. By the way, how is Kuro?”

“He got even fatter since the last time, I think soon I have to roll him to the vet!”

“Roll? Oh my god, I don’t want to know what you feed him.”

“Just the usual cat food.” A deep sigh from the young man. “But he’s so cute when he begs me for some snacks or my own lunch or…”

“You should control yourself a little bit more! Think about it. If he gets fat, he can’t enjoy the life in your flat anymore and he will get depressed. His cuteness will vanish and leave a sad little kitten behind.”

“You’re right, you’re right. Fine, I will try to control myself better, but I think that my self-control is already at a really high level…”

 

Kakashi gritted his teeth, endeavored not to jump into the conversation and lay his arms possessively around Hikos shoulders. But it was tempting to show that little rascal that she didn’t need him, that there were other men interested in her, that she only needed to look around and _notice_ …

‘He fits her description. He’s a little bit cocky, but makes her laugh –not as much as me, but nevertheless-, childish also applies and his personality could also be described as ‘interesting’… He must be the one she likes.’

But to his surprise Hiko wasn’t even a bit affected by his proximity. She didn’t flush or stuttered, like it was expected from someone in love, she didn’t try to look good in front of the pale boy or let her fingers run through her hair. Kakashi was irritated how normal she was, knowing that Hiko wore a mask to conceal her feelings. Masking her feelings didn’t suit her, it made the woman look more timid than she really was. Finally he decided to make them realize he was still present and coughed loudly.

The shorty turned around to him and slapped her hands over her mouth. “Oh no, how rude of me!” Her slender fingers reached to his sleeve and tugged him nearer to Suigetsu, who watched them with curiosity. “This here is my friend and colleague Kakashi Hatake. And he is Suigetsu Hoozuki, a worker of the coffeeshop down the road.” introduced Hiko and beamed brightly.

Kakashi glared at the other, knowing that his cold eyes said everything needed.

“Yo.” he grunted and watched with a hint of gruesome satisfaction the boy shrink under his murderous expression. Suigetsu was too young to be able to stand at the same level as Hiko, too unreliable, too jumpy. Deep down the masked man knew he was rash, but the ugly monster called jealousy had a tight grip around his heart and squeezed merciless whenever Hiko looked briefly at the shorter man.

“The food for Hatake-san is ready!” yelled the blonde forensic student friendly and interrupted the cold encounter.

Suigetsu took the initiative and retreated fastly like a bunch of demons was on his tracks. “See you Kobayashi-san! Nice to meet you!” were his last words, then he disappeared into the crowd.

“Strange…” muttered the shorty while she took her plate of Tempura into her hands, “Why would Suigetsu run like this?”

Kakashi sweatdropped and was at the same time thankful she didn’t notice his special-corps-aura he pressured the boy with. Otherwise he had now an angry brunette which would constantly nag about his behavior. “Maybe he has an urgent appointment…?” he said and handed Ino the pay.

Hiko was silent for a while, then she nodded slowly. “Must be it...”

 

The plates were disposable, so the friends weren’t bound to stay near the food stall. They left for a calmer environment and found it underneath a big old tree in the proximity of the police station. With a grunt Hiko got down and separated the wooden chopsticks, not caring about her white apron, Kakashi sitting already at the ground and fiddling with his flu mask. “Itadakimasu.”

Stretching his legs out, the man also took his chopsticks into his right hand and turned his head to the brunette, who already chewed on her food. “Itadakimasu, Hiko.”

While they were eating, no one spoke. From afar childish laughter resounded and a calm breeze ruffled through the branches of the old oak tree. In the summer sun it was hot, but in the shadow Kakashi felt just relaxed enough to close his eyes for some moments and rolled his shoulder joints. They cracked loudly, what caused the woman beside him to snicker. Without an explanation needed he understood which thought flew around in her crazy mind and chuckled too. “The ‘Oji-san’ is still stuck in your head, huh?”

“Yeah.” Suddenly her head leaned against his shoulder and brown locks cascaded over his upper arm. A flinch was born from the sudden contact, but Hiko wasn’t one bit disturbed by the light jerk and just continued to speak with her soft voice. “I guess it was just too surprising for me that the children couldn’t see how young you are.”

There it was, the strange bubbly emotion again. Kakashi savored it deeply inside his mind and rested the back on his head on the tree, eyes still closed. “Not everyone knows me as you do.” he murmured.

“Not even Mitarashi-san?”

“Why should Anko now me better than you?”

“But weren’t you two…” Her voice faded away, but the weight on his arm didn’t disappear. Kakashi scratched his forehead and bend his right leg to drape his right arm over the knee. His voice was flat like always, but inwardly he felt nervous and strangely jitterish. “We were never serious. It was just physical and we set it at the very beginning. But I didn’t see her the last weeks and she didn’t text me either, so I think whatever we had is now over.”

“I didn’t think you were into flings.” Was there disappointment in her words? Or was it relief?

“Not quite, but sometimes also I long for some contact.” Kakashi nibbled on his lower lip, too nervous to open his eyes and see any negative emotions in Hikos face.

But a giggle made him snap out of the dark thoughts and surprised he stared at the brunette, who pushed her glasses up with a practiced gesture. When she noticed Kakashi had opened his eyes, she smiled brightly and he shoved his suddenly hot cheeks at the strong summer sun.

“Good. I didn’t like her and it would be a pain in the ass to pretend being nice to this bitch.” stated Hiko. “After all she called me a dwarf. _And_ never apologized.”

“That was really rude from her.”

“No shit Sherlock.”

“I told you I’m a smart one.”

“Yeah, you did.”

He chuckled lowly and breathed in. Vanilla and raspberries flooded his nostrils and unconsciously Kakashis lips curled into a weak smile.

            ‘If it could stay forever like this, I wouldn’t mind it…’

 

But naturally his prayers weren’t met.

“HIKO! COME NOW!” Obito, panting and gasping in his butler uniform, speed over the grass into their direction. In fact he was even too exhausted to comment on the close proximity between Kakashi and Hiko, who both jerked away from the other and put some distance between them. While the loud raven came closer, the brunette even played with the edges of her skirt, what caused the fabric to ride slightly up and reveal the unexpected rims of short trousers to Kakashi, covering the otherwise bare thighs. He snickered inwardly at the sight. Apparently Hiko despised the insecurity of airy skirts so much she even went as far as wearing shorts underneath.

“Hiko, the… the dancers… It’s near…ly time for…them…” Obito coughed out, before he placed his hands to his sides and tried to collect enough air to talk normally again. “Can’t… breath… god…”

“You mean it’s around two?” yelled the female and jumped up. “Damn, I have still to change into my other outfit!” She ran a few meters and nearly stumbled over the high shoes she wore, what made Kakashi chuckle once more. Interested he watched Hiko cursing and slipping out of her shoes and socks, then continuing her wild dash towards the police department, but before she was completely out of hearing range, she spun around to both males and formed with her hands a loud-hailer.

“YOU TWO WILL WATCH, RIGHT?” she screamed.

Kakashi reacted faster than Obito, whose face was still wrenched into a pained expression. “I will be there!” he shouted back.

The masked man watched the female vanish in the distance. For a moment he had an illusion, the illusion that he had been brave enough to confess his feelings to Hiko now. It would’ve been nearly perfect, the calm atmosphere, the time and undisturbed by everyone else. An afterimage of her head resting on his shoulder made the male smile under his flu mask. And his head spun the idea even farther, Kakashi imagined Hiko smiling gently and embarrassed at the same time at him, mumbling incoherently and then snuggling into the crook of his arm to hide her furious blush. This would’ve been answer enough for him.

‘I would know what it means. I would know that the words she can’t utter properly are only for me, because she’s too shy to speak them loud and clear. That’s how she is.’

Captured in his dreams, Kakashi didn’t notice Obito, who stared suspiciously at the lightly grinning silver haired man, shook his head and got his cellphone out. Humming a happy tune, the raven typed a message, send it and let the phone sink into his pockets again, then he breathed freely in and out.

“Are you ready to go, Kakashi-san? We shouldn’t be late.”

The cop nodded fiercely. “Yup. We should hurry.”

 

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

           

_Obito: Found them. Sitting under the old tree. They are soooo cute! (*.*)_

_Itachi: Is Hiko on the way?_

_Obito: Running head over heels… literally._

_Itachi: Good. Bring Hatake with you._

_Obito: No need, he’s running in front of me. Where should we stand?_

_Itachi: Kisame is there and marks the point. I will join you soon._

_Obito: Good luck in talking into this stubborn mule. But I assume that he will happily obey to anything if I recall the sweet scenery from earlier. \\(*///*)/_

 

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

Kisame waved happily at Kakashi and Obito when they approached. “Hey there!” shouted the blue skinned giant and made some people turn around by his loud and forceful voice. Kakashi greeted back with his usual lazy wave and Obito jumped like a child up and down, eager to reach the meeting point. When the three men meet, Kisame patted the silver haired mans shoulder. “Good to see you again. How was your day until now?”

“Rather relaxed. It’s not much work to inform people about the KPD and around lunch-time I took a long break and dragged Hiko with me.” he answered.

“And… the uniform?”

“Not as bad as you think. The fabric is light enough to not feel sticky or such.”

The fisher nodded accordingly and started a talk with Obito, while Kakashi watched the set-up stage. It was a rather plain one, only a moveable wooden floor and a framework with different colored lights. A dark blue curtain hid the dancers from the curious eyes of the fastly gathering crowd before the stage and from time to time a face peeked through the fabric. Big speakers were placed in front of them and at the right corner a table with a lot of technological devices stood, Itachi and the veiled student of his behind it. Apparently they made the last tests, because the Uchiha gestured for his nature wildly around, before throwing his arms into the air and walking away.

He stomped into their direction and Kakashi nearly feared for his life when he saw the dangerous glamming light in the onyx eyes. “Hello…?” he asked warily and the scowl on the Uchihas face lightened a little bit.

“Hello Kakashi-san.” The calm voice didn’t show any sign of his earlier anger. “How’s your day?”

The silver haired cop gestured around. “Good, good. Better as yours, I assume.”

“Is it that obvious?” Itachi sighed and his shoulders sunk down for a moment, but then he picked himself up and straightened his back again. “Just the usual stress, like every summer festival. All the people want something from me what isn’t part of my tasks and they won’t understand if I explain the matter to them. At least I have Aburame-san, he’s reliable and doesn’t complain.”

“This years beginners are all impressive in their own way.”

“Yes. Besides, how is my brother doing?”

Kakashi stuffed his hands into his pants pockets before answering. “He is good. Not only good, but outstanding. His analytical skills are top notch and his close combat techniques work properly. However, interacting with other people like victims or witnesses seems hard for him, also paper work and writing reports. He obliges, but is hasty and writes them without any thought.”

 

Itachi smirked. “Yeah, something like this I expected. Sasuke was always like that, excelling in both parts of a job, but only loving the practical side.”

Just now Kakashi noticed that Kisame and Obito took a few steps away, what left him nearly alone with the collected Uchiha. They had met up at a slightly higher point of the terrain, but the visitors preferred the sight from in front of the stage, so the four had the little hill for themselves. Something was suspicious and the silver haired man remembered the approach from Obito earlier that day, mentioning that ‘Itachi should do it’. The important question was, what should Itachi do?

The question was immediately answered.

“Kakashi-san, what are your feelings towards my sister?”

            ‘So that’s how it is…’

He sighed deeply. “Listen Itachi-san, I still remember the warning all of you gave me at our first encounter. But lately I have special thoughts; thoughts, that I believed dead and buried, but around Hiko they grew again. I care deeply for her. But I overheard something what lead me to the conclusion that my feelings won’t be answered if I would confess them. I have no intention of hurting her nor I want to burden Hiko with my feelings, so I will stay aside and be her friend, no matter what will come.”

Kakashi expected a deadly glare, at least an irritated huff, so he was shocked when Itachi only face palmed and tugged a free strand of his hair behind his ear. “Kakashi-san…” he begun and his voice trembled a little bit, “I thought you were clever. Now I have to change that picture of yours.”

“Huh?”

“You didn’t notice? You didn’t notice Hiko allows you far more than us? That you reached parts of her personality that slept soundly until now? Her trust to you grew significantly over the last two months and you know her enough to notice if something is off. So, please, for the sake of my sister, use your brain and eyes for once.” The raven head didn’t wait for Kakashi to come to the right conclusion. He just turned to his blue skinned boyfriend and snuggled to his side, while the silver haired man blankly stared into the air, not realizing that the chief went up on stage and announced the beginning of the show. In his head breached the previous dialogue a wide path through his resolve to hide his feelings for Hiko (a weak resolve, but nevertheless a resolve).

 

Kakashi tried to stay calm and put the single pieces together, one by one, but the storm inside his head didn’t vanish like he had hoped. In fact the whirlwind blew every logical thought away, only leaving behind single memories of the little signs which were obvious now, awoken by Itachis words.

Hikos perplexed and flustered face when he had opened the door this morning, without a shirt on. Her stuttered response and her mad dash towards the exit, the bright shade of red creeping even to her ears. The short moment of hesitation when he had asked her about the guy she loved and the really vague answer to it. The little gestures, trying to straighten her crumbled clothes or comb her mane with her fingers whenever he surprised the female. The soft blush whenever he complimented her, may it her personality, her skills or her appearance.

‘Hiko is able to wear the mask of a caring friend, but lately it dropped from time to time and I didn’t notice it, because I was too occupied with my own thought towards her. Could it be so simple, I love her while she loves me? Or do I misinterpret anything? And then the love confession from her in the broom closet… I didn’t hear the name, it could be possible that she means me…’

_“The truth, huh? The truth is: I can’t love him. Because he doesn’t see me this way, because he has someone else, because I am who I am. So don’t force me any further, I beg you. Please, don’t push me over the edge of admitting my love for this thankfully blind mole, because hiding my feelings is so much easier than facing them.”_

_“As long as he is happy, I’m happy. If he finds bliss in the arms of another woman, I will wave him a goodbye whenever he sets off to her and listen patiently whenever he decides to talk about his love. Because that’s what I do. Endure and wait. Because I’m a good friend and that’s what good friends do. Encouraging their friends and helping them if rough times come up.”_

_“But K-!”_

‘It could’ve been the first letter of my name. And she didn’t know that I had only a fling with Anko, Hiko believed it was a real relationship. And she also didn’t notice my troubles, controlling myself in front of her and wanting more than the friendship she gave me. We both are idiots, thinking about the well-being of the other and placing it before our own, not knowing that we share mutual feelings.’

Kakashi snickered partly amused, partly desperate. His eyes burned, if from happiness or sadness, he couldn’t tell. Warily he wiped over his watering orbs, still snickering lowly and thinking about the tiny chance that Hiko could also be in love with him.

‘It could be really me. I’ll make her laugh all the time, through jokes, my remarks, my behavior. With her I’m childish and sometimes I’m also a bit cocky, mostly because she tempts me to brag when she can hear me. And I’m kind and I’m warm to her. It could be me she talked about.’

Hope bloomed in his heart, a small sprout waiting for the rain that could possibly come down and make the plant grew farther, reaching new heights crocking his head to the sun. Kakashi unconsciously gripped into his vest, right above his fast beating organ. The strangely familiar rhythm reminded him of the time back with his wife, the first months spend with the cold beauty and the things they shared, until he gathered all his courage and kneeled in front of Hanare.

 

Despite their broken marriage, Kakashi truly loved the woman and now he felt this friction inside his heart again, the delicious hurting strange troubling wonderful emotion that he had sworn off.

“Silly thing…” he mumbled, incoherently for the other three men at the hill. “We both are truly… silly things…” Then he sat down, unable to stand anymore because of his suddenly weak knees and watched the dancers on the stage perform, but his coal eyes laid the whole time on a small figure who kept dancing in the background, the brown hair pulled into a high ponytail and without the usual thick glasses. The expression on her face was far from comfortable, but over the time something seemed to click into place and her movements became more graceful and livelier. Kakashi smiled weakly when he saw the tiny grin around Hikos lips as she bowed at the end of the song.

“Do you understand now?”

Obito sat down beside him, crossed his legs and rested the camera in his lap. Askingly the raven head looked at the masked man, who didn’t respond immediately. So the Obito just continued. “Do you understand now, Hatake? What I wanted to say earlier, you know about being a good friend and partner for Hiko…”

“I got it. And I want that to be for her, if all of you allow me to.”

“You miss something in your quotation.”

Kakashi spun his head to the raven. “Huh?”

Obito waved teasingly the index finger in front of the silver haired mans face. “You forgot that she has to accept your feelings too, you know? It’s not like that her past will vanish overnight. She never talks about it with us, but I’m sure that she’s still scared of relationships, love, intimacy… First you have to get accepted by Hiko, then when can discuss about other things.”

“Right…” murmured Kakashi and crossed his legs in the same matter as the man beside him. “She has to accept me too…”

Suddenly nervousness invaded his brain. It was a long time ago that the cop felt like this, unsure what to do and his emotions running wild. Like a rollercoaster, taking Kakashi merciless down and up, into abrupt swoops or spinning vortexes.

‘It was so much easier to be alone… But what’s life without some hurdles? I will make Hiko realize what I feel for her and then we can work at any other obstacle that comes our way. Together.’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Maybe it would've been a better decision to post both Summer festival parts at one day, but...  
> Naah. Just... Naaaaaaah.  
> Sorry for this.


	21. Aftermath

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The hours after the ending of Hikos unwilling performance on stage, coming along some kind of embarrassing and also... arousing realizations.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If someone doesn't like to read about masturbation, then I only advise to you read the first half of the chapter. The rest is smutty, plus a bit of a dirty fantasy Kakashi has.

Sweat drenched and exhausted Hiko stumbled through the curtain into the small backstage area, an extra booth with cold drinks and some snacks. She was the first one to enter, but on her heels followed Ino, Hinata, Sakura, Tenten and Kurenai, just as half-dead as her.

For a while none of the girls said anything, they were too busy to open the bottles and gulp every drop of liquid down. Then Tenten, usually the first one to recover from training, spoke up and her cheerful voice made Hiko grin a bit.

“That. Was. Awesome!” she exclaimed loudly, her buns in a lousy mess. All of them agreed quickly, corresponding to their personalities: Sakura and Ino shared a high-five, Hinata fiddled with some strands of her hair, Kurenai nodded proudly and Hiko chuckled at the outburst. “Yes, but I won’t repeat this experience again.”

Ino stopped in her little party with Sakura. “Yeah, we noticed that you had stage fright, it wasn’t really something to hide. But you’re sure about never doing it again?”

Shortly before they had to get one stage, Hiko suffered from a short, but mighty need to puke her insides out or to hide in the pathology and wait until the show was over. Ino and Kurenai had to drag her out on stage, but then after a while and drowning all the greedy stares which were directed at her figure out, she managed to breathe and even smile.

“Absolutely. At least not in front of so many people.” said Hiko and leaned against the wall of the little booth. She bend her knee that the bottom of her foot rested also against the thin layer behind her and watched amused the blonde and pinkette females slowly getting rougher in their celebration. Sakura and Ino were something special: one moment they were like best friends, the next they insulted each other with various threats and mean words.

Tenten laughed loudly and pointed jokingly at the shorty. “Not even for a special someone?”

Abruptly Hikos head were flooded with pictures of her, circling around in her apartment, swaying her hips to the music and feeling the heated stares of onyx eyes on her figure. Resolute, but embarrassed she waved those thoughts away. “That’s never gonna happen.” she stated calmly, but on the inside her stomach tightened around in a strange mix of excitement and nervousness. With a weak grunt the brunette rolled her shoulders until the joints cracked, then she slipped fastly out of the slightly damp t-shirt, revealing a simple black sports bra.

All the woman inside the room tried to take a peek at the scars that were not covered by the fabric, but Hiko swiftly turned around and presented her coworkers her bare back, while searching inside her two bags for the blouse she wore for her maid uniform. Since the incident a few weeks ago the other women more or less sneakily tried to find out what caused those injuries and meanwhile Hiko tend to just ignore their advances (her icy façade however didn’t stop them from trying). While slipping into the sleeves and buttoning the blouse up, she tilted her head from the right side to the left, waiting like a predator in front of the rabbit’s den at the questions which would surely occur.

And she was right. But at the same time, the shorty didn’t expect such questions.

“But I saw you today with Hatake-san and you two were quite close, if I recall correctly. Aren’t you two a couple?” asked Ino and grinned evilly as Hiko froze on the spot, her hands raised to loosen the tight ponytail. The blonde forensic student nodded at Sakura, who quickly joined the teasing tone of the conversation. “And I watched you two running away from your food stall, Kobayashi-san! It was like a scene out of a romantic movie! Soooo sweet!” The pinkette squealed happily and shook her clenched fists wildly around, a faint dust of red on her cheeks.

 

Only now Hiko awoke from her stone like state and turned around, flustered and placing her glasses with shaking fingers into their rightful place. “N-no!” she stuttered and cursed herself for it, “W-we’re just f-friends!”

“Aww, come on!” teased Tenten and chuckled. “You ran around with Hatake-san the whole break and then you’re nearly late for the performance! Something must’ve happened!”

“No! N-nothing ha-happened! We o-only had l-lunch!” shouted Hiko, but the other woman ignored her remark. Instead they gathered like a bunch of hyenas in the middle of the room, from time to time throwing dark glances to the shorty who got cold chills whenever one of them met her eyes.

            ‘They’re like demons… God, why does something like this always happens to me?’

Only Hinata didn’t join the cycle. The shy girl stood unsecure in a corner, fiddled with her fingers and tried to speak up, but her silent voice couldn’t go against the intimidating force of four curious women. For a second Hiko imagined herself seeking shelter behind the poor girl, but threw this weak picture away. It wasn’t like her to back down from a threat, hell, if four women could overthrow the harpy of the KPD so easily, her whole reputation was down the drain! But when another devilish stare met the shorty, she quickly decided that a retreat was for the better for now.

            ‘Sometimes it’s better to forfeit a battle in order to win the war, right?’

Still in the hot pants and blouse, Hiko grabbed her two bags and slipped into her comfortable low shoes. “It was nice to participate in this, but, you know… I still have something to do…” she said hastily while slowly tip-toeing to the door that would lead her outside and into safety. On the way out she also tugged at Hinata’s sleeve to signal her to also leave. Hiko would never sacrifice the poor shy girl to the hyenas in here!

But the gossiping and conspiring circle seemed to sense the nervousness of their prey like their nickname-mascots and suddenly jumped at the brunette and the lavender eyed girl.

“You can’t leave, shannaro!”

“Exactly! Share it with us Kobayashi-san!”

“I could read out of the palm of your hand if you two are compatible!”

“You owe me one after you treated me like a thief during my one misstep with your food!”

Screaming obsolete curses Hiko dragged Hinata with her, the two bags in her left and her right hand gripping onto the slender girl’s wrist. Soon the Hyuuga ran on her own and with a reassuring nod that could only surface because of their constant time together, they split up between the stalls. Hiko heard the hyenas behind her and she doubled her efforts to get away from them.

 

Just when the shorty passed a corner, she turned her head to measure the distance between her and her pursuers. Like this Hiko didn’t notice the person crossing her path and crashed into a broad chest. Arms slung automatically around her waist and she was flushed against the well-toned body.

“Ow! Man, just look out…” Her angry words died down as she heard the familiar rumble and also felt the vibrations in her own chest.

Kakashi looked with amused eyes at the shorty and crocked his head. “Yo. Already finished?”

Hiko had now two choices: first, being captured and questioned by the females even more fiercely if she was found in Kakashis embrace and second, stay in his arms and escape from her chasers. But that would mean testing her self-control to the very limits and Hiko didn’t want to test them just now.

She decided on a whim when the shorty sensed the group of woman drawing nearer. “Kakashi, hide me!” she begged the larger man, her free right hand gripping into his vest.

Thankfully his instincts kicked in and like a flash the cop dragged her behind a still standing booth. Together they kneeled down and crawled deeper into their hide-out, Hiko always listening to the approaching women. In the process the brunette pressed herself against Kakashi, nearly draped over his lower body and her cleavage flushed against his stomach. Heavy pants, out of nervousness and exhaustion escaped Hikos throat and she rested her forehead into his chest, stifling her sounds this way.

“…Hiko…?” Kakashi whispered into her ear and his breath ghosted faintly over her scalp and skin. A comfortable shudder erupted from this simple action. “Why are we hiding?”

“Because of female demons.” she whispered back and giggled when she saw his confused expression. “Silence! I hear them coming.”

Indeed the hunters were now right beside them, but Hiko and Kakashi were shielded from their eyes. Nevertheless both unconsciously held their breaths and listened closely to the snapping voices.

“Where did she go?” yelled Sakura.

Ino answered in a rather aggressive tone. “Don’t know, billboard-forehead! If you hadn’t stopped to ogle at Sasuke-kun, then we had catched her for sure!”

“But his jacket was open Ino-pig! And you also checked him out, I don’t have to explain myself to you!”

“Girls, calm down.” This was Kurenais voice. “It’s not the time to argue. Think, where could Kobayashi-san go in her situation?”

Silence for a few moments, then Tenten announced: “If it would be me, I would try to get as fast as possible to my car without getting seen by anyone. So I would leave the terrain around the KPD and take the shortcut to the parking slots.”

“Then we will set out and search the surroundings for any signs. Sakura, you will come with me and Ino, you are going with Tenten. Together we won’t fail.”

 

Only when all of them dispersed into different directions, Hiko let the air in her lungs go and felt in the same second also Kakashi exhaling. “Sorry. They questioned me quite harshly and it was extremely threatening.” said the brunette and pushed her glasses up. “Thanks for saving me… again.”

He chuckled. “No problem. But when all your knights in shining armor get so close to you like this, then you’ll need more than the three locks at your door to keep them all away.”

“Kakashi!” Embarrassed Hiko head-butted the laughing man into the chest, but couldn’t help herself and also broke into a laugh when it didn’t affect him one bit. Truth to be told, the shorty liked to be right now under the counter of the booth, safely secured in the arms of the one she loved.

After a while her laughter faded to a smile on her lips and brightly she beamed at Kakashi, who went suddenly stiff when she tried to move out of his arms. Hiko wiggled a little bit, but then she felt something at her own stomach, which was pressed against his lower regions. Something _grew_ there and Hikos mouth went suddenly dry when she looked into Kakashis widened eyes. She searched in them for his feelings, but could only see panic.

“Uhm…” She licked her lips nervously and realized shortly afterwards that this was probably not her brightest idea, so she went for a hasty escape. As the shorty stood again and was able to look at the bulge in her friends pants that still continued to grow, she spun around and hid her hot cheeks in the palms of her cool hands.

‘It’s only natural, he’s a man and is sexual active, he’s a man and sexual active, oh my god, Kakashi got erect because of me, oh my god, oh my god, oh my god…’

The shuffling of clothes and an embarrassed cough catched Hikos attention. Warily she turned around and was relieved to see only his back, despite the uncomfortable fidgeting and the position of his hands (they obviously tried to cover the tent in the pants).

Hiko clenched her eyes tightly shut and her hands into fists, then she dared to address Kakashi. “Uhm… I’ll go to my car then… Yes. To my car… Hehe.” Nibbling on her lower lip, the brunette stumbled forward, away from this awkward situation and the sudden tension inside her.

When she had reached her car safe and sound, Hiko dropped her bags automatically in the back, then slipped into the driver’s seat and fiddled with the car keys. When Kakashi got on the seat beside her, she didn’t meet his look and instead started immediately the car. The drive home was dead silent, neither of the two adults dared to speak up and say anything what could cause even more awkwardness in their secluded space. And when she parked the car in front of their apartment complex, the woman jumped out of her beetle and nearly kissed the ground, but regained her balance before this could even get more embarrassing.

She didn’t know what to do. No man ever reacted like this to her, never. Even Kabuto who introduced her to sex and was in general a horny perv, trying out kinky plays and toys, didn’t get hard only by a touch from Hiko. And the worst was that she liked to know that it was caused by her, that Kakashi felt at least some of the things she harbored for him. It gave her the illusion of power over the strong and composed cop and she was turned on by it. How the moisture in her panties could otherwise be explained?

 

Hiko just reached her door and searched in the bags for the keys as Kakashi stepped behind her. She froze on the spot, her hair wildly dangling into her face and her right arm buried in the many layers of the maid uniform.

“I’m sorry.” His voice hesitated for a second, then he sighed deeply. “Listen, Hiko…”

“No need to explain.” interrupted the shorty. “You’re a man and all of you are thirsty dogs, so I won’t judge you for this.”

“No, that’s not-!”

“Just give me some time, I favor at least 24 hours, and then I have calmed down for sure.”

“You don’t understand-!”

“Oh, I understand.” said Hiko and finally crashed her keys into the keyhole. “After your parting with Anko you’re surely frustrated and I won’t stand in your way if you want to find another bed partner.” She opened her apartment and catched one last glance of Kakashi, before smashing the door closed and sinking against the massive wood.

“What is happening right now…” whispered the shorty desperately and shook her head. “How I’m able to survive this…”

 

(…)

 

Hiko was annoyed. And pissed. But mostly she was horny and wet and that made her especially annoyed and pissed. For her it felt like hours since she went to bed after a long cold shower and a single-dinner, but the tingles in her groin wouldn’t leave her alone. She knew what she had to do to make this stop, but the Hiko still hesitated.

It wasn’t right to masturbate to the images of your friend. It shouldn’t feel right. But it did. With an irritated groan the woman reached down to her soaked panties, a pair of comfortable hipsters in black and with the ‘Batman’-symbol printed on it. Her fingers tugged the waistband down and she wiggled out of the hindering clothing. With a lazy gesture she threw it out of her bed.

Nearly in the same second her love juices dripped out of her cavern and Hiko moaned at the feeling of the light cotton of her blanket rubbing over her sensitive skin. Eagerly she also got out of her t-shirt, now completely dazed by the delicious pictures playing in her mind. The whole day sexual tension build up in her, beginning at the point her eyes set on the muscled upper body of Kakashi to the point she felt the growing erection pressed against her stomach.

Hikos eyes automatically shut when her fingers started to gently brush over her nipples, which went hard under her ministrations. A moan escaped her lips and she bit down to hinder every other traitorous sound to reveal her aroused state. The woman only felt now, felt the path which her hands took, slightly brushing over the many unbelievable sensitive scars. Countless little G-spots that were the silver half-moon’s now and caressing them let Hiko shudder comfortable.

Getting bolder, the warm fingers of her right hand trailed lower, tracing the outlines of her flat stomach, while her left hand stayed at her breasts and danced over the milky white flesh. At the soft touches Hikos legs spread unwillingly and a stranger standing at the end of her bed could watch her twitching core now unhindered and follow every braid of warm juice dripping into the blankets. Wave after wave warmth erupted in her loins, each wave stronger than the one before.

 

The brunette slowly bend her neck, until the top of her scalp rested in the pillows, her rosy mouth lightly parted and from time to time her tongue peeked out, licking over the delicate lips. The now hard nipples, colored into the shade of cherries, pointed at the ceiling and with a devilish smile Hiko pinched herself into the left nub. The short sting of pain made her moan loudly.

In her thoughts it was Kakashis doing that caused her to act like this. She imagined the gorgeous man hover over her body, smirking slyly at her lewd behavior and his coal eyes following every movement and reaction the woman made. Hiko recalled the impressive boner flushed against her stomach and lazily drew the outlines where he had laid.

Meanwhile her right hand had reached her dark locks, the fingers working their way through the already damp pubic hair and going straight for the prize: her clit, swollen and waiting for the touch. As Hiko finally started to circle it, another loud groan vibrated in her chest, quickly followed by high-pitched whimpers when her fingers picked up a faster pace. Her breath hitched and the shorty’s back arched when the arousal only grew further, only halfway on the road to her needed climax.

“Kakashi…” She rasped his name out, calling the word like a prayer. Her imagination run wild, picturing the silver haired man and herself in different dirty situations that could be straight out of the “Icha-Icha”-novels he loved so much. Only now the left hand let her chest in peace and joined the other which worked furiously around her clit, stroking the flesh and making Hiko tremble in lust. But the digits trailed even lower and slowly started to ease their way into the woman, dipping into the liquid that spilled out of her womanhood. The first finger entered Hiko and she hissed when she felt the friction on her walls, caused by her wiggling digit. But it wasn’t enough.

The brunette shuddered in pleasure when the second finger started to push inside her fold. “P-please… Kakashi…” she groaned. “Touch me… touch me m-more…” Biting her lips Hiko slammed her hands into her cavern, now forgetting every hesitation, flooded away by the heat that invaded every cell inside her. She got closer to the delicious peak, fueled by her dirty fantasies and rubbing hands, her legs twitching in anticipation.

 

In Hikos mind the cop sucked on her clit, his silver hair tickling her stomach and his slick muscle moving teasingly around, mocking her with brief touches followed by long licks, from time to time even gently gracing the tender spot with his teeth. “Yes!” growled the female desperately and bucked her hips, “Please! I need it!” The squishy sounds of her hands moving inside her pussy, slamming into her, made Hiko arch her back almost painfully and dug her heels into the soft mattress, lifting her lower body off the ground. The climax was close, she felt it, just around the corner.

Sweat poured down her body as the shorty pinched her clit, imagining it was Kakashi biting the delicate nub, running his tongue all over her slit and looking sometimes at her with his intense onyx eyes, the one scarred and the other not, but both blinking in mischief.

Then, without another warning, even when Hiko saw it all along, the climax washed over her. Totally surprised by the sheer force the brunette couldn’t suppress a low cry rippling out of her throat, her fingers riding the last tides out. She felt her walls clenching desperately at the invading digits, but the motions got weaker with each second. Heavily panting and sweating despite being naked, the woman slowly retreated out of her hold and listened with a strange satisfaction to the squishy sound that was created.

After a while the heat died down and only then Hiko properly processed what she had done. Groaning she swung her legs out of the bed and stood up, swaying a little bit on her feet as she walked into the bathroom. When she dared to meet her own eyes in the mirror, the shorty saw the tousled hair, the dusted cheeks and the sweat staining her forehead. “This is not good…” she mumbled. “I will not survive like this.”

Her resolve to let Kakashi do what he wanted and not interfere with his love life crumbled. The whole day it wasn’t only about building the tension, but also creating cracks in her mask of the best friend she wore. This, Hiko thinking about her neighbor while masturbating, was only the tip of the iceberg.

‘What can I do to let this feelings disappear? I don’t want them and I don’t need them. Kakashi will never see me like this and his boner was only an accident, caused by hormones and my fucking hot pants. Forget about him, it’s for the best. Because the faster you are able to lock away those emotions, the earlier both of you can go back to being friends, just like before.

I’m not suited for relationships. Remember? I was too scared to even let the poor guy touch me, not talking about having sex with him. Now try to imagine to confess my love to Kakashi. What if he accepts me? Nothing could happen, because I’m scarred for life and would only hurt him in the process, rejecting his advances again and again. We can never become intimate, do the things I dream secretively about and in the end, he’s a man. He will leave me because of my incapability to let go of my fears.’

Hiko went back to her bedroom and slipped into her panties and t-shirt, laying discarded on the floor. Then she dropped into the bed and snuggled into the soft blankets, stifling the desperate sob crawling out of her throat.

‘But there’s no use in thinking about that. He doesn’t love me, so it’s alright. I just have to make sure my feelings will not get into the way of our friendship.

It’s alright. Everything will be alright.

Someday.’

  

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

Kakashi couldn’t forget it. The heavy blush on Hikos face as she turned around, away from him and the massive boner he had, caused by the sudden close proximity in a compromising posture. He groaned, partly happy, partly embarrassed when he thought about the feeling of her body flushed against his own, nicely shaped in all the right places. It used up all his control not to wrap the short woman into his arms and roam her figure until both of them were breathless.

But then the hasty retreat from Hiko. Kakashi was hurt to see her almost running to her flat and searching hastily for the keys, so he wanted to apologize, maybe even give her some hints about his feelings towards her, however she shrugged all of his advances off and even slammed the door closed. An indicator for her raging emotions. Also the time limit she set!

“24 hours…” he mumbled. “Are you kidding me?”

The man sipped on the second beer this evening, sitting relaxed in his armchair and both arms comfortably placed at the armrests, still in his butler uniform, but the sleeves now rolled up and the tie removed. Kakashi also had dropped his flu mask, which he discarded with a somehow irritated twist of his wrist at the coffee table in front of him. Well, he tried, but it fluttered useless to the ground, not fazed by Kakashis emotions and now laid there like a tired butterfly, waiting for the next breeze to take it on a ride.

With his bare toes he fiddled with the rough fabric, while continuing his own little grumble. “Seriously? Every man alive and with blood in his veins would have reacted to this. Does she thinks she’s ugly or something? And then the hot pants… Aaargh!” Angrily Kakashi ruffled through his wild hair, a move he perfected in the last hour. “The hot pants! God! It should be illegal to wear it for her!”

At the memory of the brunette’s curvy hips and ass, cladded in the close-fitting jeans cloth, barely reaching over her buttocks Kakashis member twitched happily. The man grunted and looked at the growing tent in his pants, his grip slightly tightening around the cool bottle.

“You’re the one who got me into this pinch. Don’t think I will relieve myself today!”

            _‘Why not? It’s not like you will ever talk about this with her.’_

‘I just shouldn’t!’

_‘Aaaaw, come on Kakashi! You want it too! Remember her figure, so delicate but well developed, the way her boobs were pressed against your stomach, her face so close to yours, her hands resting at your sides, the smell of raspberries and vanilla, the little flush on her cheeks, her sweet stutter as she noticed the tight situation you were in, her ass in this lovely little pants…’_

‘Goddammit, I hate you.’

Kakashis erection grew even further and nearly ripped his pants, fueled by the forbidden-delicious thoughts of his subconscious. Heat flooded his whole body, concentrating in his loins and lower stomach. Growling and cursing himself for his weak defense, the silver haired man finished his drink with a determined sip, got up and went into the bathroom, on the way stripping out of his clothing.

 

His rough fingers nestled a little bit with the tiny buttons of the waistcoat, but then also the heaviest part slid to the ground, followed by the white shirt and dress pants. Finally only the tight black boxers hindered Kakashi from pleasuring himself, so he dropped this clothing too. His member sprung free, twitching and proudly standing in a nest of silver locks. Pre-cum already sizzled out of the slit on the tip and Kakashi couldn’t resist the urge to stroke his dick a few times, earning him at least a little bit of relief and satisfaction.

“Not yet…” he groaned and let go of the shaft. “Not…yet.” Hastily like a teenager he climbed into the shower and turned the water on, cautious to meet at the first try the right water temperature (in his state a cold shower would be a real hindrance). Warm water poured down and soaked his hair that gave in to the added weight after a few seconds and dangled into his eyes.

Kakashi sighed and leaned with his back against the white tiles of the shower. Resting the back of his head also at the cold wall, he gripped softly his erection, but didn’t caress it yet. First the man allowed himself to relish all the memories and fantasies he had about Hiko, which he had pushed aside until now.

‘The way she almost dances through her flat, not knowing her hips sway seductively whenever she listens to music while walking. Her scent, driving me crazy and making me giddy whenever I smell raspberries. Her clothes, sometimes saggy and covering all of her body, but then so tight that it outlines nearly every muscle and especially her breasts and butt. The latest wet dream I had, where she wore only the cute little pair of cat ears, drooling on my abs and licking every inch she could reach with her wet tongue.’

Slowly Kakashi began to move his right hand up to the tip of his erection. The torturing motion left him already panting a little bit as his thumb circled the sensitive skin, smearing the thick semen over the angry red head. “Haah…” he groaned while his hand trailed again down at the same pace as before, only tighter wrapped around the shaft.

The silver haired man continued those ministrations, driving himself slowly crazy but savoring every little friction he got out of it. Then he began to move faster with each upward stroke, fueled by the sinful pictures his perverted mind created for him in this moment.

‘Hiko heavily sweating and panting beneath me, begging me to please her more. Her blue eyes, widened and dazed because of me. Her hair entangled with my fingers, while she gets down on me. Hiko in those hot pants, not fleeing, but smiling devilish instead and wiggling a little bit more, savoring the reactions she causes.’    

“Hi…ko…” Unconsciously Kakashi gasped her name, while his knees got weak under his now fast and unrelenting touches. Groaning loudly, his left hand joined the play and fondled with his balls, massaging them and getting the man closer to the climax. The warm water only added to his pleasure, because it washed the smothering pre-cum away and let him feel the full friction of his movements.

 

He was close, but yet it was not enough. He needed more and with another husky groan Kakashi closed his eyes and thought more about Hiko and what he would do with her if he ever would get the chance to be with her.

‘Licking over the white skin, again and again until I hear her desperate pants. Teasing every sensitive spot I can find and watching her body writher underneath mine. Pulling Hiko close to me and let her take some of the control. Feeling her, touching her, kissing her, doing all those things…’

Again Kakashi escaped a loud gasp, which echoed around in between the tiled walls of the bathroom. He bit down on his lips to prevent any other sounds, his hands furiously working and stroking up and down, but when the next scenario came into his mind, the man couldn’t hold himself any longer. “Hiko… Please, Hiko!”

_‘Her slender fingers are wrapped around his dick, slowly trailing every inch. Curiosity stands in her iceblue eyes as she watches him closely, a single eyebrow raised when Kakashi groaned again._

_“Is it good? Do you feel… good?” Her voice is partly asking, partly mocking, but he doesn’t mind it._

_“God, Hiko!” His hips buck into her grip, wanting more from the woman, needing her body close to his own, but she withdraws a bit and chuckles lowly when she sees his pleading expression. “No Kakashi. Not yet. I also want to enjoy this, you know?”_

_Suddenly she plunges forward and yanks his mask away, but then she freezes, surprised at the sight underneath the fabric. “Kakashi…” she whispers and her right hand trails slowly the outlines of his mouth. Gently the warm fingers run over his bottom lip, while her face inches closer, gentleness and care edged into the features. Then, finally her lips touch his and he can taste the brunette. Kakashi opens his mouth and moans surprised when he feels her tongue invading, but he surrenders to her and even smiles a bit as she presses her breast against his chest, letting him feel the curves and the little vibration in her chest when she hums._

_“Hiko…”_

_“Yes?” Her breath ghosts over his wet lips when she answers, just as tempestuous as him._

_“Please…”_

_The shorty leans in to kiss him again, her other hand stroking his erection furiously. But the ministration is short-lived. Kakashi gasps, while Hiko licks her way down over his naked chest, tracing his nipples, his muscles and sharp lines with her slick tongue. But shortly before her lips wrap themselves around the twitching shaft, Hiko throws a glance over the rims of her glasses at him and smirks._

_“I love you Kakashi.”’_

In the exact moment the imaginary Hiko was about to start the blowjob, Kakashi exploded with a weak cry. The heat enflamed his whole body, especially his loins and he threw his head so hard back that he crashed into the tiles. He didn’t care. It was all about Hiko and the gigantic orgasm he had now.

White strands of cum spurted out of his weeping dick, staining his upper body and stomach with the thick liquid. His hands still rode out the last waves of the climax, relishing every little friction he could get out of the sensitive organ. Mindless Kakashi watched them dripping down, before he stepped with weakly shaking knees into the pouring water. Without a trace the proof of his perverted mind vanished inside the drain and the man warily let his head fall back.

“I…” he sighed deeply, “love you too.”


	22. A new friend

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hiko is very good in avoiding the issue at hand. But someone -a strange author?- sends her a person to set her mind straight.

Careful Hiko listened to the sounds on the floor. Her head was pressed against her entrance door, nervousness and embarrassment ruling her whole inside. Only when she tasted blood, the woman realized she nibbled so hard on her lower lip that she broke the skin.

            ‘God, why I’m so nervous? I just masturbated, nothing wrong with that.’

_‘To the images of your friend. That’s a huge difference to other private sessions before, my dear.’_

‘It’s a first sign of paranoia when a second voice talks with me, okay? So shut up and let me dwell in my daydreams.’

_‘Never~! Isn’t this situation like out of “Icha-Icha-Paradise”? You liked it when Hiro tried to avert Yoko desperately, because you knew it was inevitable that they would meet again. And in your case it is even more destined to run into Kakashi, because you’re colleagues, neighbors and on top of that friends!’_

‘But I can fucking lock my feelings away until they die! Those goddamn butterflies, making me all giddy and bubbly and nervous. It will hurt if this stupid love doesn’t starve, plus I need some time to recover from yesterday. We spend too much time together, so a little break is definitely needed.’

_‘Sure sweetie, whatever it needs to calm you down.’_

Hiko growled. Even her brain decided to go against her. But she was in control over her body, not the raging hormones or emotions who melted when Kakashi was near her like butter in the sunlight. In normal jeans and a wine red light sweat shirt with wide sleeves the shorty tugged one last time at her braided hair, pushed her glasses determined up and slowly peeked through the door, ready to slam it close if someone was waiting for her at the floor.

But to her relief nobody was there. Silently like a cat, she closed the door to her flat and locked it, before tip-toeing down to the staircase. Every moment Hiko thought she heard familiar steps behind her and expected his special husky voice to resound through the corridor, but nothing happened. When she finally exited the building, she let go of the breath she didn’t notice holding until now and walked up to her car.

“Maybe I should warn Obito beforehand…” she mumbled absent minded, while already typing a message for her childhood friend. The woman needed now someone to talk with and Itachi and Kisame were gone for a weekend trip, so she didn’t want to disturb them with her own little problems over phone. That only left the loud Uchiha.

            _Hiko: Obito? I’m going to come over, if it’s alright for you. I need a hideout… temporarily._

He didn’t answer, but Hiko wasn’t bothered by it. Maybe he was too lazy to answer, or simply forget it because of his goldfish-concentration level. Actually the shorty felt already better on the way to her friend and even hummed to a song of the radio that she usually loathed, an annoying pop song that would keep stuck in her head forever. But she felt the worry rise inside when she parked in some distance to Obito’s apartment complex and looked at her phone, noticing that he didn’t even read the message. “Strange…” she mumbled while getting out of her beetle. “Usually he would be already up on a Saturday morning…” Her forehead wrinkled.

Something was fishy. She knew it. Pressing the bellpush for his flat, Hiko waited a few moments, but then Obito’s sleepy voice answered, raspy and mumbling. “Yeah?”

“Obito, it’s me. I tried to message you, but I got no answer…”

Silence. Then some shuffling sounds from the speaker, just like he would search for the phone only now. “Hiko? Why…? No, I can’t right now, it’s a bad time, you know, please come later again!”

“Obito?” asked Hiko confused, “Why? Is my visit inconvenient?”

“Yes, yes, highly inconvenient! But in an hour you can come back, okay? Just… not now.”

“Obito-koi?” An unknown female voice. “Who is it?”

“No one, darling, no one.”

Angrily the shorty leaned closer to the microphone. “Idiot! What is going on up there?”

A clank from the intercom told her that he just shut her up. Hissing a weak curse, the brunette pushed the bell to his flat again, but Obito didn’t take the call.

“Fine,” Hiko snarled, “if you want to play like this…”

Unbeknownst to him, she had other methods to get into his home and she was determined to find out who was in Obito’s flat at an early morning of a peaceful Saturday. That it kept also her wandering thoughts at bay was another plus point.

Faking a smile, Hiko searched for a name on the list of inhabitants listed at the intercom, cautious to choose someone from a higher level as her friends apartment. Randomly she pressed a bell and was instantly rewarded with an old creaking voice from the speaker.

“Hello?”

“Hi!” she said cheerfully, “My name is Hiko Uchiha and… uhm… I’m sorry to disturb you like this, but unfortunately I forgot my keys inside my brother’s flat. Would you be so kind and let me in?”

“You’re bound with the loud foolmouth beneath me?”

“Yes, I’m afraid that my brother can be loud sometimes, Mrs. Chiyo. I’m sorry for all the inconvenience he causes for you.”

“Mhmmm. Fine.” The buzzing sound of the opening door let Hiko silently pump her fist into the air, then she grinned at the intercom. “Thank you very much!”

 

“Just make sure he and his girlfriend don’t get loud like yesterday anymore.”

            ‘Girlfriend! Naturally, why didn’t I think about this before?’

Hiko climbed easily the staircases and smirked when she thought about the surprised face Obito would make when she knocked on his door. Trying to hide it from her? No chance of succeeding!

First she hesitated at the wooden barrier, but then a devilish smile spread on her lips. “Obito! Open up!” she yelled, loud enough for him to hear her loud and clear, but nevertheless silent enough not to disturb the neighbors. Accompanied by exaggerating knocks, Hiko waited for his answer.

She didn’t wait long, though.

“Are you trying to make me homeless?” hissed Obito as he opened the door. “The old lady above me just seeks a reason to chase me out!”

The brunette only raised uninterested an eyebrow while lowering her fist to her side. “She sounded like a nice old grandma to me. But we have different point of views in this matter, I believe. So who's in your flat?”

“N-nobody!” stuttered the Uchiha, but his lie was immediately lifted. A woman appeared at his side, an especially beautiful one. Her nicely shaped face was accentuated by big doe eyes, brown hair that was a little bit tousled from a night spend with pleasurable activities, but nevertheless silky and flowing until her chin and a pair of puffy red lips which were able to put any model into despair. Only two thick purple tattoo like marks at her cheeks didn’t want to fit into her picture, but Hiko thought it even underlined the gentle expression of the woman. She pressed herself in an intimate gesture at Obito’s flank and slung her arms around his neck. “Obito-koi? Is this woman the ‘no one’ from a few minutes ago?”

“I could say the same thing about you.” mumbled Hiko, noticing that the girlfriend only wore a too large shirt for her form, nothing else. Another quick glance at her childhood friend, who was shirtless and only in a boxer shorts, told the shorty everything she needed to know. She stretched her hand to the other brunette and smiled.

“My name is Hiko Kobayashi. I’m one of Obito’s friends here. Sorry for my intrusion, but I didn’t know about… you at all.”

The woman in front of her took the hand and shook it. Her grip was gentle and loose, just like Hiko expected from her. “Hello, nice to meet you. My name is Rin Nohara and I’m Obito’s girlfriend. Speaking of…” Rin looked displeased at the man beside her. “You didn’t tell your friends about me?”

“I told them, totally!” he said and laid possessively an arm around her waist. “I just wanted to wait a little bit until you met them, they can be demanding sometimes…”

“Obito-koi… thanks for worrying about me, but I would prefer to get to know your friends.”

“Darling…” In a sweet gesture the Uchiha caressed gently the left purple mark at Rin’s face. “Everything you say.”

 

Hiko didn’t know how to react. At the one hand, her female heart was extremely happy to witness such a sugary scene involving her childhood friend, who never had a long-lasting relationship. Also the unbelievable cute words and gestures from him made her proud about her brother. But at the other hand she was reminded about her own dilemma and feelings, what left her somehow nauseous and guilty. So she settled for a gentle, but embarrassed smile and shushed the two love-birds. “Come on, you two are indecent. Get in and I will make something to eat, how does that sound?”

Obito watched her with suspicion, but Rin beamed brightly at the shorty. “Ooh, I heard so much about your cooking skills from my koi! I would be glad to taste it! Come in, please!”

“With pleasure.” answered Hiko and stepped into the apartment. While Rin freed herself from the possessive hug of her boyfriend and walked into the kitchen, Obito held Hiko back from also entering the living room. With burning eyes and thin lips he watched her, before he ruffled through his already untamed bed hair. “So, what do you think?”

Hiko pushed her glasses up. “You wanted to avoid this, huh? Do you really believe I would reject her if it wouldn’t feel right for her to belong to us?”

“Naturally not. But…”

“There’s still some doubt. I know, my brother. But only to assure you, I think she’s fine. Rin has my approval.”

“Thank god…” Obito slumped down like someone took a large weight off of his shoulders. “I didn’t know what to do if you said otherwise. I really love Rin and I couldn’t make a decision between my family and my love.”

Hiko hugged him for a second. Then she retreated and elbowed the male. “Uuh, you’re deeply devoted to her, huh? Who is the boss in the relationship?”

“Rin. It can only be Rin.” answered Obito with a low chuckle. “You should see her in the hospital. It’s incredible how she manages all the people there with ease, but always friendly and caring about the ones around her.”

“As long as you’re happy, I’m happy. Now let’s join your girlfriend, she will wonder if we get lost on the short way.” snickered Hiko. She laughed even harder at the little blush creeping over the raven heads face, but decided to minimize her teasing today at least. Instead the shorty was more interested in Rin, who stood still unfazed by her little clothing in the kitchen and already prepared their breakfast.

While the two women worked in the kitchen, Hiko asked Rin a lot of questions and with each answer the approving feeling deep in her mind grew. The nurse was surely a nice person, gentle and caring about the ones around her, but could also handle difficult personalities. The way she talked about her patients, the looks she exchanged with Obito when she thought Hiko wouldn’t notice and her honest eyes were to the shortys liking.

 

“Kobayashi-san…” said the nurse just now when they finished preparing the breakfast, consisting of scrambled eggs and some buns, “Obito talked so much about you that I almost got jealous. But now I see you two are more like brother and sister than friends. I’m relieved he has such a good friend at his side, so thank you very much.”

Hiko placed her own plate at the table and sat down, Rin took hers and Obitos. She watched the couple exchanging a quick loving kiss, then she had to look away. Her throat suddenly became dry and tight, a phenomenon that didn’t often occur.

“No problem.” she brought out. “Obito is very important to me and I’m glad he found such a nice woman, so it would be my turn to thank you, Nohara-san. He can be an air-head sometimes, please bear with it.”

“I know.” Chuckling Rin shook her head. “My, that felt like a talk between the father-in-law and the hopeful fiancée, don’t you think?”

“Then Obito is the shy little girl in the scenario? How sweet.”

“Hey!” The Uchiha put on a pout and looked back and forth between his smiling girlfriend and his smirking childhood friend. “I’m not shy and I’m surely not a girl!”

The two women broke into a short laughter, seeing the adult man acting like a little kid and then they immersed into another topic while eating.

But then Obito had one of his sharp moments, just when the three people finished their breakfast and went to wash the used plates.

“I read your message. Why do you need a hide-out?”

The question took Hiko by surprise and she nearly lost the contact to the fragile porcelain in the process, only barely she regained her previous cool. “Oh, nothing important…” she mumbled weakly, feeling the blood creeping up into her cheeks. “Just about spending time with my friend, you know?”

“Bullshit.” stated the raven head bluntly. “You would never ask for a hiding spot if there was nothing going on. Spit it out shorty.”

“It’s really not important!” snapped Hiko, but slapped immediately her hands over her mouth afterwards, who was again faster than her brain.

Triumphantly he smirked at her outburst. “Really~? Nothing? I don’t believe you Hiko. Is it probably about Kakashi-san?”

The brunette stepped backwards, waving her hands in a defensive pattern but deep down knowing her behavior was just as convincing as a murderer with a bloody knife in his hands and standing above his dead victim telling everyone he was innocent. “No! It’s not about this stupid idiot! Why must everything revolve around him after all? It’s not like we got into an awkward situation and now I can’t look into his eyes anymore. This would be ridiculous!”

“Kakashi?” asked Rin and tilted her head lightly. She sat at the chair near to Obito and had flung her legs over his lap, while their hands were entwined. “Do you mean Kakashi Hatake?”

“You know him?”

“Yes. We met a few months ago and he was so nice to accompany me to my home, because my car broke down. But then we somehow ended up in an arcade…”

            ‘Oh no, I can see where this is going…’

“And then we saw you and my Obito-koi here dancing! I must say Hatake-san was really entranced by your performance.”

 

Hiko couldn’t believe it, the blush on her face could get heavier than normal. She must look like an enormous tomato right now, the whole face, neck and ears red. Burying herself face forward into the couch, she mumbled even for herself incoherently into the cushions, too embarrassed to do something else than covering her burning cheeks. Nevertheless she heard the weak conversation between Rin and Obito.

“Darling, is it true? He stared at her?”

“Yeah, he didn’t even react properly when I tried to talk to him. His eyes were nearly glued to Kobayashi-san.”

“Mhmm… That’s good to hear.”

“Do you think…?”

Then the raven head whispered something, too weak for Hikos ears to catch the exact words. Rin didn’t react first, but soon a soft giggle and a girly squeal erupted from the woman. “Oh my god! That’s so-!”

“Shush darling. Please, for now keep quiet about it.”

“For you my Obito-koi!”

“I can hear you, you know?” grumbled Hiko and propped herself up. Looking grumpily over the backrest of the couch at the cuddling couple, she tugged a single wild lock behind her ear and sighed. “If one of you has something to say, something _meaningful_ , then I would appreciate it.”

Obito and Rin only shared a quick glance, then they broke into a giggle, unable to hold it in. Now it was Hikos turn to pout, but soon her features softened at the happy attics in front of her. How could someone continue to being grumpy when a pair of laughing and obvious in love people where present?

‘It’s true, I’m happy for them. Everyone deserves to find his love and it seems that Obito just now found his. I only hope Rin also recognizes him as her love.’

“Fine, fine.” Hiko winked at the two love-birds and rolled herself down from the couch. With a grunt she got up on her own feet and dusted her clothes off, the wide sleeves swaying around her wrists in her actions. “I believe I can go now. It’s nearly 11 and I want to be done with my grocery shopping before noon. Maybe I will visit the cinema when I’m close…? Hm. I will see.”

“Done hiding?” asked Obito between two brief pecks.

“Never. Then have a nice day, you two cute love-birds!” Hiko wanted to leave, but then she remembered something. “Nohara-san?”

The woman jerked slightly, obviously surprised at the sudden calling. “Yes Kobayashi-san?”

“Would you give me your number? I assume if Obito doesn’t pick up a call from me, I can now call you. So I don’t have to worry about the idiot.”

“He!”

Rin smiled. “Sure.”

The women exchanged numbers quickly and when Hiko waved at the couple, she saw Obito smiling gently at both of them, seeming happy that both parts of his life were united without any troubles.

 

After exiting the Uchiha’s flat, she rolled her shoulders until her joints cracked, something she picked up from-

‘Don’t you dare thinking about him. You want a break, then make it as clean as possible and clear every fucking thought.’

So Hiko did just that. She did her groceries for the next week, went for some window-shopping downtown, visited a bookstore (but averted the big aisle with the “Icha-Icha”-books), got some ice crème and went to the park, savoring the nice atmosphere of the sunny day.

It seemed almost perfect.

Almost.

Hiko sat down on a bench and licked some of the melted ice of the cone, while watching the people around her taking strolls in the park, happily chatting with friends or lovers _or whatever_. They all looked so open, happy, without having any troubles. For some seconds Hiko dwelled in her depressed thoughts, thinking that she was the only one with a messed-up life, but then she noticed it. The little twitch in the corner of an eye of a woman, who was smiling at her male friend, who had slung his arm around another woman, obviously his fiancée, because Hiko spotted a big fat ring at her ring finger.

‘This could mean anything. But it’s a weak sign that even other people have the same struggles as I, trying to put on masks because they see don’t dare to reveal their feelings to the one they love, if out of fear to get rejected or knowing the other one is happy with the current situation. This woman could be me in a few years, faking a grin for Kakashi and the woman he decided to marry. Do I want to be someone like this?’

Hiko watched the group slowly walking down the road, the man boasting about the marriage preparations and how lucky he was to have such a beautiful bride. The female friend, a woman with long blonde hair, nodded at each of his words, but everytime he and his soon-to-be-bride looked at each other, the blonde couldn’t suppress a quick flash of pain running over her face. She looked like she would favor a visit in the deepest circles of hell over continuing the talk with her friend, but her façade was everytime perfect again when the man’s attention turned to her.

 

“Young lady? Everything’s alright?”

Surprised Hiko jerked up. For a moment she didn’t process what just happened, but then she noticed the person standing in front of her, with two dogs at his feet. The man was older than her, at least in his fifties, but it was hard to term. He had long white hair, bound into a low ponytail, but the wrinkles around his friendly blinking eyes and the corners of his mouth gave some hints. The man was tall, maybe around the same height as-

            ‘Shut up, will you shut up?’

“Yeah, everything’s alright.” Hiko mumbled finally. Then her attention shifted to the two dogs, one of them a sturdy big black mastiff, the other a grumpy looking pug. The mastiff sniffed interested at her legs, while the little one just sat to the feet of his master and watched the surroundings with an expression of sleepy disinterest. “I only…” she sighed deeply.

“Maybe I can help.” offered the man. Without an invitation he sat down beside Hiko and smiled friendly at her, the lashes for his two companions in his right hand. “I’m really good in giving advice!”

“Advice?” Hiko shook her head and smiled sadly. “Usually I’m the one who gives advices… So, yes, maybe I could need some help right here.”

“Then what’s troubling you? By the way, my name is Sakumo.”

“Well, Sakumo-san-“

“Just Sakumo is fine with me.” answered the man and Hiko looked a bit sternly at him before she continued. “Okay, Sakumo… My problem is that I’m in love with my friend, but I’m too scared to tell him, because I think he doesn’t see me this way. I don’t want to destroy the thing we have now by burdening him with my emotions. Besides I have some trust issues and tend to push people too close to me away, especially those I love. At the one hand, I want to be with him, but at the other, I’m afraid I will hurt him with my attics and problems and that we will break apart because of my personal issues. What can I do? No, what _should_ I do?” She stared at the older man, who had placed his arms in his laps and absent minded patted the mastiff.

Hiko didn’t understand why she revealed so much to Sakumo. He couldn’t even be called acquaintance, he was a coincidental person she met in the park, but somehow he seemed familiar. His posture, the height, the unique hair color… He reminded her of Kakashi.

            ‘Now you did it. I hope you’re proud of yourself.’

For a while Sakumo said nothing. Hiko took it as a good sign, because he didn’t just blurt out what was in his mind, but used his brain and thought first about his words before actually saying them. It meant he really tried to process her situation and that was already more than she could ask for.

While Sakumo tried to find the right words (or any words at all), the shorty leaned back and continued to watch the park, slowly finishing her ice cone. It was late afternoon and only small white clouds drifted over the clear blue summer sky, driven by a little gentle breeze. It was a nice day, but she couldn’t enjoy it like she should.

 

Finally Sakumo clapped his hands, what made the mastiff and pug jerk up in caution. “Honestly, it’s a difficult situation you got yourself into.” he said and looked serious at the female.

“That’s right.”

“But I believe it would be for the best to at least be real and tell him.”

Hiko pinched the bridge of her nose. “Why? Why should I destroy everything?”

“Because maybe it doesn’t destroys, but creates something. If you look at it like a total stranger, like me just now, then you would realize it. There is no safety in life, neither in love. And honesty is the pillar and foundation for every bound, may it be a friendship or a relationship. You can’t go on like you do now, because it would turn you in a bitter, depressed person, thinking about the past and regretting a lot of things. So even if he doesn’t answers your feelings, when he is a good friend he will understand and not turn away. And after confessing you can let go of this feelings and maybe find another person to love.” The old man smiled gently at her and she returned warily the grin, still not really convinced. “And if he returns those feelings, together you can work on your problems. It will be hard, yes, but at the end even if you two fail, you both will have gained important experiences and memories that will shape your personalities for the better. But I have to admit that your personality doesn’t need any more shaping, young lady.”

Embarrassed Hiko chuckled at the compliment. “We only talk for a few minutes and you think you know me?”

Sakumo returned to pat the mastiff, who huffed and leaned into the big hand. “You worry more about hurting your friend than yourself. You think you would burden him instead he could also burden you, what’s a possibility. That’s all I need to know. Such a caring person I would gladly accept as my son’s girlfriend.”

She didn’t expect that. A random stranger praising her and guessing traits of her personality so easily with just a few keywords, that was amazing. The brunette suppressed the little tears of happiness and her lips broke into a full-grown smile, brighter than any from before. “Thank you very much, Sakumo. I think I know now what I have to do.”

Maybe it was the exact thing she needed to hear. It wasn’t only about him, but also involved her. She didn’t want to turn into a bitter creature, dwelling over the past and thinking about What-could-have-been. And what did one of the therapists said? “Thinking about yourself should always come first.” Okay, Hiko had problems with this part, but maybe today was a good day to exactly do that.

“Then I’m satisfied.” The old man nodded determined and slapped his thighs. “Well, glad to be able to help. Have a nice Saturday!”

“You too Sakumo. You too.”

Hiko watched him leave, a nice old man willing to talk to a sad woman and her smile grew when she watched him nestle with his cellphone, obviously a little bit overwhelmed by the device, but then he took the call and pressed the phone against his ear.

            ‘Must be his son or something. He looks happy.’

Then she yawned lazily and stretched, before placing her feet on the ground and walking out of the park, in her hand already forming a plan how to break the news to Kakashi.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really, really like Sakumo and it's a shame he was never well potrayed in the series. I mean, come on, a ninja who was able to rival the legendary sannin? Why Kishimoto or whatever animation studio is responsible? Why do we have never seen anything of Sakumo?


	23. Decisions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kakashi talks with his father and gets some advice while Hiko tries to survive on her own.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was proofread by the wonderful Miss_Fandoms_Shakespeare. Thank you so very much for keeping up with my misspellings and bad grammar ^-^

Kakashi had hesitated to call his father, but after he knocked two times at Hiko’s door, went to the gym for a few hours, cooked himself with some luck a decent meal, tried to read “Icha-Icha-Paradise” and talked shortly with Obito over phone, only to stand again at the female’s door, his knuckles raised and ready to knock, he realized he needed the wise words of his old man. Now he sat in his living room, dressed in sweatpants and a t-shirt with the logo of the KPD on it, dialing the number of his father and hoping Sakumo would bring some light into his dark situation.

The phone rang five times before his father took the call.

“Kakashi?” The familiar raspy voice resounded through the speaker. “You call me? Today must be my lucky day!”

“Hi dad. Trouble with the phone again?”

“This stupid thing tries to meddle with me, but I won the battle today too. Are you healthy?”

“Everything’s alright. How are you?”

“Good, good. I’m currently at the park, walking Bull and Pakkun. Nice weather for some time outside. Just talked with an interesting girl.”

“Interesting? Why?” Internally Kakashi wanted nothing more than just blurt his problems out and  _ finally  _ get some advice from his father, but he also knew that a sudden attack would be rude. His old man spent hours of Kakashi’s childhood teaching him manners after all.

A sad sigh. “She has some personal problems. Is in love with her friend and didn’t know how to break the news to him. I told her that honesty is important and I think she got the message.”

“And why did you find her interesting?”

“Because she placed the well-being of her friend over her own. Can’t you bring such a girl home one time?”

“I’m working on that.”

“Mhmmpf.” Kakashi knew his father well enough to imagine the disappointed grimace exactly, till the wrinkled eyebrows. “Not like the last time, I hope.”

Sakumo had always despised his ex-wife. Maybe it had been a look into the future or only the instincts of a father, but his old man made no effort in hiding how much he didn’t like the woman, without letting his obvious disgust shine too much through. “No dad,” Kakashi sighed into the speaker, “not like the last time.”

“She was just…”

“I know. I was present.” 

“At least that’s now over… What’s going on? How did the summer festival go?”

 

Kakashi remembered the first quite happy hours, the time spent with Hiko and the innocent touches they shared, then the dance performance and the revelations that came along and then the big catastrophe. “Fine. No problems, everything went smoothly. The food was also great.” he rasped.

“You ate in public?” Sakumo’s surprised voice resounded through the speaker. “The last time you ate in public you were five and I dragged you to a restaurant to Mother’s birthday. Never again.”

“It wasn’t really in public. We searched for a quiet place and then sat in the end under the big oak tree in some distance to the KPD building.” mumbled the cop.

“Ah, I remember the tree. At my time I and-! Wait, did you said ‘we’?” 

“Yes. Me and Hiko. I told you about her, didn’t I? My neighbor from across the floor, the one who cooks for me.”

“Right, right. Your  _ best friend _ .”

“Don’t say it like you mean something else.”

“That’s only your imagination. I have no intention of-! Bull, no! Spit it out!” 

Kakashi chuckled while he listened to the (useless) threats of his father. “What did he try to swallow now?”

Sakumo sighed exhausted. “The ball of a little girl. I swear, this dog would eat his own tail if he had the chance. Where did we stop?”

“That you’re indicating there’s more between me and Hiko.”

“Right. Listen son, she obviously cares about you. No woman would bear as long as she does with a man, cook for him, introduces her other friends to him if she has no ulterior motives.”

“Hiko isn’t like that. She is just friendly to everyone, even if she seems a bit harsh at first. You wouldn’t talk like this if you knew her.” 

“Then bring her with you the next time you visit. I would like to meet the infamous harpy.”

“What?” Kakashi angrily furrowed his eyebrows. “How do you know that?”

“I still have some connections to the KPD, even when my time at the station was long ago. Did you know she graduated from the police academy in Sunagakure with the highest score in ten years? The instructors even used in their reports quite often the word ‘gifted’.” 

“I didn’t know. She isn’t the person to brag about something like scores of old tests.”

“Hmm. My curiosity only grows the more I learn about her. Anyway,” the serious tone in Sakumo’s abruptly vanished and was replaced by a playful tinge, “you didn’t call me to give me a status report about your life. What’s troubling you?”

Kakashi breathed deeply in and out, knowing that it had to come to this. His father was just as sharp as him and would notice if something was off. “You know, I said I would work on that ‘girlfriend’-thing.”

“Yes…?”

“I meant literally. I’m working on it. Currently, right now.”

 

Silence. The pause grew so long Kakashi thought the connection was cut off, but he could hear in the background sounds from the park, one of the usual routes of Sakumo when he went on a walk. “Dad…?” he asked warily, not knowing what that strange silence indicated. “Are you okay?”

“Yes… I believe I just didn’t expect…” A deep sigh, but it sounded relieved. “But I’m happy for you. So tell me everything! How did you met her? Is she nice? Does she know already?”

“She’s a colleague and yes, she’s really nice. The nicest person I’ve ever met, probably. And no, I haven’t told her.”

“I said tell me everything! I want to know about my son’s love!”

“I don’t know where to start… There are many things which are worth sharing, but nothing I couldsay seems to describe her properly.”

“It was the same for me with your mother, believe me.”

Kakashi chuckled lowly. Then he draped his long legs over the armrest and placed the back of his head over the opposite one. Laying like this on the couch, he tried to think about a good description of the woman which was dazzling enough to steal his heart. 

“Uhm… She’s… well. She’s energetic, but in a good way. Also really childish, but I like it, because she seems so alive whenever she reverts to a child. There’s also a serious side, for example she takes her work really serious and gives always her best. She makes me laugh more often and also laughs about me and I like to see her so happy. Her taste in music is… unique, if I had to describe it. Her past wasn’t easy, but she tries to handle it in her own way and I would like to help her with it… She’s a great cook, but a really bad singer and she also loves dogs. She can’t stand horror movies, but is tougher than every other woman I ever faced. Then there are times when she seems to be mean, but in reality she’s just too embarrassed to tell straightforward that she likes somebody or something. And she’s simply gorgeous and dazzling to me.”

Sakumo laughed weakly. “You’re totally wrapped around her finger, if I may say so. So what’s her name?”

“It’s Hiko.”

“That explains a lot of things.”

“You expected it from the very beginning, right?”

Sakumo chuckled. “Actually, yes. From your descriptions she seemed almost like…”

“Mother. She resembles mother.”

“Like your mother. So I expected either she becomes your best friend and helps you find someone or you fall for her in the end.”

“Then you saw more than me. I wasn’t aware of it until a few days ago.” mumbled the silver haired man and turned on his right side, changing the phone to the left ear in the process. It was assuring and embarrassing at the same time that his old man noticed his feelings even before himself. 

“You were always a little bit dense when it came to your emotions, but in the end you figured it out. Do you have a plan?” 

“No. I don’t know what to do. Her friends said she feels the same and I think so too, but… Hiko ran away, because something happened and now I don’t know what to do…”

 

Sakumo’s voice sounded concerned, but also like he smiled lightly at the other end of the connection. “You want my advice? Tell her. It’s almost the same like with the girl I just talked to. Honesty is the foundation for every bond with another human, whether a friendship or a relationship. If she’s really the person you think she is, Hiko will surely listen to you.”

“But how? I don’t know when, where, which words I should choose, I’m just-!” Kakashi breathed in harshly and felt like barfing. The last time was definitely easier than today. Was it because he was more confident back then? Or was it because he was about to confess to Hiko and not Hanare?

“Son, calm down, will ya?” His father’s calm voice resounded through the speaker. “Think. Use your clever brain and think about her. Does she likes something special or dislikes something? Is she the type for overly romantic displays or is she the more practical type? I can’t lift this weight off your shoulders, because you’re the one who has to stand before her, but think about Hiko and then try to find words which suit her the most. And even if you fuck up, so bad you think nothing could ever make it better, I believe she is the type of person who would appreciate the mere gesture, don’t you think?”

“She would probably laugh at me and then cook my favorite meal or something.”

“See? If Hiko is really the good friend you always described, then she won’t mind. Relax Kakashi and be yourself. And remember to breathe.”

The silver haired cop chuckled at the mocking tone of his father. “I will try.” Then, after a short pause. “Thank you dad.”

“No problem my boy. No problem at all.”

“Do you know how late it is?”

“Around 6 p.m. Why?”

“I got an idea and need to buy something. Bye!”

Sakumo laughed hoarsely. “Goodbye. Go and charm the harpy!”

“Dad…”

“Sorry, it was too tempting.”

Kakashi rolled his eyes in annoyance, but couldn’t suppress a smile. “Look out for Bull.” were his last words, then he cut the connection and was halfway in his bedroom, already searching for a jeans he could change into. Why  do they all have the tendency to be dirty or ripped when he tried to find a fitting pair?

 

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

Hiko whistled one the way home. Yes, whistled. To one of the annoying pop-songs, like this morning. But she couldn’t help it. It was like a gigantic boulder was lifted off her shoulders by the old man in the park, a boulder full of doubt, fear and self-loathing. 

‘I didn’t know that I was so depressed. And all it needed to see clear again was a stranger telling me I shouldn’t be such a scaredy-cat and just do it. My, was I always such a fool?’

In the back of her car waited her grocery shopping, together with the simple extras she went buying after the park. Her brain reminded her that cooking didn’t count as a confession, but Hiko chased those thoughts away. She would do it. She could do it.

“I can’t do it…” the brunette mumbled as she drove the road down to her apartment complex. For a second she imagined herself passing the parking spot and driving straight past the entrance, but then her stronger, confident subconscious screamed at her with a loud-hailer.

_ ‘JUST DO IT YOU PUSSY!’ _

“Okay, okay…” Like a teenager Hiko rolled her eyes while getting into the spot. “I will do it.”

Nevertheless she had to rely on calming thoughts about little puppies or other cute animals to occupy her brain from going crazy when the female emptied the back of her car. After a quick check she relaxed a little bit, because she didn’t see Kakashi’s motorcycle around. “Maybe he’s out… Then preparing dinner would be meaningless.” she mumbled to herself while walking to the entrance, packed with lots of bags with food and ingredients. “I should text him to ask, at least.” 

Her hands fiddled with the keys, but finally Hiko managed to open the door and got into the stairway, balancing her grocery with every ounce of her small body. She questioned herself. Did she buy too much? Was she too harsh, too fast? Was it really the right thing to do? In the middle of the stairs the brunette stopped, suddenly unsure about her plan. 

‘I mean, he could be really troubled by it. Love isn’t something you can simply shrug off or return to being friends.’

_ ‘I can’t believe it! You will do it, fuck the consequences and fuck his maybe bad reaction! This time it’s about your mental health, you stupid little bitch! Now get the rod out of your ass and get some things done, dammit!’ _

‘Alright! Shush, you’re loud…’

After entering her flat without any other disturbances from negative thoughts, Hiko quickly packed all food away and got her cellphone out. With shaking fingers she typed a message and waited for an answer, her face almost the paleness of a corpse. 

 

__ _ Hiko: Ok, 24 hours are over. Are you free for dinner?  _

The reply came almost instantly. 

_ Kakashi: Good, I’m starving, but I’m right now not at home. Is eight ok?  _

__ __ _ I have something to tell you then. Would you please listen to me? _

__ _ Hiko: Okay. Actually I have also something to tell you. _

__ _ Kakashi: I will hear you out. I’m looking forward to it. :)  _

“A smiley is good, right?” Hiko asked herself. “A smiley is always good.” She nibbled on her lower lip, unsure what to do next. Then she sharply shook her head and created a checklist with her fingers, counting every point one by one.

“First, preparing the dinner. Second, cleaning and dusting. Third, a shower. Fourth, choosing some decent clothes. Fifth,” her nose wrinkled automatically, “some light make-up. Or is it too much? Maybe. Then lastly, preparing the table and such. Not so hard, hm?”

With determination Hiko immersed herself in the task. The cooking went smoothly and she didn’t expect otherwise, because making a lasagna was as easy for her as breathing. She relaxed in the well-known steps and then, as a final touch, she turned on her radio and swayed lightly in the music while preparing the meal. She liked the song and in the end Hiko hummed the melody as she stirred the sauce. 

 

_ The rain drops, the tears keep falling _ __ __ __ __ _ (“Take my hand” – Simple Plan) _ __  
_ I see your face and it keeps me going _ __  
_ If I get lost your light's gonna guide me _ __  
_ And I know that you can take me home _ __  
_ you can take me home _ __  
__  
_ Take my hand tonight _ __  
_ Let's not think about tomorrow _ __  
_ Take my hand tonight _ __  
_ We can find some place to go _ __  
_ Cause our hearts are locked forever _ __  
_ And our love will never die _ _  
_ __ Take my hand tonight one last time

 

The female let the radio on when she finished the preparations in the kitchen, leaving the lasagna in the oven and started the cleaning of her (already neat) apartment. She knew it wasn’t really needed, but it helped her to pass the time and keep her thoughts occupied, otherwise she would probably blush furiously and hide underneath her bed, hoping Kakashi would forget about their d-! No, friendly get-together. 

“It’s right now only a meetup between friends, ok? Not the d-word, don’t think about the evil word with d, nonononooo…” she mumbled and nearly knocked one of her framed pictures from the desk she was just cleaning. “It’s only a meet-up with a confession from you… Stay calm Hiko and just be yourself, then he will understand.”

Meanwhile the time flew and as Hiko was satisfied with the state of the living room, it was shortly past seven. Enough time to get at least respectable. 

But she hadn’t thought about the possibly most difficult hurdle.

“God!” she angrily hissed, standing in front of her wardrobe and cursing herself for her prude style. “Impossible! I wanted to be clever and decide my clothing before I step into the shower, but this is hell!”

Hastily Hiko went again through the insides of the cabinet, but soon threw her hands up in despair and simply gave up. Agitated, she just picked her favorite blue sweatshirt with sleeves reaching to her elbows and a round neckline and the most comfortable pair of black jeans she could find. For a short second her eyes wandered to the compartment with her undergarments, but then she shook sharply her head and slapped her cheeks, embarrassed and also getting angry at her own thoughts. “That was your other relationship. Remember, you’re grown up now, not some reliant little teenager with no confidence and the need to prove herself with sexual favors.”

A little bit relieved to accomplish this part of her check-list, the brunette entered with a smile her bathroom and showered. Thoroughly she made sure to wash every ounce of sweat away and even used some of the conditioner she accidently purchased one time. When she was done, it was half past seven  and Hiko sped her preparations up.

 

Quickly she toweled herself dry and blow-dried her brown hair, which dangled in light waves around her face, then she got into her chosen outfit and nodded at least partly happy at her reflection. “No make-up.” she said and placed her glasses with shaking fingers on the bridge of her nose. “It isn’t like you. Now, let’s move to the food again.”

Until now Hiko did a good job in suppressing her raging emotions, mainly consisting of nervousness, anticipation and the unexplainable desire to be able to throw up, but now her fingers clenched around the frail porcelain and cutlery, all of them beginning a wild storm on her barricades, trying to rule her mind with their own colors. In fact, her fingers trembled so heavily that Hiko feared for a moment she would break the plates by dropping them, so she briefly settled down on the ground, right there in the kitchen and closed her eyes. The tiles were cold against her knees, even through the thick fabric of her jeans.

‘There’s nothing to be afraid of. Nothing to be afraid. Nothing. It’s Kakashi, the same person who I met up with countless times before. I cooked for him for nearly two months, I see him every day, I drive with him in my car to work, I joke around with him, talk with him, listen to him and various other things that won’t come to my mind now, but first and foremost, he is my friend. Nothing. To. Be. Afraid. Of.

Kakashi is the same. I am the same.’

When Hiko opened her eyes again, a weak smile lifted the corners of her mouth. Her knees didn’t feel like they would break under her weight anymore and the warmth had returned to her body. With a shaking sigh the woman got up on her feet and finished setting the table, always wearing a little smile around. 

Then she heard a little commotion at the floor outside. Someone cursed strongly, then keys were hastily slammed into a door and the same door was opened and closed with a loud slam. If her ears were right, it was Kakashi who dashed through the hallway. Hiko looked at the clock above her oven and chuckled. 

No wonder he rushed into his flat, it was five before eight. He probably got “lost on the road of life” or some other bullshit, but at least he tried to hurry, not like he was late for work. Then he tended to even be more endeavored to get ready as slow as possible. Still chuckling and ruffling unconsciously through her hair, she grabbed her cellphone, which she discarded at the kitchen counter and typed a message for the habitual late-comer.

_ Hiko: 20 minutes you lazy-ass. Then I will eat the whole lasagna. _

It took him 10 minutes to answer.

_ Kakashi: Sorry >.< I’m nearly ready _

__ _ Hiko: Woah, a smiley? Don’t overexert yourself _

__ _ Kakashi: never _

“You stupid… Stupid.” she mumbled, but kept smiling at the small message. Together with his hasty behavior it was a proof for her that he cared, enough to give up is usual unemotional behavior and rushed home, cursing under his breath and even using emoticons to show his shame. 

 

So Hiko sat down and weakly played from time to time with some strands of her hair, her left arm draped over her knee and the legs crossed. Exactly two minutes before her time limit Kakashi knocked almost shyly at her door and with a bright smile the brunette opened.

And swallowed. How the cop was able pull this off? It was unfair, how he almost seemed not to put any effort into trying to look good, but then appeared like a gorgeous model straight out of a magazine at her doorstep. 

His silver hair was the same, untamed and wild standing at his head. Then the surgical mask, white and sterile and covering the lower half of his face, but Hiko was sure an apologetic smile lifted his lips, if the curved eyes were an indicator. Even the clothes, a dark red shirt with rolled up sleeves and a black jeans, hanging loosely from his hips weren’t different from his usual comfortable, but cool style. Maybe it was because she hadn’t seen him for a whole day, but his presence comforted her immediately, like slipping into her favorite jeans or shirt after a long time. He only wore socks at his feet and Hiko quickly concentrated on them, because they were not the same. The right one was white-blue striped and the left grey, what the woman broke free from the momentary daze he put her in. She gestured to them while winking at Kakashi. 

“Had to hurry, huh?”

Only now the man seemed to notice the different colored socks at his feet. Wiggling with his toes, he looked down at them and tilted his head in curiosity. “Yeah. I didn’t want to let you wait… Too long.” he added after a few seconds. Then, as if he just remembered it now, he stretched his right hand out and Hiko ogled suspiciously at the white plastic bag the man had hid behind his back.

“What’s in there?”

“Just a little gift. As an…” he coughed and turned his head embarrassed away, “Apology.”

“Shouldn’t it be my turn to apologize? After all I brought us into this… delicate… situation.” murmured Hiko and made no effort to take the offered bag. Instead her fingernails digged hardly into the flesh of her hands. And it was her fault. She was the one insisting the male to hide her, she was the one to get them underneath the booth and flushed together, not the other way around.

Kakashi’s onyx eyes noticed the little hint of tension and his voice became low and pleading. “Please, just take it. Let’s say we both made some decisions that lead us here and we both are sorry for what happened, okay?”

“Okay.” She couldn’t say no to him, in the end. With a sigh, like she had a hard time to accept the offered bag, Hiko took it and gestured him to come in. “Food is ready, you lazy ass.”

“I gave you enough time after all, shorty.” remarked the silver haired cop and snickered, while passing the brunette and entering the living room. 

 

The plastic bag was not heavy, but Hiko measured it like a bomb was in there. What had Kakashi purchased? Hopefully not something expensive. But as she looked inside, the eyes squinted and ready to yell at her friend, her mouth instead opened to a surprised weak gasp.

Kakashi went all the way to a shop downtown to buy her favorite chocolate and the dark chocolate chip cookies she loved so much and she only mentioned it to him once, if she remembered correctly. 

“My gosh…” the female whispered silently and bit down into the delicate flesh of her lips, fighting the nasty sting in her eyes, “Recalling such a tiny detail about me… Do you want me to fall in love with you even further, you…?” 

“Hiko?” His husky voice trailed concerned to her ears and quickly she put a happy smile on her face and followed him into her home. Kakashi stood in the middle of the room, his hands resting at the backrest of the couch and had his head slightly tilted to the right, showing his worry and concern. For a split second the female saw a spark of insecurity in his eyes, but then he blinked and the glint vanished. “Do you like it?”

“Like it? I love it.” Hiko knew that it was maybe her last chance to be this near to him, so she stepped to the man and slung her arms around his waist, pressing her head into his chest. Immediately she felt the familiar warmth spreading to her and she allowed herself relish this feeling, while listening to the strong heartbeat of Kakashi. “Thank you very much.” she mumbled.

A low rumble rummaged through his body and just as Hiko thought it couldn’t feel any better, her friend put his arms around her neck and pulled her gently closer. “Then I’m glad.” he whispered in the same volume back and his breath tousled her curled hair with each word. 

“It explains why you took so long.”

“Mhmm.” 

The two people stood there for a few minutes, the female thinking this could be the last hug they ever shared. But then Hiko patted his back awkwardly and Kakashi opened his arms with a weary sigh, which made her heart jump.

‘Does he feels the same? Is that the reason why he sighed?’

“We should probably eat, before the food gets cold.”

“Yeah.”

The dinner was partly filled with embarrassed silence and the tries to tell the other of their day. Kakashi laughed about Hiko’s encounter with Rin and told her about his meeting with the nurse, while Hiko chuckled at the thought of the silver haired man running around and trying to remember where the candy shop was. 

“Seriously, I must’ve looked like a mad man as I searched around.” Kakashi said while finishing the last bits of the lasagna. “As I finally found it again, I was so happy that I nearly cried.”

“Like a headless chicken.” snickered Hiko. “I can picture it clearly.” She leaned back into her chair and watched the man out of the corner of her eyes chewing on the food. His lower face was covered by the rim of her glasses, hindering her effectively from sneaking a glance at him. 

 

It was almost the same as every other night, but the woman felt the tension rise. The air was thick and sometimes she had problems breathing in, but then she remembered her previously found resolve. 

It was the same. Kakashi was the same as always and she was the same. Everything would be alright. Hiko nodded weakly and sipped on her drink, a cold can of lemonade. The condensation on the metallic surface cooled her fingers and she had to dry them more than one time on her pants, but not only from the water, but also from the sweat erupting in her palms. In her stomach fluttered thousand little butterflies around, ready to either weigh her down or letting her feel like floating on cloud nine.

Kakashi was also nervous. He shifted in his seat and couldn’t seem to find a comfortable position. His hands were either tightly clenched around the cutlery or he fiddled with the fabric of his shirt, twirling the edges and letting them drop in their original state, only to pick up the same bit and play again after a few minutes. Also his hair was dragged in. More than one time he ruffled through his silver mane, making it even more untamed than usual. And his eyes darted hectically around, shifting in a wild rush from the plate to her hands on the table, to the window beside him, only to return to his glass of cold water, following the little drops on the outside of the mug. 

‘He had also something to say to me, huh? Is it also big like my revelation?’

Finally both had finished their food and stared mindlessly around, until Hiko abruptly stood up and took the cutlery to put it into the dishwasher. But before she turned away from her friend, she searched for his eyes and was glad he returned her look. 

“Kakashi, would you please sit down at the sofa? I already said I had something to tell you.” Even for herself her voice was trembling heavily. But nevertheless she prayed that he didn’t notice, or didn’t mind it as much as she did. 

He nodded slowly and he didn’t blink or break their gaze. “Sure. Will you listen afterwards to me?”

Warily she smiled. “Naturally.”


	24. Two confessions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The slow burn comes to an end. The drought is over. Hiko and Kakashi confess, though Hiko has some doubts what to do from now on.

On the inside, Kakashi quivered like someone locked him out of his apartment in the coldest depths of winter in only his undergarments. He was nervous, indeed so nervous he wished for some alcohol to calm down the wildly running thoughts or at least make them a bit tipsy, but he forbid himself to flee into the merciful frails of drunkenness. He should confess his feelings loud and clear and without any slurring in his words, leastways that he should give Hiko.

His eyes followed her figure to the dishwasher and longing build up in him, longing to feel her warmth in his arms again, to feel her fingers softly stroking over his back and her breath against his chest. How hard Kakashi wished to be like this, impulsive and able to talk freely about his feelings and with Hiko, he sometimes achieved those states, but now he was inhibited by the upcoming confrontation.

Slowly, like an old man, the cop moved from the chair at the table to the couch and sat down, carefully and always aware of her position in the kitchen, all the while just barely controlling his breathing from becoming irregular.

‘Calm down, come on. You can do this, it’s not so hard, just three little words, eight letters and it’s done. God…’

Kakashi rubbed his eyes with his knuckles, infuriated by his own stupidity. Since when he was a nervous person, going over and over the same thing? The answer walked into his field of vision, placing his forgotten mug at the small table in front of the couch and sitting down beside him, just a few inches away. Hiko was just as nervous as him. The fiddling of her fingers, the sharp gestures and the wary flutter of her eyelids behind her glasses betrayed her, despite the calm and controlled voice she still held up.

“Kakashi…” Automatically at the calling of his name he straightened up and the brunette chuckled at his sudden motion. “Don’t worry, please. It’s… not a bad thing what I’m going to tell you. I believe so.”

“You believe?”

“For me it isn’t a bad thing… Not anymore.” she added. Then she breathed loudly in and leaned into the cushions, her left ankle under her right knee and the right leg dangling to the ground, her hands placed in her lap and with a shaky grin on her lips. Her ice blue eyes, vivid and big searched again for his look and Kakashi could read fear, but also determination in them.

“Today I met an interesting fellow,” Hiko started and her voice became light, “and I realized I can’t live my life like I do it now. He hammered it into my thick skull with each word he uttered and finally I understood what the last weeks had done to me and also a few things about myself… It seems sometimes I’m too caring about others, that I completely forget about my own health or well-being, instead I try to make others happy.” She tugged a strand of her brown hair behind her ear before she continued. “And like this the strange man cleared my view. I can’t lie to myself anymore, not to myself and not to you, Kakashi. It wouldn’t be right, denying myself the chance to be happy or at least free.”

A single tear rolled down her cheek. Kakashi watched it with wide eyes, not believing his ears when Hiko stumbled through the next words, her face lowered and talking to her thighs. “First you were really just a friend to me. I saw a lonely person and I wanted to befriend you for your sake and I was glad about my decision when I got to know you better. Since the very beginning of our bond I wanted to see you happy, and like this I also accepted –reluctantly, but I accepted- that you went with Mitarashi-san. It wasn’t even really troubling me, seeing you two making-out, but after a short while it was sickening to know you were going to her. I wanted to be selfish and hold you back, but I always swallowed my arguments and waited, knowing I would chase you away otherwise.”

Kakashi wanted to say something, but Hiko raised her hand, still not looking at him. “Please let me finish this.” she said and nibbled, insecure,  at her lower lip. “You are easy to talk to, at least for me. You are kind and I feel safe with you, it was like this from the first minute you set a foot in my flat. I didn’t understand, because I pushed every thought going in  _ this  _ direction away from me, but slowly you invaded every single space in my life. First my work, then my home, my friends and finally also my head. Not in a bad way, but one day I woke up and my first thought was: “I wonder when he will wake up?” Afterwards I questioned myself for this, because I never thought about another person in the morning. And now you’re always in my mind.”

Hiko licked over her lips. “I- I don’t want to lose you as a friend, Kakashi. You’re a wonderful person and probably the one I trust this week the most… But I also can’t ignore my feelings any longer. It wouldn’t be healthy for me to keep them inside…”

The brunette raised her glasses and wiped with furious gestures the unshed tears away. Kakashi watched her, the woman who was usually self-confident like no one he knew, stuttering around and the warm soft feeling in his stomach grew, letting him relax. Gently he smiled at her, but she didn’t see it. Instead she clenched her hands into tight little fists, like she got ready for a fight. In comparison her voice was almost weak and shy, barely a whisper.

“I’m in love with you. That’s what I wanted to say. I know, it’s not fair from me to just blurt it out, but as I said, I wouldn’t stay sane with my emotions bottled up. I hope you can forgive me, but after all it’s now like this and I can’t change it. I’m  _ in _ love you.” Hiko said, this time with a fierce determination in her voice, together with a hint of the softer feelings roaring in her soul.

It was just like her. A bit strange, a bit furious and brave to the point of being nearly reckless. Though that she assumed that her feelings were burdening him somehow Kakashi couldn’t let slide, not the tiniest bit. Even when he found the resolution for his romantic feelings only a few days ago and needed on top of that the help of her brothers to actually voice them, there was no way he would allow the shorty to give herself a less amount of… credit than she would surely give to him.

“Hiko…” the man said, watching her trembling figure, “it’s alright. You won’t lose me and I can’t describe how happy I’m right now.”

Unsure, he chuckled as her head spun around. “You know, I wish I had spoken first. It’s not like me to let someone else step in front of myself and protect me, usually I’m the one who protects. But I guess today it’s okay.”

Before he properly processed what he was doing, Kakashi reached out for Hiko’s hand and embraced the cold fingers. Palm slid over palm in a sensual way, then their fingers entwined, laced together and shared a first curious touch. He continued, his voice even more hoarse than usual. But everything had changed, so it was alright.

Because it was Hiko sitting beside him and listening with widened eyes.

“I was married at my time in the SFU, with a colleague.” the cop said and watched her face changing, from a slightly nervous expression to the display of confusion. “Her name is Hanare. I got to know her during my time in the police academy and during our graduation, I asked her to be my wife. She accepted and for a while, everything was fine. But then the workload on my behalf got harder and it consumed more and more of my free time. She worked with me in the same department, but because we were married we never worked together. Soon I only saw her for a few minutes a day and she didn’t take it well. Our marriage crumbled and in the end, she cheated on me with one of my partners.”

“Kakashi…”

“Now it’s my turn to speak.” He drew little circles on the back of her hand and was happy that Hiko didn’t withdraw, instead she squeezed his hand gently and let him talk. With a deep sigh Kakashi smiled sadly at the female. “It was also the one I trusted the most out of my crew. I will never forget the moment I saw them, making out on my desk late at night. The next day I asked for the divorce. Thankfully it was only a matter of weeks, because we both agreed we failed. She dropped out of her job, but I stayed with the SFU, because I had nothing else. Then I messed up an easy task and my chief degraded me. That was four months ago. First I was angry to be a simple cop again, thinking it was beneath me to catch little thieves again like an amateur, but…” he inserted a little laugh, “then I met you. I thought you were interesting and the moment you threatened to torture Gai if he ever would forget his password again was probably the first time in a long period I laughed about something. I have to say, I was never so intrigued to break my resolve of never going after a colleague, but I stopped myself every time. Then we talked and my curiosity only grew.”

Kakashi lowered his head, captured in his memories of that time. But Hiko surprised him once more. She kneeled now on the couch and faced him, her left hand still entwined with his, but her right hand touched weakly his chin and lifted it again up, forcing him gently to look into her eyes. Her fingers didn’t stay there. With the softest of touches, the digits trailed over the fabric of the surgical mask and cupped his cheek, her thumb warily stroking over the covered skin and bones underneath. A caress filled with uncertain hope, making his heart pound faster, awfully loud in his own ears.

Looking into the familiar ice blue eyes, Kakashi found the words he couldn’t pull together before. “Each time we spent time together you got somehow under my skin. You’re right, I first only saw you as my friend, but even then you were special to me. Because you were the first who approached me and dragged me along, no matter how boring and lifeless I may be. I noticed things about myself I didn’t expect, for example that I like to appear right behind you and scare the hell out of you. But my feelings for you changed… I realized it two day before the festival, you know? I accidently overheard Obito and you talking in the broom closet.”

He watched her embarrassed face and chuckled, but as she wanted to take her hand away from his face, he quickly captured it with his own and placed it again at his cheek. Her blue eyes widened at the impulsive action, but then her expression softened and her thumb started to lightly stroke over his cheek, forth and backwards, again and again.

Kakashi didn’t know what happened, but words he thought he couldn’t say almost flew out of his mouth and he was like never before thankful for the little streak of his for once loosened tongue. “I only heard you admitting your love to  _ someone _ , not me.  To say I was envied would be an understatement. I was truly jealous, but your words of cheering the one you love on from the sidelines… I thought I could also do it for you, standing at your side and bearing it, but I was wrong. You noticed too, right? Yesterday I tried really hard, even asking about your crush to convince myself he deserved you, but instead I scared the shit out of your white haired friend, because I thought he was the one.”

“So that’s why he was in a hurry.” whispered Hiko, weakly snickering at his partly satisfied, partly guilty expression. Her thumb again picked up stroking in soothing motions over his cheekbone and Kakashi leaned into her hand. She was a physical person and showed her affection for the ones she cared in little gestures, if now in poking their foreheads, cheeks or hands and hugs and gentle nudges into ribcages. Naturally she would be also an affectionate one when more than friendly feelings were involved.

“Yeah. I guess I have to apologize to him. And then those little moments when I took your hand or under the oak tree, where you leaned onto my shoulder… I thought back then: “You have to stop, she loves someone else.” I was also scared that you would shy away if I told you how I feel, but you didn’t say anything against those things, so I believed it was okay. Itachi and Obito talked some sense into me. They only gave me hints, but it was like they made a blind man see again. Suddenly I had hope that you could love me back, but I was nervous. Nervous to actually talk with you, to confess, to say the things flying around in my mind and the accident with you made it only worse. I wanted to blurt it out when we came back, but you assumed something and were so quickly gone that I had no chance.”

“I was also scared. But not because of what happened, but the reaction of myself to it.”

“Could I…?”

Hiko ashamed closed her eyes and nodded. “Sorry. Please.”

“Thank you.” Kakashi leaned towards the female and pulled her closer, until her head meet his chest again. Then he dragged her down, so that she was draped over him, snuggling into the crook of his arm and their hands still entwined. Like they had done it countless times before, he circled her waist and watched the woman shiver slightly under his touch.

“Are you alright with this?” he asked worried, but instantly Hiko nodded.

“You’re so warm…” she mumbled and nestled closer to him, while her right hand gripped into his shirt, her left hand tightly hold onto his own hand, playing weakly with his fingers. Relieved she wasn’t scared or paralyzed, Kakashi continued his speech, already knowing he hadn’t to say those three words anymore for Hiko to understand him, but he would utter them nevertheless.

“It would’ve been the wrong time, I guess. But today made it only clearer for me. I missed you, Hiko. I knocked three times at your door and waited for your steps approaching, but was always depressed when no one opened. In the end I talked with my old man, who told me just to be myself and spill the beans. So,” he sighed deeply and her whole body lifted with the inhale, “now is the time. I’m also in love with you. I love you, because you are who you are. Because you are braver than me, confessing first and unsure of the outcome, because you managed to see something inside me what I haven’t even seen myself.”

“St-Stop, Kakashi… P-please…” Soft sobs could be heard from the shorty, but when she raised her head to look into his eyes, an embarrassed smile tugged at her lips. “M-maybe you weren’t t-the f-f-first to co-confess, b-but it was the l-lovelier one. Go-god, look a-at me, cr-crying over y-your words…”

“I’m sorry for making you cry.” he mumbled. Tenderly Kakashi wiped one of her tears away and watched Hiko snuggling closer to him. Her tears soaked the fabric at his flank, but he couldn’t care less. “I must say you look beautiful to me, even if you’re crying.”

“I t-told you t-to st-stop, ha-haven’t I?”

“Yes, you did.”

“Then p-please… S-stop…”

“If you want that…”

The brunette nodded, her face pressed into his chest. For a while no one said anything, only Hiko sniffled a few times, but it faded away quickly. Kakashi started to play with a strand of her hair by twirling it around his index finger and tugging from time to time softly on it, which earned him  a weak grunt from the shorty every time and he found it strangely cute to hear it, so he continued his play.

Finally Hiko regained her composure. With a determined huff she propped her upper body up and stared into Kakashi’s face, the faint traces of her tears still visible. Her elbows poked into his stomach, but it wasn’t painful, indeed he felt satisfied with her weight on his own body.

But her following question startled him.

“What are we going to do from now on?”

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Kakashi’s eyebrows furrowed questioningly. Unbeknownst to him, his hand tightened around her waist and Hiko felt instantly protected, even more than before. “What do you mean, “what are we going to do”? I think it’s clear.”

“Then please tell me, because I have no idea.”

“You’re teasing me right now, aren’t you?”

Tired, Hiko shook her head. “No, Kakashi. I’m dead serious. What are we going to do?”

“I… I think I can’t follow you.”

Sighing, the brunette tilted her head. Brown locks cascaded over her shoulders and dangled around, before she brushed them behind her ear. “Maybe I should be a bit clearer. My first relationship was a catastrophe and since then I only tried once to be with another man again. I pushed him so hard off me that he fell out of the bed and got knocked out. He needed ten stitches, Kakashi. Eleven years. That’s how long I denied myself love. I’m scared. Scared that I will hurt you with my problems, scared that I can’t meet your expectations in me.” she said and felt instantly his big hands cupping her face and lifting it up. The onyx eyes stared with unbearable intensity at her, filled with warmth and concern.

“Hiko. You won’t believe it, but I’m also scared.” answered Kakashi and raised an eyebrow at her asking expression. “Don’t you think I also have reasons to think this could end badly? Is a failed marriage not reason enough? Even when I thought about you as a mere friend, I often questioned myself. What if you wake up one morning and see the person who my ex-wife saw? She called me  many things in rage, but mostly she said that I was cold, unapproachable and boring. I’m scared that you will one day also call me this.”

Hiko hadn’t met that woman, but she already couldn’t stand her. No one had the right to insult someone with the intention to inflict pain on them, and his ex-wife clearly had this in mind when offending Kakashi. Unable to clad her feelings into words, the shorty only growled lowly, what made the man chuckle. “See?” he asked and rested his forehead against hers. Their gazes were locked and their faces so near that the air of their breaths entwined. “We both have scars, emotional and physical, some worse than others and sometimes they will open again. But that’s life. And together we can work on ourselves, helping the other when he’s down and supporting them if times get rough. What do you say? Do you want to defeat the fear with me?”

“Kakashi… I…”

“I know. It’s scary. Only the last steps, the last hurdles to be free from him. You don’t have to answer yet.” he murmured. “I just wanted to let you know that I will wait until then. I will not do anything without your consent.”

Again tears stood in Hiko’s eyes. It was unbelievable how anyone could think someone as gentle and caring as Kakashi was boring or cold. Impulsive, she closed the last shred of distance between their lips and pressed her mouth on his. Only the surgical mask was in the way, but she didn’t mind. She wanted to show what her words alone couldn’t describe, to let him feel that she trusted him.

Her lips moved automatically over the rough fabric and Hiko moaned lightly when his lips moved too. It was long ago she kissed another person, but the rhythm was something one couldn’t forget. Their noses bumped together while Hiko tilted her head to meet the slow and deliberate movements of the male. Teasingly she nibbled at his covered lower lip and chuckled when she sensed his body underneath her own tensing. Teasing him was calming her down, because it was just as natural as breathing.

Slowly the woman backed away, but only a short distance. When Kakashi’s eyes fluttered open  again, she met his dazed eyes and nodded. “I want to defeat the fear together with you. I couldn’t think about a better way to spend time with the one I love. But please, be patient with me. After all,” she chuckled weakly, “I’m as stubborn as a mule.”

“People say that also about me.”

“Another thing we have in common.”

His arms around her waist tightened and she snuggled snickering into the crook of his neck and placed, after a moment of hesitation, a short kiss on the delicate skin. He shivered under the brief touch.

“Hiko?” Kakashi’s voice rumbled through his chest. “As long as you are not planning to go all the way, I beg you, please do not wear the hot pants anymore.”

“And if it’s a very hot day?”

“No.”

“And if I have nothing else to wear?”

“Not even then.”

“But I have to go to work!”

“Before you would go in those pants, I would keep you exactly here, in my arms and shelter you.”

“Kakashi is such a meanie.” Pouting Hiko closed her eyes. “Forbidding me from going to work…”

“It’s for the protection of my sanity. I wouldn’t have one peaceful second when I knew you would walk around in the department in such revealing clothing.”

She nodded slowly and the male relaxed beneath her. Apparently he thought much about her and the only pair of hot pants she owned. Strangely it let feel Hiko more than a bit embarrassed and she needed at least five minutes to calm down enough and fight the furious blush creeping over her cheeks. After that was taken care of, the shorty laid on top of Kakashi, listened closely to the faint heartbeat resounding through his chest and the slow breathing sounds he emitted and smiled in bliss. Never ever she would have believed a few hours ago Kakashi would accept her love, even answering them and that they would lie on her couch and snuggle like the embrace was the most comfortable action for both of them. But the shorty just knew the man was just as mortified and awed as her, he must be. Then a thought struck her brain, merely an idea and Hiko jolted up, out of Kakashi’s embrace. He only raised an eyebrow when he noticed the little grin on her face.

Hopping up and down, the brunette decided to share the thought with him. “You know, we agreed right now to work on our problems, right?”

“Yes…?”

“T-together, right?”

“Also yes? What are you trying to tell me?”

She fiddled suddenly embarrassed with her hands, but then just blurted it out. “That m-makes us now a c-c-couple, or d-did I misunderstood s-something?”

Hiko couldn’t meet his eye. It was too embarrassing for her, to ask such a thing. But she needed clarity and it was the only way to achieve it!

‘Back then it was easier, the only good thing about Kabuto. He just declared to be my boyfriend and that was it. I didn’t even had the time to feel jitterish or nervous. Now I feel like the plain schoolgirl again, the one with the thick glasses, the short hair and the old clothes, standing in front of the attractive crush of hers and stumbling over every word.’

“You need to hear it from me, huh?” asked Kakashi and laughed when Hiko tilted her head away. Quickly the man took her hands, totally covering the small slender fingers with his own and straightened, that he again sat like a proper adult in front of the brunette, who kneeled on the couch. His right leg was settled on the ground and the left was bend and stuck under it, making it easy for him to look at her.

A flutter in her stomach distracted the female and biting on her lower lip, she watched out of the corner of her eyes Kakashi shifting around. The warmth of his big hands holding hers leaped through her skin into every region of her body and unconsciously her lips raised into a tiny, but nevertheless happy smile.

“Hiko?” asked the silver haired man with concern. “Would you please go out with me?”

In this moment he sounded just as insecure as she felt. It was something different from only hearing his proclamations of insecurity to actually experience them, to listen to the soft tremble in his usually confident and calm voice and knowing it was her causing this.

It was the same as yesterday. Seeing the effect she inflicted on him gave Hiko the courage to look into his pleading eyes again. Blue met black and for a moment only Kakashi existed in her world.

“Yes.” rasped the shorty and nodded weakly. “I would love to be your girlfriend.” She watched his expression change, from a slightly uncertain gaze, the brows furrowed unconsciously and a little wrinkle beneath his left eye, to the manifestation of joy, full of awe and felicity. She couldn’t help herself and laugh at the openly displayed happiness from the man, but she loved to see him like this.

Loved. Finally Hiko could allow herself to live with those feelings, not suppressing them anymore, but giving in to them.

‘You said I am the brave one, but that’s not right. I’m scared. Scared by this sudden development, scared by my strong feelings, by  _ your  _ feelings and the future. I don’t want to fuck this up, not like the last time. I want to be able to enjoy your touch and maybe, maybe you can help me with that.

Until then, please stay by my side.’

Suddenly Kakashi leaned forward and softly kissed her scalp through his mask. He stayed there for a moment and Hiko believed she heard him deeply inhale, but then she only closed her eyes one more time and savored this short ministration. Somehow it seemed like Kakashi to show his affection with sweet, but little gestures. Small signs of his love, easily done but with a huge impact. Her heart jumped around when he withdrew, accelerating into unknown heights and Hiko warily laid her hand over the pounding organ. Feeling the fast beating rhythm, she snickered. “You will surely kill me one day if you continue to do such cute things.” she said and the man joined her chuckle.

“Hopefully not. Because I like the flush on your face and I plan to see it more often from now on.”

“Kakashi?”

“Mhmm?”

Hiko dropped her glasses on the small table beside the couch and shifted closer to the man. Leaning onto the broad shoulder, she brightly smiled at him and the butterflies in her belly began to wildly flutter around as he creased his eyes. “I love you.”

“I love you too.” Kakashi answered and pulled Hiko closer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for all the people who hated me for the overall tension and cliffhanging in the last chapters. I didn't even know that I was doing it until it was pointed out.   
> And once again, thanks to the lovely Miss_Fandoms_Shakespeare for proofreading and editing. You rock :)


	25. Reactions of the environment

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The monday after the confession and the main office can't wrap their heads around the idea of a friendly harpy.

Hiko still couldn’t believe it. Even after two days, as she sat at her desk like usual, working,  Hinata and Shino sitting in front of her and her superior sitting behind his own monitor and doing whatever he did, she still couldn’t stop herself from breaking into a happy grin from time to time. It seemed still like a dream to her, that she was in a relationship with Kakashi. She recalled again the memory of his confession and the longing expression in his eyes when they parted this evening, sharing again a kiss through his mask and with a little squeal the shorty hid her bright red face in in her palms. It was just surreal, to actually believe she was happily in love and bound to someone else, a thought she banned for eleven years from her mind and suddenly there was this man accepting and cherishing her.

_ ‘”We both have scars, emotional and physical, some worse than others and sometimes they will open again. But that’s life. And together we can work on ourselves, helping the other when he’s down and supporting them if times get rough. What do you say? Do you want to defeat the fear with me?” _

Who would’ve known he’s such a magician with words? So sweet…’

“Hiko?” Hinata gathered all her courage and spoke up, also recognizing the sudden tension in the raven Uchiha in her back, “Is something w-wrong with you today?” Over the last weeks in the proximity of the shorty, her stutter had minimized and now she could nearly speak fluently. But as soon when she exited the IT office, her stutter returned with all his might, except for the times Hinata spend with her blond crush.

“Everything is alright, more than that!” chirped the brunette and spun with her chair around. “Today’s weather is nice, isn’t it?”

Wrinkling his forehead Shino threw a short glance outside. Thick grey clouds stopped the sun from getting through and a harsh wind blew and made the trees rustle. It was even colder than the days before. Surely it wasn’t really bad, but far from “nice”.

Hiko hummed a happy tune, unaware of the bewildered gazes she got. Instead the shorty had the nerve to type on her keyboard to the rhythm of the song stuck in her head, all the while still spinning on her chair.

Itachi snorted weakly, what went unnoticed by the other workers in the room. Then he glanced suspiciously at the still smiling friend of his and typed without even looking a message for his cousin.

_ ChatRoom of the KPD _

_ Private Conversation between: ItachiU. ; ObitoU. _

_ ItachiU. : Hiko acts weird. Is Kakashi also behaving strangely today?? _

_ ObitoU. : Would be the wrong term. Creepy or even out of character is more fitting. He greeted everyone he met on the way with “Beautiful day, isn’t it?” and a bright smile, if one can tell under his mask. Can’t he see at any moment it could start to rain?? _

_ ItachiU. : You worry about the wrong things… Anyway, I will question Hiko, you drag Kakashi-san into a dark corner and interrogate him. _

_ ObitoU. : Uuuuh! Are we now some kind of intern special force?? We should name it, you know? _

_ ItachiU. : -.-‘ _

_ ObitoU. : another emoticon! You’re an alien! _

Meanwhile, Hiko bit her lip to suppress another upcoming giggle in her chest. But it was hard, thinking about yesterday. She and Kakashi spent the whole day together, just hanging out in her flat like they usually did, but this time they hugged more than once, even ending up on her couch and snuggling rather intimately, all the while talking about meaningless things. She wasn’t able to recall one bit about their conversation topics, only the closeness to him. Did he feel the same? Apparently, because he sought her embrace even more than the other way around. One time he stepped behind Hiko and just rested his chin on her head, his arms loosely slung around her waist, while she had prepared a meal for both of them. The silver haired man was extremely clingy when it came to body contact, but Hiko liked it. It gave her the security she needed and the chance to get accustomed to the sudden change in her life, a chance she hadn’t with Kabuto. But Kakashi granted it to her, so easily like he would offer just a bit of his food or something similarly small.

Biting on her lower lip while grinning, the female finished her task of checking the server systems. Now she had to go to the Server Room and check all the technical devices, a monthly duty that she always took willingly, because it gave her the chance to work  alone and in silence once in a while.

“Well, I’m off then! The servers won’t check themselves!” commented Hiko and bounced out of her chair in the direction of the door. But Itachi suddenly raised from his desk and hold her back. “I’m coming with you. The chief wanted some reports from me and it’s on my way.” With one hand he pressed some files to his chest, with the other the raven head waved warily at Hiko.

“Fine with me.”  

But the real reason of her boss walking with her was revealed in the second the door behind them closed and they stepped on the long hallway.

“What is going on? What happened to you?” asked Itachi and concern blinked in his black eyes.

Confused Hiko beamed at the Uchiha. “Did something has to happen to simply be happy once in awhile?”

“I have never seen you like this before.”

“Really? I’m just in a very good mood…” Embarrassed she scrubbed the back of her neck, ruffled through her hair and knew her friend noticed the tiny signs with his sharp intense eyes. Damn Uchihas and their perceptive insight. He raised a brow and the sight made Hiko giggle again. “Fine. You’re right, something very good happened. I… still kind of can’t believe it!”

“And that would be?”

“You know, I… Uhm. This is silly, actual… I’m now kind of bound to Kakashi?”

“Like in a relationship.” stated Itachi, his face not giving even a hint of his emotions. “Since when?”

“Saturday.” answered Hiko truthfully and opened the door to the atrium for her boss, who thanked her with a sharp nod. “And? What do you think?”

“Right now, I’m thinking about my lunch.”

“Itachi! Come on, I want to hear your opinion!”

The icy Uchiha stopped in the middle of the wide room, so suddenly that the female nearly ran into him. He turned to her and chuckled lowly when he saw the pleading eyes behind the thick glasses. “My opinion on this matter is as simple as your reason a few years ago to talk to Kisame: I want to see you providential and if Kakashi-san is able to make you happy, I’m not going to complain. You’re my little sister and your well-being is the most important, just behind the health and state of Kisame and my little brother’s.” With one of his rare smiles Itachi patted her beanie and Hiko tilted her head under the short ministration. Then he playfully  poked her forehead and turned to the entrance of the main office, again with the armor of the unemotional Uchiha built up around him and the secretaries, a few seconds ago hopeful at his approachable behavior slumped down under his glare.

‘My brother… Thank you so very much for accepting it without any trouble. The one I fear the most right now is Obito…’

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Kakashi knew he was grinning like an idiot. He also knew Gai noticed his changed behavior, just like the rest of the main office and behind his back they all whispered about him, but today he couldn’t care less. In his mind were only the last two days and the spend time with Hiko, his girlfriend. A comfortable shiver crawled down his spine at the sound of the words. Some paperwork was left over the time of the summer festival, lying forgotten on his desk and currently he was finishing the reports, but a few times Kakashi caught himself staring blindly at the monitor in front of him, not noticing he had held one button too long and instead of writing an eloquent sentence, wrote a long line of ‘e’s or ‘o’s.

It didn’t matter. Hiko loved him. She had told him numerous times over the weekend, like she also needed to assure herself into actually believing this was real and Kakashi always answered just as loving as her. And then the hugs.

He groaned weakly when he remembered the Sunday, the whole day again and again he had been able to cradle her short frame and savoring every second of it without worrying the embrace could suddenly get interrupted. It felt good, only sharing the warmth and space and doing nothing else than just talk. He couldn’t recall one of their conversations though. But Hiko’s smile, her gentleness and also her shyness was already deeply engraved into his brain and Kakashi had to resist the urge to dash out of the bureau and running down into her office, only to hug her and see the cute blush spreading on her cheeks again.

‘Another new side I knew nothing about. I hadn’t the urge with Hanare, but maybe it’s the time that changed me. Back then it was about the sexual attraction, not about the talks and friendliness. The hugs and the intimacy coming along with such simple actions.’

“Kakashi?” Obito appeared beside the cop and elbowed him lightly. Surprised Kakashi jerked up and nearly flipped the tower of piles he balanced on the rim of his table over, but barely missed it. The loud Uchiha was faster out of his reach than a retreating rabbit, his hands already raised in a defensive posture. “Relax man, relax.” he muttered and shook his head. “I just wanted to ask you about getting a coffee. You have worked straight since your arrival.”

“Ooh.” He threw a short glance at the big clock hanging over the door to the atrium. Already near 11 a.m. No wonder he felt a little fatigued, he had sat at his desk for the past three hours. With a tired sigh Kakashi rolled back from the desk and stood up, stretched his arms out and let his shoulder joints crack with a lazy but practiced motion. “Sure. I could use some coffee now.”

Obito chuckled lowly, before he waved warily at the silver haired man and went ahead to the small stall with the coffee machine, the only technical thing Hiko wouldn’t even touch with gloves on. She told him the tale of her only failure in her seven years of working for the KPD and Kakashi couldn’t suppress a smile when he saw the faint spot of coffee splattered on the wall opposite of the “evil mass of a monster brewer”.

But the Uchiha knew how to handle the machine and soon, both cops had mugs with delicious smelling brown ambrosia in their hands and leaned against the counter. From time to time, he lifted his mask for a short moment and sipped on the bitter drink, watching the busy office through a little window.

“So, Kakashi…” Obito dumped another spoon with sugar in the mug (apparently he liked his coffee as sweet as possible) and stirred it, while staring with an amused expression at the silver haired man. “What could possibly change the most aloof cop I know into a grinning clown?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” he retorted automatically. “I’m just in a good mood.”

“Sure and I’m really Sailor Moon. Now spit it out or do I have to use this,” the Uchiha raised a small  package of sugar into the air, “on you?”

“Maa, please, no torture.” chuckled Kakashi. Then he looked again into the office and tried to find the right words. “First I should probably thank you and Itachi .” he started, always aware that the man by his side was known to hit a moving target from a 30 meter distance without breaking into a sweat. “You made me realize I fell for Hiko. Yeah, and as unbelievable as it sounds, she feels the same for me and now we’re in a relationship since Saturday. I still can’t believe it, it’s…”

The man gestured warily around and didn’t notice the spilling coffee until the hot liquid burned his hand. Annoyed he wiped it away and continued, while Obito kept a neutral face and drank from his own mug. “Somehow surreal. Hiko accepted me and my feelings and I want to be a real partner for her, someone she can rely on and also come to if she’s troubled. I can’t promise not to hurt her, but I can promise that I will do anything to avoid hurting your sister by any possible means and if the worst case ever happens, then all three of you are allowed to do your thing.”

Worried, Kakashi glanced over to Obito. He was the one who had the strongest connection to Hiko and would probably also react the strongest when hearing about his sister bonding with his colleague. The silver haired cop knew it was self-suicidal to give them a blank check to do whatever they wanted to do if he would ever hurt the shorty, but it was also the best way to calm the storm before it even started.

‘Only a strategy, one of many. Like usual.’

The loud raven head dumped the emptied mug in the sink of the stall and placed his hands at the edges of the counter. A man barely controlling himself, that’s how it seemed to Kakashi, who slightly leaned to the door, ready to sprint when the other would go wild.

“Mhm. Guess I have to pay Kisame his money.” grumbled Obito finally. He turned around and crossed in the motion his arms over his chest, smirking at the irritated confusion in Kakashi’s face. “What? He was apparently right about you two getting together in the 48 hours after the festival. I betted at this week. Damn.”

“You made a bet?” asked Kakashi, not sure if he could trust his ears.

The raven rolled his eyes. “I just told you so, yes. Man, a blind fool can see she is in love with you. And don’t worry about hurting Hiko, we know each other now for a while and I believe you are a respectable person with some decency and the absolute willingness to ensure your girl will be happy. But if you ever cheat on her,” his eyes changed to a cold glare, “I will personally break half of your bones.”

“Why only one half?”

“Because beating someone half to death is more satisfying than killing him instantly.” remarked Obito with a sly grin. Kakashi shuddered unconsciously. An outsider could believe the loud Uchiha was the nicest member of the group, but after spending some time with him the masked man knew that he was probably the most unpredictable out of the bunch, because his mood could change from one second to the other. So the silver haired male only nodded a bit scared and Obito gave him a Gai-like thumbs-up. “Alrighty! Man, I’m happy for both of you! Tell me, did you confess first or was it Hiko?”

“She was the one going all out.” answered Kakashi, still a little bit fazed by the abrupt changes.

‘Hiko, you have very complicated brothers… But I wouldn’t have it any other way, because they protected you all those years and made you who you are now. It’s also because of Obito, Itachi and Kisame that you reached out to me and I’m thankful for that.’

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Naruto, the energetic student of Maito Gai, threw another glance over his shoulder, but saw no one at the hallway. Originally he had planned to sneak into the IT facilities to finally talk with Hinata-chan and ask her out for a date. Since Friday the blonde searched for an opportunity to meet her alone and right now in the lunch break, he saw his time coming. But someone also took the path down to the office, but Naruto couldn’t make out who it was. A low hum echoed through the long and empty hallways, always behind him and unnerving to the very core.

“Hello?” he asked warily and scratched the marks on his right cheek. “Is someone there?”

The melody stopped for a moment, but then it came back even louder than before. The low baritone was accompanied by light steps, accentuating the rhythm of the song. Naruto prepared himself to fight of the surely creepy person coming around the corner and got into a fighting stance. Just as the mysterious person stepped into sight, the hands stuffed into the pockets of his jeans, Naruto attacked him with a scream. “BELIEVE IT!”

Unfortunately, the victim wasn’t a helpless civilian. Quicker than the blonde could process it, he was pushed into the wall, the strong forearm of the now attacker pressed into his throat and making speaking up nearly impossible and both his arms rendered useless bend over Naruto’s head, caught with a single hand.

“Kakashi-sensei…”  the blonde rasped out. “You’re strangling me…”

The masked man blinked almost sheepishly, before a spark of recognition awoke in the black eyes. Without a word or even a sign of being sorry, the older cop let him off the hook, and Naruto coughed, before breathing in and starting to shout at the man.

“Man, this was dangerous! You almost broke my neck, you know? That wasn’t really nice, Kakashi-sensei!”

His superior raised a silver brow. “And attacking me out of nowhere is nice?”

“Well, that’s… No, not really…”

Suddenly Kakashi chuckled and quickly patted Naruto’s head. “Nothing serious happened, so it’s ok. Just make sure you check the identity of the next person you jump. Could save your life one day.” With a lazy wave he vanished into the direction of the IT office and Naruto wondered what the usually cold and aloof man could possibly want down here.

Curious, he followed the tall man to the door, noticing that Kakashi started to hum again . It was strange to watch him like this, obviously a happy smile underneath the mask and the steps almost elegant and swaying to the rhythm.

Naruto became even more confused when he watched the older cop knocking enthusiastically on the wooden door, then fidgeting a little bit and even trying to comb the silver mane with his fingers, but Kakashi quickly dropped his hands when the office door opened. Kobayashi-san appeared, but she was different. Naruto’s curiosity only grew as his blue eyes noticed the tight violet turtleneck pullover and the black from-fitting jeans, the legs pulled into a pair of heavy boots. The harpy usually didn’t dress like this. She looked almost normal, not like a geek or nerd or whatever the term was now for people with unique hobbies. Only the glasses and beanie remained of the other Kobayashi-san.

But then Naruto’s jaw dropped down to earth and maybe even a few inches further, because in the same second the door behind the short woman closed, Kakashi embraced the female and nuzzled his face into her hair, while Kobayashi-san returned the hug just as desperately as the male, circling her own slender arms around the narrow waist of the cop and pulling him closer.

Like a flash the blonde pulled back from what he just saw and leaned against the cold wall. He couldn’t believe it! Kakashi-sensei and Kobayashi-san hugging in the broad daylights! Red stained his cheeks and carefully Naruto took another peek at the bewildering scene playing out on the floor. And returned nearly instantly to his original position, his hands muffling every sound his mouth spilled.

The harpy standing on her toes, leaning into the much taller man, the lips pressed against the white fabric of the surgical mask and Kakashi cupping her cheeks with his hands. Naruto tried to chase this picture away with all possible means, overloading his brain with memories of ramen or boring lectures in the police academy or the way Hinata-chan smiled as she found a flower he once picked especially for her and looked around, searching for the one leaving her this gift…

Still with his hands stopping his mouth from running wild, Naruto crawled backwards. He had to tell someone, or else he would surely die from brain overload!

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_ ChatRoom of the KPD _

_ Private Conversation between: SasukeU. ; ShinoA. ; HinataH. ; NarutoU. ; TentenF. ; KibaI. ; ShikamaruN. ; InoY. ; SakuraH. _

_ NarutoU. : GUESS WHAT I SAW!!!! _

_ NarutoU. : YOU WON’T BELIEVE IT, BELIEVE IT!! _

_ KibaI. : so should we believe it or not? Speak clearer you dumbass _

_ NarutoU. : BELIEVE IT _

_ TentenF. : And what now? Spill it fast, Kurenai-san wants to take me on a patrol _

_ InoY. : and Orochimaru-san wants to open a corpse in 10 minutes. Now TALK _

_ NarutoU. : Kakashi and Kobayashi-san are dating _

_ TentenF. : that explains a lot. But not surprising though _

_ KibaI. : yupp. I thought it was something BIG, but that… It’s kind of lame _

_ InoY. : I knew it. They aren’t very good at hiding, just like Kurenai and Asuma. _

_ ShikamaruN. : For that I interrupted my nap? Troublesome _

_ NarutoU. : all of you knew already? How?? _

_ SakuraH. : use your eyes. The whole summer festival they spend time together. _

_ HinataH. : They somehow fit together. But that’s only my opinion… _

_ TentenF. : hell yeah, they fit, but the way Naruto announced his important message, I assumed it was much bigger, like “I saw Godzilla on the way, playing poker with King Kong.” Something like that. _

_ KibaI. : exactly. But I hope Hatake-sans creepy smile goes away over time, I don’t think I can bear with it every day _

_ SasukeU. : hn _

_ NarutoU. : :’( _

_ HinataH. : Thank you very much, Naruto-kun. I didn’t know about it and I’m glad that I know what is going on with my superior. Good work, everyone. _

_ NarutoU. : thanks Hinata-chan ^^ _

_ Private Conversation between: NarutoU. ; HinataH. _

_ NarutoU. : you know, the reason why I saw them was originally to visit you in the IT office, but then they kind of scared me off. Well, I wanted to ask you out once and for all. Please would you go on a date with me Hinata-chan? _

_ HinataH. : jarngeiarnJÜOIJÜgwj _

_ NarutoU. : … Hinata-chan? _

_ HinataH. : Here’s Shino. Don’t worry, she only fainted and hit the keyboard with her head. I believe it’s a ‘Yes, she would like to’, if I read the sign’s right. _

_ NarutoU. : well… that’s great to hear. ^^ _

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Izumo and Kotetsu watched the harpy near Kakashi’s desk, smiling and sometimes slapping jokingly the taller man’s shoulder.

The man with the bandage draped over the bridge of his nose leaned to his partner, the brow furrowed with suspicion in his eyes.

“Do you know what’s going on here?”

Izumo only shook his head. It was too strange to see Hiko laughing freely and not evilly, but Kakashi had also changed overnight. The silver haired man sat relaxed in his chair, one arm sprawled over the armrest, the other hand was busy tapping at the back of the female’s hand, who leaned against the counter of his desk.

“Maybe she’s planning something…” murmured Kotetsu and eyed the two people warily. “Maybe she still holds a grudge for stealing her food against him and now she plans to kill him.”

“Kill him? How?”

“With friendliness.”

“No one died ever from friendliness.”

“There’s a first for everything.” stated Kotetsu dead serious. Izumo turned away from the marvelous sight of two completely changed people and continued to write his report. “Have you considered they simply like each other?”

“For a short moment, but then I noticed the way she’s holding herself. Look.”

Hiko leaned closer to Kakashi and whispered something into his ear, what made the man broke into a short, but heartily laughter. Izumo thought that the harpy’s hand laid for a split second almost longing at Kakashi’s cheek, but then she withdrew and he shook his head. There must be something in his coffee to have illusions like this.

His friend was also flabbergasted. “What the… Okay, have you seen what I’ve seen just now?”

“I believe?” Helplessly the brunet shrugged, not letting the two colleagues out of his sight.

Asuma joined Kotetsu, who sneakily glanced over the edges of his PC, and fiddled with his zipper. “Does one of you know what is going on between those two?” the bearded man whispered.

The answer was clear for both officers. “No.” Kotetsu and Izumo answered like one person.

“Not an ounce.” Izumo added.

“We’re just as bewildered as you.” Kotetsu included. “They weren’t so close before the festival, or am I wrong?”

The three men shared one look, then Hiko giggled like a little schoolgirl and instantly heads flew around to look at the harpy, who was now so close standing to the silver haired male that their knees touched. And she took full advantage of that, because she pushed with the sharp joint a little bit against the longer leg and giggled again when Kakashi pushed back. Caught up in their childish play they didn’t notice the growing bunch of people surrounding Izumo’s and Kotetsu’s double-desk.

Gai shook with teary eyes his head. “So youthful…” he said and tightened his fist. “My eternal rival became so youthful…”

Kurenai smiled a little and crossed her arms over her uniform. “Really, those two. They couldn’t make it more obvious, huh?”

Nagato sneaked into the crowd and went unnoticed by his subordinates, even when he joined their conversation. “As long as they are doing their work, I don’t really care. But why is the whole main office gossiping during their shift?”

Izumo shrugged weakly. “Just watching a miracle, sir.”

Kotetsu nodded slowly, his mouth parted. “A miracle, nothing less.”

“I don’t care if it’s a miracle or the resurrection of thousands of people,” growled the redhead furiously, “but go back to work, all of you!”

Only then the officers recognized their boss in their midst and flew apart faster than a group of cats could flee from a dog. Nagato spared all of them an angry glare, before he rolled his eyes and returned to his own office. “If they gather one more time, I swear I’ll deploy double-shifts…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> From now on I need a few chapters to build the next big arc in the story, so settle down for some fluff/easy romance/smut/lemon...  
> But after that there will be the promised murder and such, I swear!  
> And as always, thanks to the awesome Miss_Fandoms_Shakespeare. Did I mention you're awesome?


	26. Evolving is natural

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Snippets from Hiko's and Kakashi's relationship.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fluff, a tiny bit of tension and smut. A perfect wombo combo ^-^  
> Co-Starring: Sakumo Hatake, who deserved a lot more of screentime T-T (in my opinion)

From the very moment Hiko became Kakashi’s friend, she decided not to try to unmask him. It would have put a strain on their friendship and she didn’t like the thought of pressuring him even now, so the female waited patiently for him to get accustomed to her. So she had went along with his strange quirk, never asked to see his face and honestly, over the time the curiosity how the man looked like underneath the always present white fabric faded into the back of her mind, because there were others things, more important things that Kakashi stood for. For example, the hugs he shared with her, the dorky jokes he could make or the dry humor he displayed whenever Nagato assigned him to a late-night shift or when Gai was challenging him again. In the _face_ of such character traits. Hiko simply forgot about the matter and it would have stayed that way if the silver haired cop hadn’t decided otherwise.

It happened one week after they started their relationship. It was Saturday evening and after the new couple visited their friends –Obito finally gathered enough courage to bring Rin with him- Hiko and Kakashi sat for once in his flat and just read, the brunette a book about psychology and he naturally “Icha-Icha-Paradise”. They didn’t talk, but it wasn’t necessary. The silver haired man was draped over the couch, lying relaxed on his back and stretched out on the cushions, while Hiko was located on his stomach, her head on the level of his chest. Only after a short discussion, where she argued that it couldn’t be comfortable and Kakashi only laughed and pulled her down with him, the shorty quickly adapted to the circumstances and now read without losing focus anymore whenever he shifted a little bit. Placing her thick book on his chest, Hiko was too concentrated on the chapter to notice the movements of Kakashi’s hands, messing with the fabric of the surgical mask. She turned a page and followed the sentences.

A deep sigh, shaking the book and herself, made her lose her focus and a little bit annoyed Hiko wanted to pout at the man below her, but then she saw his face.

His uncovered face.

 

“Kakashi…?” she asked warily, not sure if the picture in front of her was real. “Where’s your-?”

“Mask? Maa, you didn’t think I would wear it all day?” Kakashi asked back, with a visible smirk on his lips. “That would be too much of a hassle.”

“Then why do you still wear it?”

“Became a habit, I suppose. In the SFU we had to wear masks all day and outside I got uncomfortable without something covering my face. Well…” He ruffled  through his hair, slightly embarrassed. “And in my own flat I always drop it, so…”

The brunette carefully crawled closer over Kakashi’s chest, in the process closing her book and dropping it beside the couch. With a heavy ‘thud’ it connected with the ground, but Hiko was too concentrated on analyzing his whole face. She tilted her head to the right and watched him from a different angle blushing under her intense stare.

Underneath the surgical mask which made him look a bit like a creeper, Kakashi hid a straight manly nose, a strong jaw, adorable dimples when he smiled and thin but attractive lips. Hiko noticed the dark spot just under the left side of his mouth and shook slightly her head while poking the beauty mark. “Spit it out! You hid your face because all the women would be after you if you would lift it.”

“That was one of my reasons.” he rasped. Kakashi’s black eyes followed her hands, which cupped tenderly his cheeks and jumped to her own face, surely wrinkled in concentration. He looked a little bit panicked, but that expression soon vanished as Hiko started to trail the now exposed skin with her fingertips, slowly dancing over the pale surface. It was a miraculous sight for her, watching the man lean into the touch and closing his eyes, totally trusting her and her tender ministrations. The female escaped a small giggle as she noticed a nearly invisible tan line crossing the bridge of Kakashi’s nose and she trailed the mark, earning her an irritated groan.

“What’s so funny?” Lazily, he opened his scarred eye and looked at her.

“You have a tan line. It looks cute.” Again Hiko drew the faint difference in shade over his nose with her index finger and winked at the cop. “Even you can’t escape the sun completely, huh?”

“In order to accomplish that I had to wear a full mask, don’t you think?”

“That would be a shame. I like your eyes.”

“And I like yours.”

 

Hiko blushed at the sudden compliment, which made Kakashi chuckle lowly. “They are such a crystal blue that they look icy, but in reality they are warm. And full of your emotions, showing what you think every time. So expressive and vivid.” He dropped his own thin book carefully on Hiko’s, then his left arm cradled around her waist and stabilized her body, while his right hand lifted her glasses and set them on the growing pile beside the couch. Then he moved in an imitation to the brunette his long fingers also over her face, trailing it much like she did with his. Hiko felt the tips tenderly stroking her cheek, then dancing over to her nose and tapping lightly on the tip, before moving to her lips. Unconsciously she gasped as Kakashi’s index finger rimmed her mouth, drew every little detail and then swiped over the sensitive flesh of her bottom lip.

“Kakashi…” Hiko whispered weakly, “Your eyes… They seem deep and bottomless, dark and expressionless sometimes, but I can read them like you can read mine. I like also the color, such a dark brown they appear black. And I also like the way they crease whenever you smile or laugh.” Her own fingers mirrored his and touched Kakashi’s lips, tenderly trailing them, which made him audibly gulp.

In her stomach grew the giddy, fluttering feeling she got whenever he was close to her. Without thinking, Hiko leaned closer and watched intently the male’s whole face, noticing the little widening of his eyes and the slight twitch around his mouth when realization hit Kakashi. But he didn’t stop the female and like this her lips pressed on his.

It wasn’t a passionate kiss. Neither Hiko opened her mouth and used her tongue to seduce the male nor did she dig her fingers into his scalp and draw him closer. The touch was loving and caring, but also careful and hesitating, because she was unsure about her skills. After all it had been some years ago she kissed someone without the protective layer of a mask between their mouths.

 

When Hiko softly retreated, Kakashi stopped her and went in for another, just as gentle kiss. This time she closed her eyes and only felt the sweet brush on her mouth and the mighty tingle coming from deep inside her belly. After that the brunette nuzzled her face into the crook of his neck, while he slipped his other arm around her waist and pulled her closer. Hiko felt the slow lift and fall of Kakashi’s chest on her own and smiled completely at ease, a gentle warmth spreading in her whole body.

‘Love should be like this. It should feel good and natural, not forced and dark. Thank you so much for gifting me with this, Kakashi.’

 

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It was like Hiko completely forgot about his existence after plugging her headphones over her ears. Kakashi suppressed the laugh bubbling inside his body at the sight of the small brunette hobbling up and down in her too big chair, totally concentrated on the monitor in front and hectically smashing the buttons of the keyboard. Hiko radiated energy and his mood lifted even further as the shorty started to lean right or left according to where her character should go in her opinion.

She always got so serious when video games were involved. A trait the silver haired man had believed to be endearing, but right now he couldn’t help himself but to want Hiko immediately in his arms so he could cuddle the living daylights out of the woman, just because she huffed satisfied and clenched her fist in a little sign of victory.

Kakashi lounged on her couch and had been deeply buried in the world of his beloved “Icha-Icha”-novels with Hiko sitting beside him, until she got restless. One last kiss aimed at his cheek and a casual caress over the back of his hand, then the brunette moved over to her computer and started a game. By now, he finished the story once more and was happy with just watching his girlfriend (there was still the shiver running down his back at the sweet reality of Hiko being his _girlfriend_ ) how she apparently did something in the round of bright and colorful ego-shooter. The screen moved too fast for him to even realize what was going on, but Hiko knew what she did, because she suddenly squealed loudly into the silence.

“Aaaaand Quadruple-Kill!”

Followed by a giggle, low and adorable. He really didn’t want to interrupt her flow, so Kakashi waited some minutes until he was sure she finished the round –a loss, but strangely she didn’t seem to care much- only then he silently stood up and moved over to the desk, where Hiko made a strange little dance while sitting. One glance at the PC and he understood, because her nickname “harpyfits” blinked brightly, underlined by the words “Play of the Match”. He assumed it was a good thing. So naturally he wanted to touch Hiko in return too, maybe even steal a small kiss or two, but as he softly stroked her shoulder, she stiffened abruptly, frozen in her seat.

 

“Hiko?” Worried Kakashi bend over the back of the chair, only to see dull eyes and obvious panic written all over the brunette’s face. “Hey. What’s wrong?”

Slowly Hiko lifted her hand to adjust her thick black glasses, all the while lowering her gaze and not daring to look at him. Why? Only seconds ago she was the impersonation of boundless energy and joy and one simple touch reduced her to… _this_? What…?

Oh. Anguish washed over his mind at the realization of what happened right now. Maybe the shorty really completely forgot about his presence in her apartment, so she was shocked when  a hand laid upon her shoulder suddenly, maybe gentle and loving, but nevertheless out of nowhere. And maybe, only maybe, her torturer did the same thing once, creeping up on her and touching the woman in the same way. Actually it was no surprise that Hiko reacted that way, freezing up and stiffening, not sure what to expect or not knowing what intent the “attacker” had.

“Hiko… Hey.” Kakashi turned the chair into his direction and kneeled down, making sure he was close, but not too close to let the female feel like she got caged. He gestured to her, what caused the woman to lower her headphones, but then her hands fell again to her lap, trembling and flinching in her fear. “It’s okay. Listen, it’s me. Kakashi, the lazy-ass who lingers always in your flat, eats your food and reads the smut you secretly like. I’m your friend, remember? I would never do something to hurt you.”

Blue eyes met his and the shorty stared like a hypnotized rabbit at him, waiting to be eaten. Encouraged by her reaction the silver haired cop continued with a calm and steady tone, not daring to break the eye contact. “You’re not in danger. It’s your flat, your home and no one here wants to do anything to hurt you. You hear me?”

A tiny nod.

“Whatever you thought was happening, I’m sorry. I don’t want to scare you _like this_ ,” the scowl came to Kakashi easily, “or pain you any way. If you want, I can leave, so you have time to calm down and ease a bit, okay?”

A shake of her head, more determined than before.

“So you don’t want me to leave?”

 

Nodding. Relief spread in Kakashi. Even though he had to stop himself from flinching away as Hiko reached out, hesitating and always checking her territory, if it was really okay to calm down. Her fingers cradled the hems of his flu mask, scraping over the sensitive skin underneath, then the shorty removed the mask. The strings snapped in the tense silence. Dropping the mask, she leaned forward, eyes wide and uncertainty oozing from her form.

“Sorry.” The first word in centuries, it felt to Kakashi. A smile quickly flashed over her mouth only to die just as fast. “I guess I have to… Actually see that’s not… _him_ in disguise. Sorry.” Fingertips brushed over his naked cheek, down to his jaw, drawing the line of the bone underneath, then moving upwards and stroking over his nose to his forehead, all the while Kakashi edged the tiniest bit closer to make it easier for the brunette to feel him.

“Don’t be sorry,” he murmured, “not for something like this.”

Hiko’s fingers halted just above his lips. “No. I have to… I need to train myself. It’s stupid to still be scared, logically I know he can’t be in my room. But still…” She left the sentence unfinished. Instead a steely resolve seemed to grow in the small woman. Cocking her head, Hiko put a brave front up, including the wrinkled eyebrows and the tensed muscles in her whole body. “Do it again.”

“What?” Her fingers still laid on his mouth, so they moved with them as he spoke.

“Do it again. Touch my shoulder just like you did before.”

“Hiko, do you think it’s okay to be that aggressive towards…?”

A deep sigh. “Kakashi, I know myself. Half-assed shit does nothing, I will only get more scared and agitated. A full-front confrontation is the only thing which worked at least halfway decent in the past.” Hiko leaned back and didn’t even wait for Kakashi to react. Swiveling around, she waved over her shoulder. An overly casual gesture, but the male just knew she was still panicked, still a bit tense and absolutely trying to mask her level of panic from him.

 

But he complied. Moving upwards, Kakashi ruffled shortly through his hair, then bend just like before over the back of her seat, touching her shoulder just like a few minutes ago. And again she stiffened, but just when he wanted to retreat, her own hand snapped upwards and held him into place.

“No,” she growled, “Don’t. It’s just my body. I know you’re Kakashi, I know you would never do the same thing as _him_ , I _know_ you would never try to make me do something I don’t want. It’s just my body who’s a little scaredy-cat. So stay.”

Her hand tightened around his.

He wasn’t really sure if confronting her fears directly was a good thing, but Kakashi suppressed the negative words which were in his mind. “Okay,” he answered instead, “I will stay. As long as you want.”

“Good.” Hiko breathed deeply in and only now he was able to see that her eyes were closed. “Very good.”

For minutes they stood there, Hiko not even facing him, but with his hand on her shoulder and her hand holding him into place (secretly Kakashi thought the gesture was to unconsciously make a difference between the touch from before and this moment). In between she mumbled things, words too weak for the man to make them out, though some he could catch.

“Not him… Not him. Stupid head and stupid body. You love him. He will never…”

The need to hug the brunette was almighty. Kakashi was sure he trembled in his attempt to hold back, though he stayed where he was. All the while he was fully concentrated on the female, who continued to mumble inaudible things, surely positive and encouraging things, therefore his heart grew warm when he felt the muscles underneath his palm ease up. Apparently her direct confrontation strategy was working.

 

“Do you feel better?” he asked weakly.

Hiko didn’t react at first. Only her fingers tightened around his, strong despite the slenderness and small hand. “Yeah…” Turning in her chair around, the brunette opened her eyes and looked up to him, right over the edges of her glasses. A sight which made Kakashi’s heart jump. “I think it’s okay now.”

“Good.” That was everything he needed to know. The silver haired man gently tugged Hiko out of the chair and into his arms, burying his bare face in her chocolate brown locks, steadying her head and one arm slung around her waist. He had to bend over to complete his goal to flush her whole front against him, but when Kakashi felt how the shorty responded and nosed his chest with affection, cuddling closer and clawing into his back, he grinned into her mane.

She mumbled something into his clothes and the cop was pretty sure it was something along the lines “I love you.”

So he answered, soft and low like they were in danger to be heard: “I love you too.”

 

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Hiko struggled to get to one of the higher shelves of her kitchen. She grumbled weakly when her hand wasn’t even near the jar of spices, hell not even near to near. For a moment the woman hesitated, the hands staying at her hips, but then she turned, determined, to her boyfriend, who was sprawled over her couch without his mask. Everytime she saw him maskless in her flat and not in his own, pride swelled inside her because he trusted her enough to drop the cover in a foreign environment.

           ‘He thinks of my apartment as ‘home’. That’s why.’

“Kakashi?” she asked while stepping to the concentrated writing man, “Could you come into the kitchen for a moment? I need your help.”

The man looked up from his report that he didn’t finish during his regular work time. “Again the high shelves?”

“The last time I checked they were rebelling against my wish to get into my reach. So would you, please…?”

“Sure.” Kakashi shoved almost thankful the report to the side and stood up, while gifting Hiko with one smile that turned her knees instantly into jelly. “What do you need?”

She coughed. “Uhm, the red one. The highest cupboard at the right.”

Without a problem Kakashi fetched her the needed jar and placed it into the female’s hands, accompanied with a short kiss on her forehead. “For you, fire fly.”

Wrinkling her nose, Hiko looked up into his black eyes. “…Fire fly?” she asked and raised an eyebrow. “You gave me a _pet name_?”

He had the decency to flush. Stuttering incoherently the silver haired man tried to explain his slip of tongue, but the shorty stopped him with a sharp hand movement. “As long as it isn’t something like ‘honey’ or even more stupid ‘babycake’, I don’t really care. And I have to say…” Hiko beamed brightly, “I like it. But please don’t call me that in public, I would blush or stumble out of surprise.”

With the jar in her hands, the brunette wanted to turn away, but found herself suddenly caged by strong arms lying around her waist. Kakashi spun her around so that she faced him again and looked quite amused, but also a bit annoyed. Pressing the small form of the woman against his body, he tugged with a gentle motion one strand of her hair behind her ear, while at the same time mirroring her previous expression and raised an eyebrow.

 

“So, you have now a pet name. Did you also think a bit about one for me?”

Hiko stuck her tongue out. “Even if I had, I wouldn’t tell you.”

“Sure? Maybe I have methods to make you spill it?”

“Kakashi!” Surprised she gasped as his hands suddenly moved to her sides and started to tickle her. “N-no!”

Kakashi smirked confidently. “Will you spill it?”

“N-ne-ver!”

“Then I will continue.” said the male and did so. Hiko’s eyes were clouded by tears and she giggled uncontrolled from his merciless torture, but because of the lack of air she soon started to turn blue, only then Kakashi stopped. “Come on, tell me.” he mumbled and watched her with an interested expression. “I know you have one.”

Hiko grumbled weakly and crossed her arms, well, tried in her position to fiddle with the jar and also express her anger sufficient. “I wanted to find one, but nothing seemed to fit you.” she grumbled and felt how her face lit up.

Kakashi’s eyes squinted. “Why I can’t believe you right now?”

“Because you’re a notoriously distrusting person?”

“Hiko…”

“Fine, fine.” She raised her hands in defeat. “After some time I came up with various ones, but the one I liked most was ‘My love’… Because it was simple but also affectionate.”

Abruptly he pulled her closer. Not that she minded it, Kakashi’s musky scent only made her head spin and at the same time let her relax. “You can always call me that.” he murmured into her hair and she shivered when the faint breath ghosted over her bare neck. “Always.”

Hiko snickered. “Also in the police station?”

“…Maybe not there.”

“Got it, my love.”

 

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Kakashi watched his girlfriend fidgeting around. “There’s no reason to be nervous.” he reassured her for the eleventh time this day.

Hiko gifted him with an angry scowl. “You don’t have to worry about that! My parents are dead and you will never meet them. It’s your father, Kakashi! Your father! What if he doesn’t like me?” Desperate she clung to his side and stared at the door to his father’s house like it was the entrance to hell.

The man chuckled and laid an arm around her waist. “He will surely like you. I already told him about you when we weren’t together and he said he wanted to meet up. My father also likes the thought of me being in a relationship, so that already gained you plus points.”

“But… but… but…” The shorty tried to argue a bit more and put off the meeting with Kakashi’s father a bit longer, however with a grunt he dragged her with him to the door and pressed the bell.

“Everything is alright.” he whispered into her ear. “He’s a nice man and usually likes anyone who is with me.”

“Okay… Wait, did you just say ‘usually’?”

Kakashi wanted to answer, but in this second the door opened and his father, Sakumo Hatake stepped into the light of the sun, in an old KPD-shirt and dirty cotton pants. He raised an arm and waved at the two, the black eyes, similar to his own, closed and with a smile in his face. “Hello son. Nice to see you again. And you must be-!” Sakumo stopped suddenly, his hand already stretched out to Hiko, who seemed just as perplex as his father.

“The old man from the park…” she said and slapped her hand over her mouth.

“The interesting girl…” murmured Sakumo and looked back and forth between Kakashi and the small woman, who was caught somewhere between the need to be silent and heavy embarrassment.

The younger male didn’t understand and tilted his head. “What? You know each other already?”

“Barely,” Sakumo answered, still staring at Hiko. “She is the girl from the park I told you about. The one in love with her friend.” Realization dawned on him. “Then… you must be the friend she was talking about!” Some kind of joy was sprawled over Sakumo’s face when he said that and faster than Kakashi could process, his father shook the hand of Hiko, who was hiding behind a nervous smile.

“I’m glad it all worked out for you and for you too, my son! Come in, come in, it’s a little bit chilly outside!”

 

Asking Kakashi threw a glance at Hiko after they followed Sakumo inside the small house in the outskirts of Konoha. “Is he the one who…?” He didn’t finish the question, already knowing what his girlfriend would say.

“Yeah. I met him in the park and he was sharp enough to notice my… insecurity. Sakumo just sat down beside me and offered his advice and I was so desperate that I took it.” answered Hiko, just before a whirlwind of black fur and the mass of a little pony passed Sakumo and jumped at the shorty.

Bull, the big mastiff howled loudly before trying to lick Hiko’s face, while she tried fend him off with all she had without hurting the dog. “Get off of me, you fat giant!” she shouted and pushed his maw away from her. But Bull didn’t really care, instead he became even more excited and doubled his efforts to show his affections for the woman, until Kakashi grabbed the collar of the dog and pulled him away. His father watched the play in front of him amusedly, then he scolded the black mastiff thoroughly, who lowered his head in shame, but threw from time to time guilty looks at his master. Meanwhile the younger man went to Hiko and stretched a hand out to her, which she took gratefully and let him help.

“I’m really sorry for Bull.” apologized Sakumo later, when he had locked the dog outside and the three persons had taken place in the winter garden, where they could watch the mastiff running around while sipping from time to time at their coffees. “Usually he isn’t like this.”

“Oh, no need to feel sorry.” Hiko said and waved at the man. “Dogs can be like this, I know that. And I like them for their behavior.”

Sakumo chuckled and nodded. “You’re right. I remember one time, Kakashi was only five years old…”

“Father, no!” Embarrassed Kakashi groaned loud, but couldn’t stop his old man.

“He played with the dogs all day outside and in the evening I wanted to bring my boy into the house, but I couldn’t find him. I yelled countless times and ran through the neighborhood, but no trace of him. Naturally I was terrified and was near to calling the police, but then I had a brain wave and looked into the dog house,” Sakumo pointed with his thumb at a large wooden construction outside, where Hiko would easily fit in, “And there he was: cuddling with Bull as a puppy, the rest of the pack surrounding him and sleeping soundly. I couldn’t bring myself to shout at him afterwards.”

Kakashi hid his half masked face in his hands, but Hiko snickered and grabbed his right with her left hand. “That’s extremely cute.” she stated and laughed even louder when she saw the flush creeping to his ears.

 

(…)

 

Sakumo listened interested to Hikos story about her accident with the coffee machine, his chin propped into the palm.

“… and when I turned around, I swear I haven’t done anything, that machine vomited coffee like the Niagara Falls! Luckily nothing hit me, otherwise I would have needed a skin transplant.” The shorty gestured wildly with her left hand, because her other was still occupied by Kakashi, who couldn’t suppress a smile even when he heard the story before. Alone the picture of a younger Hiko fleeing from the coffee machine and cursing strongly made him chuckle, but her style of telling the tale doubled his amusement.

And his father also seemed to enjoy it, because he broke into a hoarse laughter, what reminded Kakashi of the times of his childhood. Meanwhile, the early afternoon went into a late one and the shadows of the trees outside grew longer. Hiko and Sakumo seemed to get along with each other and he was glad for this, not that he had doubted it. Also the brunette relaxed in the meantime, talking animated with his old man, while stroking in soothing motions the back of his hand.

His father nodded while finishing his cup of coffee. Suddenly the spark of mischief in his eyes vanished, replaced by total seriousness. The shorty also noticed and straitened, her grip around Kakashi’s hand tightening subconsciously.

“I want to be honest,” started the older man, “First I was a little bit worried when Kakashi told me about you. It sounded too good to be true and I nearly expected someone like Hanare.”

At this Hiko’s eyes darkened and a little wrinkle appeared beneath her mouth, showing of her disgust at the mentioning of Kakashi’s ex-wife. Sakumo saw that and chuckled. “I also couldn’t stand her, but I thought it would come out alright in the end. I was wrong about this and my son was hurt too. I believed he would never come out of his shell, but you managed to drag him out. And when I heard he was in love with you, a small part of me doubted your intentions. But now look at you two!” Proudly, he gestured at them and Kakashi couldn’t suppress the wave of happiness that came over him at his father’s words. “You remind me a little bit of my late wife and me, you know?”

 

Slowly a bright smile spread on Hiko’s face and Kakashi knew his father just made her a big compliment in her eyes. “Thank you very much.” she answered, while turning her head until she could look into his black eyes. Love laid in them and affection, two emotions the silver haired cop didn’t expect to see ever again in a person’s eyes. “It means a lot to me.”

“Well, what about your parents? Do they live here or in Sunagakure?”

“Dad…” warned Kakashi, but Hiko squeezed his hand and shook her head when he glanced at her.

“They aren’t alive anymore.” she answered calmly, while pushing her glasses up.

Sakumo’s face reflected his regret. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s nothing to feel sorry about. An accident, a car crash, they happen all the time and no one is at fault.”

“But it’s still sad to lose family.”

“Don’t worry.” said Hiko. “I have a new one.” She slid closer to Kakashi’s seat until their knees touched and smiled at his father, while her other hand joined her right to cup his own. And before she could finish her sentence, Kakashi already knew the brunette had won his old man over, just by being herself and with the help of the small gestures and touches they shared throughout the day. Sakumo broke into a warm smile as she said the next words and that was more than enough for the younger man to know that his father approved fully of Hiko (a feat Hanare never managed).

“I have the best.”

 

(…)

 

“Bye Sakumo!”

“Goodbye Dad.”

“Have a nice ride home!”

Sakumo closed the front door and Hiko slumped in the same second down, only stabilized by Kakashi’s body. He leaned down and kissed her forehead. “See? Nothing to worry about.”

“For once I was lucky in this department.” retorted the female, but gladly accepted the warm hug he offered. For a moment Kakashi relished in the jitterish feeling which overcame him and comfort the small woman gave, then he heard her next words and had to suppress the urge to laugh.

“You can’t surely fit anymore in the dog house, but I’m small enough. Do you think your father would mind if I sleep there?”

Together they set off to Hiko’s car, Kakashi’s arm lying around her shoulder and from time to time his hands played with her hair, while she discussed the pros and cons to sleep in the middle of a pack of dogs.

 

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“I want to try something.”

Startled, Kakashi lowered one of Hiko’s thick fantasy novels (after all even his favorite book could get a bit boring sometimes) and looked up to said brunette, who stood confidently in front of him, her hands resting at her hips. His eyes wandered over the red shirt with wide sleeves he learned to love and briefly over the underlying curves, but with some effort he finally locked eyes with the female.

“What do you want to try?” he asked and instantly regretted it, because a wide grin appeared on her lips, that could only mean two things: on the one hand she could plan something barely legal or on the other it involved something he wouldn’t like at all, like dragging him into an amusement park. Kakashi shuddered at the thought of another round in the suicidal rollercoaster and quickly erased this memory of his brain. Fidgeting on the couch in her flat, he asked himself what she planned today.

So it surprised him even more when he found himself suddenly with a lap full of the brunette, who climbed with a smile on her lips on top of him. Her sweat pants-cladded lower body pressed almost devilish against his and Kakashi quietly recited the common monologue for whenever he arrested someone, so not to ravish Hiko on the spot. Her curved lips were directly in front of him, while she slung her arms around his neck and pulled him closer. Resting her forehead against his, the brunette stared intensely into his eyes.

“I think I’m a little bit more confident now, thanks to your patience with me.” she said and her breath ghosting over his bare face made Kakashi shiver comfortable. Automatically, he laid his arms around her waist and beneath his fingertips her skin seemed to burn when he slipped under the fabric, gently caressing her curved form. Hiko hissed, but it was a breathless sound, definitely not out of fear or dislike. For a moment she closed her eyes, just like she had to concentrate again, and he smirked satisfied when he noticed Hiko was also trembling.

 

“What do you want to try?” Kakashi repeated and watched her nibble on her lower lip. He loved the little motion, the little sign of her arousal. In the last weeks they went further and further, but sometimes the female withdrew suddenly, leaving the male with nothing but the faint afterimage of lips on his own and sometimes a hard-on. Hiko always apologized deeply and Kakashi didn’t mind, but the bill for his water was higher than the last month. And even with all the cold showers he took the man could only take that much.

“I want to try to make-out with you.” Hiko whispered finally. Pleading she looked at him, shyness edged into her features. In response he chuckled lowly and felt her shifting over his lap when he pulled her upper body closer.

“You don’t have to ask for that. I’m more than happy to oblige every naughty thing you want to do with me.” Teasingly Kakashi winked.

Hiko smiled, partly embarrassed, partly mocking. “You’re a full-grown pervert, huh?”

“Damn, and I tried so much to hide it.”

“I should have noticed the moment you pulled out “Icha-Icha-Paradise” in the streets.”

“Now it’s too late, you’re stuck with me.”

“I don’t regret it, my love.” Hiko whispered. Before Kakashi could say another word, her lips crashed into his and began to move. It was clumsy, the way she mouthed him, but after he directed her a little bit, she grew in confidence and skill and soon Kakashi found himself breathless and groaning into Hiko’s lips, totally addicted to the seductive movements of her lips. The shorty didn’t hold back, her chest vibrated from the sweet sounds she produced, from deeps moans to high whimpers while she kissed him.

 

He couldn’t get enough. The male’s hands moved farther under her shirt and touched every bit of soft skin he could access and Hiko pressed harder against his chest with each ministration. Kakashi followed the curve of her spine upwards, trailing the small arc in her back until his fingers reached the barrier of her bra. The brunette whimpered weakly, but didn’t indicate him to stop, so he went again down, in search for delicate spots which would made her even more tremble in his arms.

Suddenly her tongue invaded his mouth and started to trail his own tongue. Kakashi gasped when Hiko massaged his neck with one hand, while the other clawed into his hair and desperately pulled him closer.

It was sweet heaven. The pure bliss of just kissing the woman was unbelievable and Kakashi was sure he couldn’t even try to describe it if someone would press a gun to his head. But he didn’t care. It was right here, right now that counted, the small female in his arms, who moaned and licked, trembled under his touch and did everything to please him. Her hips lifted lightly in the attempt to taste him even more and lowered when he fought back with all the skills he had. Soon Kakashi tasted Hiko and he smiled in the kiss, while her tongue danced with his, always reacting to every move he mustered and pleasuring both of them. Meanwhile his hands wandered over the hot soft skin, but this time downwards, dangerously low to the waistband of her pants. He brushed the last layer of fabric, then decided to risk it all and cupped her butt with both of his hands, squeezing it firmly.

“Aah…” Hiko rasped out when he did that, a breathless sound Kakashi would always remember because of the pure sexiness, all stuffed into one small cry. He growled as an answer and started to massage her ass, in response she put more fire into the wet kiss, almost as desperate as him.

 

It was sloppy, but at the same time extremely addictive. Hiko was a drug for Kakashi, her smell, her touch, her sounds and her taste drove him crazy, he was sure. The eager tug at his hair when he didn’t react fast enough with his tongue flicks, the small pain when she clawed into his shoulder when he gave her buttocks another grip or the warm fragrance of vanilla and raspberries trailing into his nose, mixed with the unforgettable scent of arousal. Kakashi’s head was dizzy and he nearly lost his mind as Hiko withdrew, but groaned loudly when she started to suck on his neck, from time to time nibbling on the sensitive skin. “Hiko…” Kakashi threw his head back, giving her more space.

She chuckled and air ghosted over the wet spot she licked previously. “You like that, do you?”

“Yes. Hell yes, I like it.” The man hissed. His whole body liked the ministrations, especially his member, standing at attention and even fueled by the soft rubs of Hikos hips. Kakashi gritted his teeth, a useless attempt to control himself when he felt the woman in his lap bucking and grinding on his hard-on. Squeezing his eyes shut, he breathed in and stopped the female by releasing her ass and cupping her face. It took the last ounces of self-control to hear her panting deeply, knowing she was just as breathless and aroused as him, but he had to stop, or otherwise he would take the female on this couch. Kakashi licked his lips, tasted her saliva on it and finally opened his eyes again, only to see the maybe best sight he had ever seen.

Hikos lips were puffy and swollen, even glistened lightly from their shared spittle. They were the same delicate shade of red they always had, but for Kakashi it was the most exciting thing right now, knowing it was him who created this. Her cheeks burned under his fingertips and palms, telling him she flushed in the heat of the moment. Her ice blue eyes were darker than usual, dazed with lust and need. A single brown lock dangled into her forehead and desperately the silver haired male concentrated on the little detail.

He breathed in before addressing the female. “Sorry fire fly, but I had to stop. Otherwise this situation would get out of hand.” Begging, he stared into her face and relief washed over him when she gave him a thankful smile.

 

“There’s nothing to forgive, my love. It should be me to thank you, because you restrain yourself for me and keep up with my selfish wishes.”

“When you always thank me like this, I would happily wait another month, maybe even two or three.” Kakashi grumbled.

“I could also start to like this.” Hiko answered right away and leaned in for another, much lighter kiss. It was nothing in comparison to the last, only a sweet brush of her lips on his own with enough pressure to let it count as a kiss, but not enough to be called ‘heated’ or ‘passionate’.

But Kakashi’s heart opened up when he felt it, because it was far more than a kiss.

It was also a promise. A promise he saw in her eyes as Hiko withdrew and in the way she smiled at him, shyly but also proud about herself.

The water bill next month would also be higher than usual, he assumed.  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Miss_Fandoms_Shakespeare, as always it's a pleasure to work with you. :)


	27. This time of the year

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's this special time of the year when Kakashi would prefer to stay inside of his home and tug his blanket over his head: his birthday.

Three months went by. Both Hiko and Kakashi got accustomed to their new state, mainly because not much changed between them, except for the occasional hugs, kisses and make-out-sessions. Kakashi still came over to have dinner, but afterwards they would often snuggle on her couch while watching TV or playing video games (they were evenly matched most times). They still argued sometimes playfully, only to “make up” with passionate exchanges. Hiko still woke the silver haired man up every morning, not by a knock at his door, but silently unlocking it with a spare key he gave her and creeping into his bedroom to steal his blanket and snickering at his sleepy-confused expression.

For Hiko, it got easier every day to be intimate with Kakashi. First she felt intimidated by her own courage, but she explained it with their original state of friends. She always felt secure with him, so why not also in a relationship? But even then there were moments when she had to fight her fears, for example being suddenly reminded of Kabuto in the way the light glistened in Kakashi’s hair. The shorty tried to shrug it off, but mostly he noticed her panic, sat down beside her and pulled her body into a long, caring hug, whispering calming things into her ear. In those moments Hiko’s heart felt like exploding from all this feelings inside her. How was it possible that such a human existed and of all possible women she had the luck to be with him?

 

For Kakashi it was like the discovery of a whole new world. Everytime he compared his present relationship with his marriage, the man couldn’t believe how he ended up with Hanare when someone like Hiko was out there. But, he assumed the failed bond had to happen in order for him to meet his new girlfriend. Hiko was lively and almost bounced around because of her enthusiasm, while Hanare had only small smiles for anything around her. Kakashi remembered how his ex-wife didn’t like to be hugged or snuggle, so it was a huge weight-lifter that the shorty frantically searched out for him, sometimes even at work. He didn’t mind, in fact he also called out to her a few times only to catch her in a dark corner at the department to hug Hiko tightly, feeling the warm little body in his arms and smelling the special scent he adored. And when the innocent hugs sometimes turned into full grown passionate kisses, leaving him and the woman breathless, Kakashi didn’t mind either.

However, one topic grew almost like an abscess inside his mind and wouldn’t let him sleep in peace. The wet dreams or fantasies about Hiko didn’t vanish, instead they increased with the knowledge that she was now his and the more the brunette tried to fight her fears with Kakashi’s full consent and willingness, the more the man had to restrain himself. They hadn’t moved past the state of soft petting and not-so-innocent touches, but lately he almost had to shove her off in order to not push Hiko into having sex with him.  The times Kakashi had to jerk off or take cold showers also increased, accompanied by his perverted subconscious and his own, partly ashamed and partly not-so-ashamed thoughts.

 

She noticed too. One evening, she stopped every movement after Kakashi wrestled her into the cushions of the couch and aggressively kissed her. She looked into his eyes seriously, still lying beneath him, face flushed and lips puffy, one hand resting at his chest. The movement which had ripped him out of his lust induced daze.

“Soon, Kakashi. I’m nearly ready, just… give me enough time. I want it too, but I also don’t want you to push away from me. Soon.” she promised with a husky voice that send shivers down Kakashi’s spine and kissed his neck.

“I know.” he mumbled weakly, suddenly angry at himself for being so eager and controlled by his hormones, “And I want you to feel safe with me. Don’t hurry and mainly don’t allow me to do more than you are willing to give. Okay?”

“Okay.” Hiko chuckled. “But you must promise me to not be overly shocked when I offer myself to you, okay?”

“Okay.” Kakashi repeated. Grunting he propped himself up, that he was again sitting on his couch and pulled the shorty into his arms, the original state of them before he had attacked her out of nowhere.

Like this June, July and August went by, until it was time for the month Kakashi didn’t like, not because of the beginning of fall or the decreasing temperatures, but because of the one day when people he knew insisted on celebrating him and dragging him around: his birthday.

 

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“Good morning my love!” Hiko exclaimed happily and ripped the curtains from Kakashi’s window apart. Bright sunlight fell onto his closed eyes and with an annoyed grunt he turned around, away from the disturbing light and the enthusiastic comments of the brunette.

“Get up, you old man. 30, huh? How does it feel like this, with creaking bones and hear-aid and grey hair… Oh, sorry, you have already grey hair…” Chuckling, the woman tugged at the soft cushions.

“Hikoooo…” Kakashi whined weakly, but couldn’t hinder the woman from stealing his blanket. “No. Please… I need this…” He missed already the warmth, but a delicious smell let him open his eyes and sneak a quick look at a tray, but he couldn’t see anything. A big silver cover, formed like the top of a shell, hid the breakfast from him.

She stepped into his sight, already clothed into normal blue-jeans and her dark blue panda pullover and winked at him. For once Hiko had braided her hair into one single plait and the braid fell over her right shoulder as she leaned over him and kissed him lovingly.

“Happy birthday, my love.” Hiko whispered, her mouth still pressed ton Kakashi’s lips. Another brief peck, then the woman withdrew and nestled at the tray, while he slowly propped his body into a sitting position and scratched his scalp.

“How late is it?” he murmured, “It feels like deep in the night…”

“It’s 7 a.m. not ‘deep in the night’ at all, and it’s the usual time for me to wake you up. I always wonder how you don’t catch a flu in this… attire.”

Kakashi lowered his head and stared sheepishly at his bare chest and the loose boxer shorts he always wore to sleep. Then he raised an eyebrow and managed to muster a little grin. “I sleep like this and will not change it. Besides, you like it or why else would you ogle at my chest?”

 

Flustered Hiko pushed her glasses up. “And? Nothing wrong with admiring the view.”

“Oh, ‘admiring the view’?” the silver haired man asked amused and laughed hoarsely when she pinched weakly at his knee. “I didn’t know you had such tendencies…”

“Shut up, you perv. Like you are an innocent citizen. Don’t you think I noticed how you look at me sometimes, like you want to strip off all my clothes? Now eat.”

“Maa, can’t blame me. You are just too gorgeous.” With this Kakashi dug in and quickly devoured the scrambled eggs, bacon and the coffee, from time to time blinking at Hiko, who had rolled her eyes, but blushed at the compliment. He found it strangely cute how she was still able to feel flustered over the smallest things and used every chance to compliment her. The woman sat down at his side and stretched her legs out, all the while gently smiling at him. She seemed a little bit absent minded, the slender fingers cradled into the hems of her pullover and leaning her head against wall occasionally.

“A penny for your thoughts.” Kakashi said and leaned against the head of his bed, the mug filled with coffee in his hand as he sipped on the drink. Suddenly, she leaned over and snuggled into the crook of his arm, her hand tenderly caressing his stomach. He nearly coughed out of surprise at the ministrations, but suppressed the fit in time.

“I… just can’t believe how much has changed.” Hiko murmured and her warm breath ghosted over his naked skin. “Six months ago I was content with my life. I had friends, a nice job, my own flat. But now… I’m more than content now, because of you.”

Her fingers trailed the flexing muscles and Kakashi breathed in when the warm fingers dipped lower, dangerous low to the waistband of his boxer shorts. Deft fingertips brushed shortly over the band holding the cloth in position, stroking, _painfully arousing_ and for one moment Kakashi thought Hiko dared to tug at the fabric, like the teasing wasn’t enough with the slight difference in temperature of their skin and her curious touches. Even his hand holding the black cup shuddered, but thank god he had drank enough coffee not to spill anything.

 

Obvious to his strain, Hiko continued to rub the pale skin in excruciating, slow circles. “I’m happy. Simply happy. And I want to give something back, because you are the one who makes me happy.”

Pleading, she looked up to him, her blue eyes slightly widened and her hand luckily moving into safer areas again.

“You don’t have to give me anything.” Kakashi said, placed his mug at the nightstand and catched her wandering hand in his own. Instantly, the shorty relaxed against his torso and closed her eyes, while the man chuckled lowly and placed a kiss at her forehead. “You are more than enough for me.”

“Really? Maybe you have changed your mind after today…”

“Why should I?”

“Maybe I have informed everyone at the department that today is your birthday…? And maybe, only maybe the whole main office decided to celebrate it, with cakes and presents and all that stuff…?”

Kakashi sighed deeply. Hiko sat up and tried to pacify her way out.

“It was before you told me you didn’t like all the fuss around you and I tried to stop them, but Gai was so hyped up and already began to plan everything and Obito also was so into it that I couldn’t bring myself to intervene! I’m so sorry Kakashi, really!”

“Well, I guess it can’t be helped.” he grumbled. “It’s only for a day, right? But don’t expect me to eat any cake, you know I don’t like sweets.”

“I know. Sorry my love.”

 

The silver haired cop suddenly pulled the female closer, directly into his arms and nestled his face into the tamed brown locks. Breathing the scent of vanilla and raspberries in, Kakashi closed his eyes and savored the feeling of Hiko laying near him. “You are forgiven.” he whispered into her hair and felt how she moved in response to his words.

For a while they were silent, just listening to each others sounds of breathing and the faint rustling of trees on the outside. Then Hiko slowly loosened the grip around Kakashi’s waist and winked playfully at him.

“Now get up you lazy ass or we will be late for work and you will miss the lovely party the main office wants to throw for you!”

“On my way, already on my way.” With a lazy yawn he climbed out of his bed and watched with amusement his girlfriend hastily collecting the tray, before she speed out of his bedroom. While Kakashi clothed himself into jeans and a blue t-shirt, his thoughts wandered off into the past, once more comparing his marriage to his relationship.

‘Hanare didn’t really care about birthdays or celebrations. She was the type of practical woman who wished you the best for the upcoming year and then acted like everything was said. She knew about my dislike of celebrating my birthday, so she didn’t celebrate it. Simple and effective.’

_‘Hiko seems like the type of person who wants to let enjoy me the day, no matter what the others have planned for me. Along with the breakfast in bed… I could get accustomed to this.’_

‘First I have to survive the party in the main office…’

Only when they exited Kakashi’s flat and walked hand in hand to Hiko’s car, the cop thought about the absence of any presents from her side. He didn’t care about gifts, but the shorty surely would purchase something for a friend, especially for her boyfriend. So it was strange she didn’t jump with a wrapped package into his bedroom and threw it into his arms.  But when he asked her about this, she smirked confidently.

“In fact I have many small presents for you and one big gift. The small ones you will receive all throughout the day, but the big one has to wait until evening. Can you wait until then?”

For a moment he thought he noticed a spark of insecurity in her eyes, but then she turned to the street in front of the car, while Kakashi was left in slight confusion. Could she planning…? Maybe, after three months… No. A bit agitated by his perverted mind, he shook his head. There was no way _that_ would happen, right?

 

When they entered the atrium of the KPD, Hiko almost dragging Kakashi with her, it was dead silent. No sound came from the surrounding hallways, even the secretaries were working diligently and kept their heads low when the couple passed by. Suspicion rose in him, but he had no time to react or think at all about the unusual and somehow unnerving silence. Hiko stopped one moment and smiled one last time at him apologetically, then she kicked the heavy door open.

The first thing Kakashi saw was a bunch of people crowding around his desk. All of them had turned their backs to him, so they didn’t immediately realize he had arrived. But then, to his shame, Gai spun around, in his bright green really tight jeans and shirt and alerted all the other officers with a loud scream.

“YOSH! My eternal rival! How youthful to see you at your day of birth!”

Kurenai elbowed the loud officer lightly. “Stop making such a ruckus. Now remember what we talked about!”

Gais happy grin fell down, until he almost looked ashamed onto the ground. “No screaming today.” he mumbled, but then he recovered and made his typical thumbs-up. “I swear on my pride as a police officer, I will not scream today, because it’s a special occasion and I will not ruin it!”

Rolling her eyes, the woman huffed and crossed her arms, all while the other officers, meaning Obito and Sasuke, Asuma, Naruto, Izumo and Kotetsu, Kiba and Tenten made a pathway for Kakashi to finally look at his desk.

 

A big banner with the words “Happy birthday” was tied around the edges. Someone (and the silver haired man had a hunch) went even a step further and decorated his workplace with lots of green bows in the most impossible places, glued to the PC, the lamp standing on the wooden board, even the small mug with pencils wasn’t safe. In the middle of the organized chaos sat a chocolate cake, which made Kakashi’s stomach do a barrel roll. 30 candles were placed on it, some of them only barely standing in the cramped spot and all of them were lit.

           ‘A miracle my desk isn’t burning yet… The day may come, I guess.’

And the gifts. Various colorful packages, all of them small enough to be seen as a present from a co-worker were sprawled over the top. Some of them looked like an untalented human being with shovels as hands had wrapped the contents in a hurry and lots of duct tape was used; only two had the feminine touch and big bows on them, the others were almost normal.

Hiko squeezed reassuring his hand. “Move.” she whispered into his ear, standing on her toes and leaning against his shoulder. The shorty was nevertheless still not tall enough to speak directly into his ear, Kakashi had to lean down to her to catch her silent command.

“Yeah…” With a cough he straightened and nodded at his colleagues. “Thank you ver-!”

“One, two, three!” shouted Obito and shut him up. Then he opened his mouth and together with the rest of the main office he sang Kakashi a rather crooked ‘ _Happy birthday_ ’, Gai trying to lower his voice as much as he could and Sasuke with a rather uncomfortable expression on his face, while his blonde friend happily chanted the known lines.

 

Suddenly he had to swallow a lump in his throat. How long had it been since Kakashi had a birthday song sung for him? Years, for various reasons. One, his natural high defenses, pre-scaring people off, second the self-chosen isolation he put himself into after the time in the SFU, where birthday only meant ‘one year closer to retirement’. To listen to it again, with his girlfriend by his side and a friend in the middle of co-workers, was maybe too much for him. The brunette seemed to sense his predicament. While Obito and his choir ended the song with a high note, Hiko slung one arm around Kakashi’s narrow waist and leaned her temple in the crook of his arm. Without a word he responded and circled Hiko’s shoulders.

“Thank you very much.” Kakashi finally managed to say, leaning into the small form for her support, “for all this. I definitely didn’t expect such a welcome today.”

“Kakashi-sensei! You have to open the presents first!” Naruto shouted with a big grin on his face and almost throwing a package wrapped in bright orange into the older man’s arms. “This is mine!” the blonde stated obviously.

“Thank you Naruto.” he mumbled, the fingers clenched around the roughly wrapped gift. It was rather thin, probably a book or a magazine or…

Hiko groaned annoyed as Kakashi ripped the orange layers apart. “Great. Now he will read this book all day. God, I had _plans_.” She pointed furious at the boy, who scratched at his cheek warily. “How did you even get this!? It’s not even published yet!”

“My godfather is the author and when he heard that Kakashi-sensei is a fan, he nearly pressured me in giving it to him…”

 

Meanwhile, the silver haired cop stared at the dark green cover of “Icha-Icha-Tactics”, his most anticipated book of the upcoming year. And Hiko was right, the release date was set in a few months! He even had took part in some contests to win a signed version of the book, but here he was: holding the next installment of his favorite novel in his hands already and it was even especially signed for him! “ _For Kakashi Hatake, my loyal fan…_ ” he mouthed weakly, reading the messy message at the first page, just below the title.

Naruto waved in front of Kakashi’s face, who was stuck in a daze. “Sorry Kobayashi-san, I think I broke him…” Putting a puppy-like front up, the blonde guy looked with big eyes at the angry female, who stood with crossed arms and her right foot tapping on the ground beside her boyfriend. “It wasn’t my intention, I swear!”

“I don’t know right now who deserves my wrath more: you or this lazy-ass!” she hissed sharply, what made the boy shrink a few centimeters. Seeing the fear in Naruto’s and the joy in Kakashi’s, Hiko sighed deeply and dropped her fierce front. “Well, because Kakashi is hypnotized currently, I will thank you. I believe he likes it.” she added dryly.

She elbowed the silver haired man, who was awoken out of his daze and grinned wildly underneath his flu mask at Naruto. “Yeah, thanks. I appreciate it deeply.”

Bewildered and without another word, the blonde stepped back into the crowd. All of the present officers couldn’t suppress a low snicker when they watched the aloof cop nearly cooing to the thin booklet, while the small brunette huffed and in the end claimed the book, not caring about the weak protest coming from the ex-SFU-member.

 

They spent two hours celebrating his birthday and Kakashi for once didn’t mind all the fuss that was made about him. Instead, he almost felt at ease around all those people, but didn’t show it to them. But he was sure Hiko noticed, and in the way she briefly touched his hand from time to time, the woman assured him about his hunch. It felt nice.

When it came to cut the cake, Kakashi was more than willing to excuse himself from the round and give his piece to another member of the office which would be in this case Izumo, who had devoured his own in a hurry and eyed his partner Kotetsu more than envious, who relished every bite of the fat glossy chocolate. Dragging Hiko with him, Kakashi walked into the small stall with the coffee machine and ignored the suspicious glances she threw at the monstrous machine.

Yes, he didn’t mind the fuss, but that didn’t mean he liked the crowd of people around him. He was more of a lone wolf and would prefer the proximity of dear friends (only in the time with Obito, Kisame and Itachi he found out though) over his nice, but nevertheless unfamiliar acquaintances.

Hiko’s eyes were shining brightly behind her glasses when Kakashi pulled her to his chest. “Do you like it?”

He nodded only while pressing his nose almost desperately into her brown hair. No matter how often he did it, it was still great to embrace Hiko like this, intimate but loving. She returned the gesture by rubbing his back in big slow circles, like she wanted to calm down a crying child. In the process the female mumbled soft things into his chest; little meaningless sweet things he couldn’t understand, but the movements of her lips against his clothed chest and the pure act of soothing Kakashi like this let him sigh in bliss.

 

Only after a minute, filled with desperate clinging to each other and the whispers of the brunette, Kakashi had collected himself enough to be sure not to be overly emotional in front of his colleagues and loosened the grip around her shoulders, however still embraced the female. Her bright ice blue eyes blinked up to him and little rebellious chocolate brown strands had freed themselves from the braid and rimmed gently Hiko’s face. Their lower bodies were still flushed together, their legs so close that he could feel the warmth radiating from the small woman.

“Okay now?” Hiko whispered and fiddled with the fabric of his shirt in his back, kneading the t-shirt and trailing the muscles underneath. Kakashi didn’t know what he liked more: the unsecure but also cute blush on her cheeks, coloring the lightly tanned skin in an adorable light pink, or the small crease between her eyebrows, born out of worry and care about him.

“Yes. More than that.” he whispered back, just as quiet as her. “I just can’t believe they would do this for me.”

“They think highly of you. Didn’t you notice? Especially the young ones admire you somehow, despite your unhealthy addiction to nearly-porn. Sasuke answers you like a decent human being and not like a degenerated caveman and Naruto listens to you. Even Kiba and Tenten would follow your instructions after seeing how diligently you do your work. Kakashi, they noticed that you are with heart and soul a police officer and like the things you do and that makes them want to approach you. Also the older ones like Asuma and Gai notice and appreciate your determination. That’s why.” Hiko chuckled. Still with a beautiful smile on her lips she touched Kakashi’s nose and tapped the tip three times. “You’re far more approachable than you believe. Because you are you.”

 

“Because I am… I?” Kakashi asked warily back and tilted his head to the side. The shorty placed a quick peck at his masked lips before answering with a teasing wink. “Yeah. And because in their eyes you tamed the infamous harpy of the KPD. Since we are together, I haven’t done anything harpy-like to them.”

“What a shame. It was funny to watch Izumo and Kotetsu cling to each other in fear whenever I mentioned your name. Now they merely react to it with a shrug.”

“Really?” Hiko’s eyes squinted lightly. “Then let me fix this. Just a few new additions to their PCs and they will learn to bow before me again.”

Kakashi laughed hoarsely. “You are fantastic, you know that? How did someone like me deserve you?”

“Maybe you did something really, _really_ evil in your former life. So… bad karma?”

“I don’t think so.” the silver haired man murmured, yanked his mask down and pressed his lips hungrily on Hiko’s. It was short, passionate and unbelievable satisfying when the woman opened her mouth and let him enter, welcoming him just as heated as he attacked her slick muscle. When they parted, Kakashi rested his forehead against hers and stared into her vivid blue eyes. “I don’t think so at all.”

Hiko licked her lips and unconsciously Kakashi had to stare at them, in his mind forming delicious forbidden and sinful pictures involving this plump tender flesh. It was hard without losing their contact, but he managed it somehow.

“Maa, you lazy-ass…” the female grumbled and pouted, “I wanted to compliment you all day, not the other way around. It was one part of my gift.”

Lazily the man raised an eyebrow. “ _You_ want to compliment _me_? Sure about that?”

“Yes. For once I wanted to give you the same warm fuzzy feeling I have whenever you say nice things to me. I had the thought I should do it from time to time…” She blushed now, even her ears became red.

“Now I’m even surer about you being fantastic. Which woman would gift her love with the enlightenment of him being approachable for his colleagues?”

“A woman with some serious brain damage.”

“You’re talking about yourself, you know that.”

“And that’s the reason why. I know how much of a crazy person I am.”

 

Kakashi snickered and let Hiko place the flu mask in its rightful place. Carefully she tugged at the rough fabric until it was hiding his features to her content, then the brunette stepped back and tried to exit the small stall, but the silver haired cop grabbed her wrist in time for one last thing.

“Fire fly, you don’t need to compliment me. Being with you was just as wonderful for me as for you for the last months and I wouldn’t change a thing right now.”

Her eyes glimmered in a mocking light. “Even the unintentional celibacy?”

“Even that, you can believe me or not.” Kakashi said. “When you decide to try it, I will be probably the happiest men on earth…”

“Don’t exaggerate.”

“Probably the happiest men on earth, because that means you trust me enough. I will wait until then, until you decide to trust me.”

Abruptly Hiko growled lowly at him. He inwardly melted at the vibrations running through her whole form and transferring to his in the process. “Goddammit, Kakashi! It’s your birthday, can’t you just leave your sweet talk aside and accept simply a gift from me? I want to embarrass you, not the other way around!”

“Then go on, try me.” he mocked with a playful wink at the woman. It would be amusing to listen to Hikos surely hard and clumsy compliments. But what he heard let Kakashi’s breath go faster and his heart accelerate.

“Fine.” hissed the shorty and crossed her arms. “You are handsome to the point of me dreaming about you, with or without your mask, it doesn’t matter. I love your smell, musky and reminding me of lemons and I especially love it when you shower and you hug me then, because the scent becomes stronger afterwards. I love your way of calling my name, from the very first moment you did. ‘Like a piece of dark chocolate at the morning of Christmas’, I believe I described it when you said my name after we brought the “Icha-Icha-Paradise” for me. Your kisses leave me dizzy, making my head spin and my heart nearly jumping out of my ribcage. I love your dry humor, your childish side whenever we play games, how you’re serious when you’re at work, the way your eyes crease when you smile, laugh or chuckle, the gentleness and warmth you provide me with. There are far more things I want to say to you, but they won’t come to my mind right now, but be sure that I will throw them at you whenever I will remember them again.”

 

Hiko’s voice trailed lower with each word, the sharp tone from the start faded into a tender, loving level and send Kakashi’s mind spinning with each revelation about the depths of her feelings. She never looked so vulnerable before, so weak and fragile, like the briefest touch could shatter her whole body. But the man also knew everything she said was true, because Hiko wasn’t someone to tell flippant things. His chest was suddenly tight and he had trouble to breath properly, but it felt good, because those feelings were born out of the realization how much Hiko loved him. So he just cupped her face and gave her a gentle kiss on the lips, which she returned immediately. Through his mask Kakashi felt the eager movements of her lips and the faint wetness of saliva when Hiko synchronized with his mouthing, their tongues trying desperately despite the barrier between them to meet and entwine. With a groan he pulled back and was met with an angry glare from the shorty, but he regained the ability to speak faster than her.

“God, Hiko… You can’t believe how much I loved to hear this. It’s your win, totally.” Kakashi rasped.

“Good.” Chuckling the woman stepped backwards, until the man couldn’t hold onto her anymore and exited the office finally. “I will going to work now. Please, finish your own punctually today, we meet up with Itachi, Kisame, Obito and Rin this evening.”

“Anything for you.” he murmured after her back, but she only waved at him. However Kakashi had to chuckle, because he saw the red tips of her ears peeking through the wild brown locks.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, Miss_Fandoms_Shakespeare, thank you very much for proofreading. God knows how the chapters would look like otherwise. :)


	28. This part of your life

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The circle of friends mets up in a high-class restaurant and Hiko uses the time wisely to think about her life.

“A toast to our birthday-boy!” shouted Obito and raised his glass with sake. The blue skinned giant, the icy Uchiha, the brunette nurse and Hiko also lifted their glasses and winked wickedly at the silver haired cop, who hid his upper face behind his hands. “To our birthday-boy!” they yelled and gulped their drinks down (Hiko had naturally nothing alcoholic, instead she drank a delicious mix of orange and citrus juice).

The shorty had reserved a table in a notable sushi restaurant midtown for the whole crew, a private room where they could celebrate Kakashi’s birthday properly. Kisame’s shop was one of the suppliers of the restaurant, so they gave the group a discount and Hiko was grateful for that because the luxurious meals and drinks were extremely expensive.

The separated room was decorated in dark wood colors and creamy white, with typical Japanese styled walls and paintings. The low table was big enough for all of them, so they loosely grouped around the furniture and sat down at the soft pillows, the couples beside each other, and had ordered  something to drink first of all. Small talk was made before the waiter provided them with their beverages, then the loud raven decided to declare a toast for Kakashi.

Hiko savored every little reaction she got today from her silver haired boyfriend. It was his special day after all. To her entertainment he bore every new congregation with the stoic façade of someone walking his last way to a guillotine, but in his eyes the shorty could see that Kakashi was happy and stunned at the same time.

‘It’s only one of the many things I want to do for you. You’re a wonderful person and you should believe in your ability to draw other people in. You just need someone who opens your eyes to the world around you and I want to be that person. Because you want to help me too…’

That was her reason for making compliments to Kakashi all day, referring to his outward appearance, to his personality, even small things like how she liked the way of the sun glistening in his hair. Also she added ministrations, gentle and loving, holding hands, nudging the man into his ribs, hugging him and kissing his cheeks and lips whenever she had time and they weren’t seen by the other officers. All in all, the shorty became constantly cuddly and her goal was met whenever Kakashi’s expression softened as she dropped another compliment or reached out for his hand. Like she promised, she spread “small presents” all over the Friday, building a foundation for the big present she wanted to give to him tonight. Nibbling on her lower lip, the woman watched her friends interacting with each other and chuckled, as she saw that Kisame waved eagerly with his big hands around, nearly striking Obito with them.

 

The two other pairs each had one gift for Kakashi and Hiko noticed that her boyfriend eyed the packages warily, not sure what he should suspect from them. The things he got from his colleagues were mainly for work (a new mug, handcuffs, practical little things for every situation), but these were their friends. Even the brunette couldn’t quite assume what her brothers had gotten her love and so she was just as tensed as the man beside her. Obito had the habit to hit the nerve of the person with his presents, while Itachi could counter that jumpiness with really great ideas. Out of their bunch, only Kisame was just as normal in that regard as Hiko.

But when they gave Kakashi their presents, she quickly relaxed.

First was Obito, who had one arm draped around Rin’s waist. He stretched the nicely wrapped package out (Hiko had the hunch the woman was the responsible one for the outward appearance) and couldn’t suppress an annoyed huff at the suspicious look from Kakashi. “It’s not like this morning, alright? It was a gag gift, a _gag gift_!”

The cop cocked his head. “A gag gift? Why do you count a dog chew bone as a gag gift?”

“Because you looked almost like a lost dog when Hiko was ill two weeks ago. Strolling around the whole department and clinging to your cell phone, only to happily wag your tail whenever she texted you.” stated Obito with a sly grin and gave Rin a gentle nudge.

Kakashi growled lowly, what made the others chuckle in amusement. “That just proved his theory.” murmured Hiko while rubbing the silver haired man’s right arm. “But I love you because of that.”

“And I love you.” he murmured back and leaned down for a quick peck at her forehead, which left her once more with the special tingling emotion running amok in her whole body. Then Kakashi went to rip the green wraps apart from the quadric object, to reveal a leather bound book. As he opened it with some hesitation, the eyes were squinted like he expected a jack-out-of-the-box. Then they widened in surprise, seeing the image of their first meeting in Itachi’s and Kisame’s garden at the first page. Hiko looked curious over his shoulder and chuckled when he turned to the next page.

Two pictures, obviously taken by Obito. Memories of their summer as friends awoke in Hiko, filled with laughter, warm days and growing feelings. She pointed lightly at one of them, where Kakashi looked shocked into the camera. He had hid himself in the pillow fortress they had built and read his infamous orange book, so Hiko had sent Obito forward to take a picture. “Look! You seem like a little squirrel in there! The big wide eyes, the stuffed cheeks… Is that banana bread in your other hand?”

“Maa,” grunted Kakashi and scratched sharply the back of his head, “it is… Maybe.”

The shorty leaned closer. “It is! Aaw, you look so sweet and cute in it!”

“I’m not sweet. Never was.”

“I’m sure you were a really sweet child and also a sometimes-sweet adult.”

“Hiko…”

“Yes?”

Serious Kakashi stared into her face, his eyebrows creased and slight irritation swaying in his voice. “I’m not sweet nor cute.” The way how he said it, with the utmost determination of a man being attacked in his male pride, made Hiko bite into her lower lip to suppress a laughter. Just in this moment he was acting so damn cute that she wanted to pinch his covered cheeks so hard, but Kakashi would catch her hands before the female could even get near her goal. So she settled for an understanding and reassuring nod, slightly undermined by the weak snickers around the table and her own trembling shoulders.

 

The silver haired man settled for an irritated glare at every snickering person, including the inwardly loud laughing woman beside him, but didn’t jolt away when she leaned trusting into the crook of his arm and browsed through the album.

“Thank you very much.” Kakashi said to Obito, who had his face hidden in Rin’s neck. “I will treasure it.”

“You better. I also left some space for possible pictures at the last few pages. Maybe you want to try your skill?”

“Maybe.” he stated calmly while going to the indeed empty pages at the end of the book. Hiko watched his previously tensed jaw relax and even slightly lift when Kakashi smiled at the sight of the space he could fill. It seemed like Kakashi’s mood lightened up thinking about the pictures he could take. Unnoticed by him, Hiko nodded shortly at her loud brother, who returned the gesture with a thumbs-up and a playfully wink.

Itachi sipped at his cold sake while holding hands with Kisame. “Finally I can get Hiko back for all the times she mocked us for being lovey-dovey.” His blue-skinned boyfriend nodded with a pained-amused expression.  “But I like seeing our sister like this.”

She rolled her eyes and pushed her glasses up. “Fine, get me back. I believe I deserve it. But let my cute dog here,” at this she poked Kakashi’s side, “enjoy his birthday in peace. Okay?”

Kisame chuckled lowly. “I will never forget your permission to tease you, Hi-chan.”

“Don’t overreact sharky.”

The giant winced at the evil grin from the shorty and decided it would be the best for him and his health when he just started to order the dinner for everyone. Meanwhile Itachi shook his head, but smiled as he looked out of the corner of his eye at his intimidated boyfriend and Obito and Rin hid their chuckle behind their hands.

Hiko watched them with satisfaction. Over the last months everything changed for her and it was true she was also content with her life beforehand, but now every day was a new discovery for the female. First Rin, bringing finally Obito some needed happiness. Hiko never saw her loud brother happier than before, laying in the arms of the gentle nurse and acting so sweet that a whole ton of cotton candy was nothing in comparison to them. It was only a matter of time he would kneel before the brunette woman and present her a big fat ring, the famous question on his lips and an asking sparkle in his coal eyes. And Hiko wouldn’t be surprised if Rin would instantly say “Yes” and kiss the living daylights out of Obito.

 

Second, Itachi and Kisame. They were nearing their fourth anniversary of their relationship and were never happier than before, now that the last singles of their friends were also happy and enjoying the luck of being in love. And Hiko also noticed a different glint in Kisame’s eyes, a small spark of insecurity and the nervous nestling on his filled pant pocket, where a small bulge could be seen.

‘Does he plan to propose today? And then in the middle of the meal or afterwards? Or maybe he will lose his courage on the road… Maybe I have to talk with him again.’

And finally, Kakashi. In her stomach Hiko felt the same warm bubbly feeling like always when she watched him, turning pages in his photo album, amazed, but over time a huge spark of longing and arousal had also built. She had needs; needs she had suppressed far too long and she wanted to take the next step. The next step with and for Kakashi. The brunette’s mind fogged at the dreams and fantasies she created, delicious pictures Hiko had to lock away until the night, partly guilty and partly looking forward to the day she would be able do all those things without shying away. And today would be the day, the female reassured herself. It was perfect. Nearly three months they were together now and Hiko never felt safer as in his arms.

‘I want this, but I believe not like the other things normal couples do, this will take a while. We moved fine with kisses and making-out, but sex is a whole different dimension. But… I want. I want. With him.’

Unconsciously she snuggled closer to him, relishing the touch of his rock hard body beside hers. The brunette didn’t even notice that she lowly hummed when the familiar scent, consisting of lemons and something she couldn’t pinpoint, flooded her nostrils and made her smile lightly.

“Hiko? Everything okay?” asked Kakashi worried and finally closed the album with a soft clap. “Why are you humming?”

“What?” Obito decided it would be the perfect moment to emerge from his love-filled bubble. “She’s humming? Oh my gosh, that’s unbelievable cute!”

“Maybe Hiko-san suffers from after effects from her flu?” remarked Rin, playing weakly with Obito’s big hands. “It’s not uncommon that sometimes a flu has some aftermaths.”

Kisame and Itachi turned to Hiko, who felt her cheeks warming up. “Nothing.” The brunette retorted harshly and straightened, feeling a little bit disappointed because she had to leave Kakashi’s arms. Only months and she was nearly addicted to his embrace! “Only a frog in my throat.” To prove her weak lie, she coughed a few times and peeked over the rims of her glasses at the people around her.

To her luck, the waiters entered the room before her brothers or her lover could make any comment on her sudden coughing fit or the strange behavior earlier and inwardly sweatdropping Hiko turned to her meal, a plate filled with fantastic looking sushi.

           ‘That was too close.’

 

She felt Kakashi’s eyes quickly scanning her whole figure and wiggled under his stare, knowing her motions would cause the man to look away. And she was right; immediately he spun around and picked the expensive looking chopsticks up. An almost inaudible gulp accompanied his actions, telling Hiko everything she needed to know. Relief washed over her, sweet-bitter relief that he still wanted her, so desperate that only an innocent shift in her gravity could cause Kakashi’s mind to go wild. Gnawing on her lower lip, the shorty mirrored his sharp movements and picked up her chopsticks, bringing them together like a crab a few times, before deciding for a shrimp-roll.

Like this the meal went by. From time to time Hiko elbowed Kakashi and he elbowed lightly back, sometimes with a low rumble vibrating in his chest only she heard. Obito was feed by Rin and had an idiotic grin on his face, just like his girlfriend, but hers was gentler and made her look even more approachable. Kisame and Itachi sat silent and ate their own food (Kisame avoiding by any possible means the shark-rolls, even when there was no real shark used), but underneath the table their hands were still joined together, slowly caressing the other skin with tender touches.

Hiko had to suppress a sudden laughter. Here she was, in a high-class restaurant, by her side her caring boyfriend, and around the table her family. She wished she could go back in time and tell her 16-year old self that times wouldn’t stay like they were, lonely and without someone to speak to. She would hug the little wallflower she was and tell her about the things that would await her. The painful things, but also the happy times following them, like sunshine always followed the storm.

Hiko felt a short tug at her lips, creating the smallest of all possible smiles. It wasn’t like her to be so overly emotional, but since Kakashi stepped into her life, she also gradually changed, step by step until her shell broke. Now the brunette didn’t even muster any actual strength to pull jokes on her colleagues, no, she smiled more honestly and talked casually with them. Only a few days ago she had a civil conversation with Kurenai, not just a few careless words thrown at each other and a short nod. Also her bonds to the other members of the main office got tighter, not like friends, but more like the sort of acquaintance Hiko found in Suigetsu. Friendly co-workers, who could exchange some nice words and even joke around, not like before, where she kept them at bay with her harpy-fits, scaring all of them with her unpredictable behavior.

 

Her smile grew wider while nibbling on another roll. Suddenly a warm big hand was wrapped around her small one resting on her thigh. Confused she looked upwards and her eyes followed automatically the line of the strong forearm, up to the muscular upper part, cladded into the ocean blue fabric, to the strong line of the neck and finally laid on the face of Kakashi, the lower part covered by his usual flu mask, which he only lifted to take a bite. His eyelids were creased in a warm smile, invisible for the world around them, but Hiko saw it as clearly like the mask wasn’t present. The scar over his left eye wrinkled slightly, what made the expression only more appealing to the brunette.

Kakashi leaned closer, not enough to make a real difference, but _just_ enough to show his concern for her. “Thank you.” he whispered, so weak nobody else was able to hear it.

She returned his smile without thinking and caressed with her thumb the back of his hand. “For what?”

“For making my birthday to the best I had in a long time.”

“That was my plan all along.”

The eyes curled even more and little, almost not noticeable wrinkles appeared around the edges, the first signs of Kakashi’s age. Hiko wanted to reach out and touch those small creases, trail them with every ounce of tenderness she possessed, but she also knew it had to wait. So she shortly rested her forehead against the broad shoulder. “Kakashi?”

The silver haired cop didn’t react right away. First he let also his eyes trail over her body, like she did just now. His stare was almost the same as his fingers, caressing her hips with the same gentleness he used to caress every spot on the woman’s body whenever they were close to each other. Shivering Hiko waited, until the coal eyes shifted from her relaxed crossed legs to her pullover covered stomach, to her breasts, filling out the clothing and stretching the fabric, to the first bit of tanned skin at her neck.

Then their gazes locked and the shorty breathed hastily in when she saw the intensity in Kakashi. Automatically she gulped and watched again the reaction to her actions. It was almost nothing, only a little twitch of his right eyebrow. Others would call it unconscious, nothing more than a muscle moving, but for the brunette his feelings nearly screamed at her.

He mirrored her. The same happiness, the same sadness, the same confusion about the changes in his life, the same insecurity about their future, but also the same hope and sheer luck, born out of the last few weeks. Hiko couldn’t help herself and gave in to the urge to grin and stuck her tongue out.

 

“We can do it.” she murmured and watched how his eyes followed her lips movements, more reading her than listening, so weak was her voice. “We fight our fears together. Remember?”

A nod, not more than a little lowering of his eyelids and chin, was everything. But the shorty had to blink behind her glasses hectically to fight the sudden tears, because at the same time Kakashi’s grip around her hand tightened. It was a silent way to convert his feelings, just like him. Hiko mouthed “ _Stubborn mule._ ” and winked, before getting back to her food, but she heard the low chuckle beside her and her heart nearly ached from the jumps it did at the sound.  

‘God… How much can I fall? When will I hit the ground, splattering all my insides over the cold hard floor called ‘reality’? Will I pass the point of no return or did it just fly by, unreadable because of the high speed? How many times will I question myself until this will end or will it end at all? Will you bear with me until we are old and wrinkled, or will you get tired of me next month and move on? I know you would look disapproving at me if you knew my thoughts, but I can’t help thinking like this. I’m sorry for doubting you, but those imaginations are my scars… My _other_ scars that I haven’t erased yet. Or never can.’

Another squeeze from Kakashi. Just like he had felt Hiko’s inner turmoil, he assured her with a single move of his hand that everything would be alright, silent like their previous conversation and unnoticed by the other two couples.

Suddenly he leaned over. His masked lips brushed briefly over hers, before he mumbled something into her ear, his warm breath ghosting over the skin like a little breeze.

“Stubborn just like you.” The low hoarse words crawled like little spiders over the sensitive buds and Hiko had to stop herself from moaning at the sensual contact. It was only his breath, dammit! Nevertheless goose bumps appeared all over her arms, surfacing only because of the special vibrato in Kakashi’s voice, causing her to shiver lightly.

How did she live without this? Without the bitter fear, without the sweet hope, without the constant nagging voices inside her heart, telling her one day ‘What if, what if…’ and the next screeching in joy at a simple action from her love.

The ones not in love don’t know about the delicious dark emotions dwelling inside a person. Hiko compared them to really expensive dark chocolate, melting on her tongue as soon as it came in contact and leaving a slight disgusting dryness in her throat, but at the same time a strange crave for more of the treat.

Hiko shook her head while chuckling, laughing about the poetic comparisons her crazy mind came up with. She never excelled in writing stories, so why she was like this, an emo-teen with black painted hair and piercings, scribbling some nonsense rhymes down? The female already knew the answer, before her wildly running thoughts even finished their path.

 

Kakashi. This goddamn lazy-ass, quietly nibbling on a tuna and from time to time throwing in a comment to the debate going on at their table.

‘Today makes me a wreck. Because of the decision I made? Maybe. Great changes come up with great emotions, or something like that? But he promised to fight them with me and I trust him. As a friend, as my boyfriend.

I want to fight my fears with him.’

“I also believe that the second-in-command is quite often absent.” stated Itachi just now and swallowed his sushi-roll. “But Ebisu-san is a compassionate police-officer, capable of fighting of the flies in Nagato-san’s back. Someone like this the chief needs and it’s not my task to judge someone for working at home.”

Obito pouted visibly. “But most of the time he’s like a creep! Just look at him, with his sunglasses and the way he pushes them up, then the files always under his arms and sneaking through the corridors. He is just too… strange!”

“Itachi is right.” Hiko settled the chopsticks back on the plate and grabbed her glass. Lazily swirling the juice, she set her eyes on her brothers. “Even if Ebisu-san is the king of the creeps, we have no right to judge him. He does his work, he works diligently and is a help for Nagato-san. This is everything I need to know.”

Kakashi nodded. “I only met him once at the interview for my reappointment, he seemed like a reliable officer to me. A bit hasty and quick with his judging, but foremost loyal to the KPD.”

“So I have all of you against me? Rin-chan~!” Whining the loud Uchiha flight into the arms of his girlfriend. “They are bullying me! All of them!”

But the brunette smiled at his attics. “You know, maybe you should try to detect some good points in your superior. It’s surely not like he is a criminal, right?”

“Right…”

“And maybe you find enough similarities to make him a new friend, huh?”

“No, by any possible means, no!”

 

Hiko laughed loudly at the scared face of her brother and pointed at him. “You’re such a scaredy-cat! Ebisu-san is really nice, he wasn’t even mad at me when I accidently stumbled into him once and made him drop all his files. And Nagato-san trusts him, so I trust him too.”

“Oh?” Kakashi nestled at his flu mask and repositioned it to his liking. “Should I worry?”

“Surely. The next time I see Ebisu-san I will jump in immediately and drag him into a dark corner to do _things_ with him.”

“ _Things_?” asked the silver haired man amused.

Hiko nodded with a smirk. “ _Things._ ” Unspeakable things.”

Obito slapped his hands over his ears and started to sing loudly. “Lalala, I don’t want to listen to this, because it is nasty as fuck~!”

“You big kiddo, just concentrate on finishing your food. I heard the desserts here are also top-class.” teased Hiko and watched Obito suddenly straighten up and finishing his left-over food at an almost terrifying speed.

While Itachi ordered dangos and Kisame presented with a big gesture their present to Kakashi, Hiko placed her elbow at the table, rested her chin into the palm and simply closed her eyes, only listening to the sounds around her.

           ‘The sounds of a happy life. My life.’

 

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Kakashi still rumbled about the present from Kisame and Itachi when they entered Hiko’s flat.

“Can you believe it?” Proudly he raised the package once more and the female rolled her eyes as she heard the nosy tone in his words. “How did they manage to get their hands on the drafts of the never-released “Icha-Icha”-manga?”

“Itachi knows a lot of people and Kisame makes them want what he wants. It’s just as simple. I’m only asking myself how many people they had to bribe.”

Abruptly the man stopped every moment, what looked quite funny, his one arm balancing the two presents out, the other fiddling with the sleeve of his jacket and his right foot stomping into the heel of his left to get out of his shoes. “Bribe?” he winced and Hiko quickly snatched the packages away before he would let them drop, “No! Not bribing! They would never do something like this! …Right?”

“Sure, sure.” She waved vaguely at him, knowing Kakashi would start to whine a little bit, like a little child who was teased by his parent. And she was right.

“Fire fly… They wouldn’t use bribe as an application to get rare gifts, right?”

“My gosh, Kakashi,” Hiko placed carefully the presents at her table in front of the couch, spun around and looked with a bit of mischief at the man, “one of them is a police officer despite only working for the IT and Kisame would never risk going into prison for a gift. It was a joke and if I knew you would take it this bad, I wouldn’t have mentioned it.”

A relieved sigh came from him as he slumped down a bit. “Good. For a second I worried about feeling guilty while reading.”

“Really? Not worrying about the ones being bribed, but about your feelings while reading? You’re far more wretched and perverted than I thought.”

 

“But I’m your pervert.” stated Kakashi. That simple statement let Hiko gasp in surprise, because she didn’t expect it. Like always, he managed to shock her with his bluntness, which not only showed with her, but also with his colleagues while pointing out a mistake or simply speaking the truth. Her pervert. Hers. Like he was the one laying his life into her hands, not the other way around. Tears threatened to came to life, but the woman suppressed the sudden urge, because tears would hinder her original goal and she didn’t want that.

“That’s right.” the female rasped, “You’re… my pervert.”

A silence occurred, not uncomfortable or awkward. No, this state they left long behind. Instead they only looked at each other, like they did a few hours ago in the restaurant and even at the KPD department. Only by observing the body of the other Hiko understood how much Kakashi loved her right now and the unbelievable patience he had. With a light smile the brunette stepped toward him. “Now I want to give you my present.” she said. “But you have to close your eyes first. I want it to be a surprise.”

The man had the nerve to shrug. “If you want that…” Obeying to her order, Kakashi closed his intense onyx eyes and Hiko brushed past him, not without gently touching his mask covered cheek. Like this she left him in her living room, the arms crossed over his chest and not seeing anything, while the brunette hastily loosened her braid and fiddled with the single entangling strands, speeding into her bedroom and getting into something more appropriate for seducing her boyfriend.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Miss_Fandoms_Shakespeare, you can't imagine how thankful I am that someone is reading over my chapters before I post them. So thanks ^-^


	29. Things

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The first time of Hiko and Kakashi.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> According to the comments, the long-awaited lemon-chapter. If someone isn't comfortable reading this, just skip to the next, there will be... less lemon.  
> Only less.

Worried, Kakashi tilted his head, all the while keeping his eyelids shut. But his sensitive ears caught the silent curses Hiko spit nevertheless, nearly covered by the sounds of clothes shuffling and eager steps on the floor.

‘What is she doing in there? Did she forget to wrap it? Maa, she knows that I don’t care about a beautiful or elegant package. The insides are what counts.’

He received two diamonds today: once “Icha-Icha-Tactics” and the gift from Kisame and Itachi, the manga rip-off that was never published. Biting on his lower lip, he thought about the introduction text on the outside of the former, already imagining himself running into his apartment and plopping down on his sofa to read it. And the short peak he managed to get inside the book as soon as Hiko had left the main office was promising great things.

‘I really want to know what the secret of the main protagonist is! And the female lead seems to have also a past on her own, which could make things difficult between them. And Jirayia moved on from his old storylines and tried to convert some new ideas. I can’t wait to read it, I want to read it now, I want to read it…’

Kakashi hummed in approval. Sure, the teacher-student-scenery was also outdated, but it still had the special sound of forbidden romance that would definitely draw in the loyal Icha-Icha-fandom. And not that he minded some juicy action, especially if it was his favorite author writing it. Unconsciously he tapped with his fingers on the upper part of his arm, only noticing the light shift in the air as Hiko returned to the living room. This time her steps were faint, almost shy, nothing compared to her usual loud walk.

The scent of vanilla and raspberries trailed to his nose and the man took a deep breath. The whole day repeated in his mind, all the compliments he received from the shorty and the casual way she uttered them, all the little gestures of care; taking his hand, hugging openly and kisses shared wherever she could. Kakashi crooked his head to the other side. There was something up. Hiko planned it and he didn’t know if he would like it.

“You can open your eyes now.”

Even her voice was weak and he hastily obliged, partly scared of what he would see and partly excited of what he was about to see.

A few seconds Kakashi could only stare at Hiko, who nibbled on her lower lip and blushed under his intense stare. “What?” she asked finally and crossed defensively her arms under her chest. “Is something wrong with this?” Vaguely, the female gestured over her clothes and the man shook his head sharply, still dazed by the unbelievable sight that his mind couldn’t process properly.

 

It wasn’t like Hiko changed into a sexy night gown, showing off much of her skin and wearing a seductive smile on her face. The female only freed her brown locks from the rigorous braid, now falling in light waves down, and got out of her favorite pullover. Beneath she wore a simple black top, not low-cut at all, but for him it was enough to break into a sweat, because Hiko also tied a big fluffy bow around her body. The tie was directly lying above her cleavage and Kakashi had trouble to keep his eyes away from that sight.

            ‘Must not look… Must not look… I can’t believe this is happening…’

“Kakashi?” asked the shorty with a hint of nervousness in her voice. “Is everything alright?”

“Mhmm.”

She stepped warily closer and reached out to him and unconsciously he took her offered hand and yanked her with a determined tug into his waiting arms. Quickly, Kakashi embraced the brunette, squeezing his eyes shut and trying to control his happy member from jumping at the unexpected “present”.

He felt Hiko in his arms moving, positioning her head over his chest. “I want to try it.” she murmured embarrassed and snuggled closer, “I want to try to sleep with you. This is my present for you and also a little bit for me.”

“You don’t have to…”

“But I want to.” Looking up to him, Hiko cupped his cheek and gently stroked over the rough material of his mask. “I’ve known you for several months, my love. I know that you are patient enough to wait, I know that you are willing to place my well-being over your needs and I know that you stop yourself from wanting more from me. I feel safe with you. And you promised to not be overly shocked when I wanted to try.” she teased.

“I’m not shocked.” Kakashi stated. “I just can’t believe that this is happening. I’m happy and excited and overjoyed, because you trust me. And I don’t want to destroy this trust in me by doing something that probably scares you.”

“Can’t promise not to be scared. But I want to, Kakashi. Truth to be told, it’s not only ‘wanting’.” snickered the female. Suddenly she yanked his mask down and clashed her lips into his, instantly slipping her tongue into his mouth and dancing around. First the silver haired man was surprised, but then he reacted to the slick muscle and kissed back, his right hand staying at the well-rounded hip, the left gripping into her neck and pressing the woman against him, drawing her as close as possible. A moan vibrated through Hiko as Kakashi nibbled on her mouth and smirking inwardly he continued his little play, until she separated herself with a soft huff. He noticed the light darkening of her blue eyes and the daze he put her in, but the cop was also affected by the sudden attack. Something in his stomach and lower regions fluttered, like the little wings of a hummingbird and his heartbeat accelerated noticeably under the kiss.

 

“It’s not only ‘want’.” repeated the brunette breathless while staring into his eyes. Kakashi shuddered when Hiko got on her tiptoes and leaned closer, that her mouth was nearer to his ear. “It’s also ‘need’. Lately I had these… dreams about you and me, you know?” Hiko blushed wildly, but continued with the same vigor and courage she always showed, even when she sometimes stumbled over a few syllables. “It wasn’t easy f-for me, knowing I c-couldn’t do this yet, but at the s-same time dreaming about you and… doing things.”

Kakashi chuckled. Lifting an eyebrow, his hands started to caress Hiko’s soft skin while watching the brunette squirming a bit under the ministrations.

“Things?” he asked and added some gentle pressure to his fingertips, massaging her left flank. His thumb slid over the warm skin, closer and closer to the bows of her ribs and trailing the single bone when he found it. Gasping her head fell back, like a puppeteer cut of the strings holding his puppet and revealed the flesh of Hiko’s neck, and fascinated the man noticed the clenching and unclenching of her jaw before she answered.

“Yes. The same things you probably dream about. My pervert.” she breathlessly added, the bow lifting to the rhythm of her deep breaths. Slowly her skull lifted again into its original position, revealing the red cheeks and the needy (Kakashi couldn’t describe it otherwise) gaze.

Sensually her hands started to trail over his body, exploring the muscles he built over the years and through rigorous training, rubbing from time to time an especially sensitive spot, for example the little valleys above his collarbones, earning Hiko little hitches in Kakashi’s usual calm breath.

“Am I right, my love?” she innocently asked, while drawing her index finger over his adam’s apple. “Did you dream about me?”

“More than I should.” the man admitted and shivered as her fingers dipped lower to the neckline of his shirt, “Even before we got together.”

“Oh? Since when then?”

“Remember the day you hit me with the door?”

Hiko gasped. “No way! Was that the reason why you were so grumpy?”

Sharply Kakashi nodded and finally found the strength to catch her curious hand in his. “I didn’t want to admit that I was attracted to you, more than a friend should be to a friend. But that little hurdle didn’t stop my mind from imagining you in more lewd ways.” It wasn’t too hard to tell the shorty this, in fact Kakashi felt like someone lifted a weight off his soul, tiny and insignificant, but nevertheless there. And the way how she pressed his hand reassuring made it even easier to spill some more things. “It was only the start back then. It became almost a daily –maa, nightly- occurrence that you came to my dreams, hunting me with a smile, a kiss, a…”

“A night full of guilty pleasure?”

“Exactly.” Kakashi brushed one knuckle over her cheek, seeing no sign of rejection or disgust in Hiko’s clear eyes. “The evening of the summer festival… Our unlucky encounter… Maybe I should call it now ‘lucky’. It was unbearable, seeing you in those pants. And- What?”

The brunette suddenly gripped almost painfully into his blue shirt, the digits scraping lightly the skin underneath. The little stings of pain jolted the silver haired man, while she blushed until the shorty resembled a tomato.

 

“I be-believe I c-can imagine w-where this i-is going.” she stuttered. Then Hiko nibbled on her lower lip, took a quick peek into Kakashi’s face and breathed in to steady herself. “I also did it…”

It took him a bit until he put together what exactly Hiko meant. But when the coin dropped, the man couldn’t hold back his urges anymore. Like a caveman growling he swooped the shorty off her feet and kissed her senseless, all the while placing his arms at her back and under the knees to bring her into the bedroom. Eagerly he went to give her numerous pecks, in between rasping few words he wanted her to hear.

“Can’t believe.” A kiss at her lips. “That you have.” Another one. “Pleasured.” Kakashi purred and smiled in the next kiss. “Yourself because.” Their tongues met in a very passionate way and the man couldn’t suppress a satisfied deep groan when he felt the woman in his arms responding to the passion. “Of me.”

Gently, in total difference to his inner turmoil of lust, arousal and love, he placed Hiko on the bed and simply watched her for a moment, allowed his mind to recognize all those little details he locked away all those weeks in order not to ravish the female on the spot.

            ‘Thank god there’s still some light outside.’

The faint sunlight, washing away and letting the darkness of the night spread, illuminated the delicate features of the shorty. High cheekbones, giving the face a light heart-shaped structure, underlining the big ice blue eyes perfectly. The plump lips, still wet and glistening from their shared saliva, almost glimmering in this special shade of red Kakashi now automatically connected with her, knowing it was no lipstick coloring the sensitive flesh. Chocolate brown locks dangling around the whole face, while the thick rimmed black glasses hid all those details from a random stranger, but after months spending with Hiko, Kakashi mostly ignored them (except they were painfully clenched between their bodies in a hug, then he remembered them in an instant).

He grew closer to her. The brunette sat at the edge of the bed, her legs barely reaching the ground and he decided it would be the best to talk about some things first before they would get to the main act. So Kakashi leaned down, placed his hands on each side of her legs and looked containing his hormones into her eyes, while also trying to relieve some of the pain his half hard erection caused.

For a split second he was distracted by Hiko’s long eyelashes, but then he focused. “How do you want to do it?”

 

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“How do you want to do it?”

At this question, two things happened in Hiko. First, the fear and nervousness she suppressed the whole time broke out of their isolation and decided on a rampage inside her mind. Second, she felt the arousal building up, already staining her panties with the overflowing love juices her center produced at the hoarse words.

“I-I… Uhm…” the woman managed to utter, but her boyfriend stopped her with a gesture.

“Sorry. I’m sure I’m overthrowing you with such a question, but I believe it would be for the better if we get some things done before…” Kakashi nodded lightly at the bed. “Is there anything you totally dislike; something I should avoid by any means?”

“Uhm…” Hiko’s tongue was heavy like never before, her thoughts were snails crawling desperately around in a pitiful slow tempo. What were her dislikes? No one ever asked her such a thing, not Kabuto, who just did what he liked and where she cooperated, and surely not the short lived man who didn’t even try to comprehend her situation or trauma. And here she was, in her face the most handsome man she would ever know and he asked her with such care and gentleness that she nearly broke into tears.

            ‘Concentrate for once. Breathe in and breathe out. Repeat.’

Hiko licked her lips before answering. “I don’t like being tied down… I think. Also fisting would be…”

“Don’t worry, I’m not into such extreme ways.” answered Kakashi with light humor in his voice and a little lift of her mouth answered him. “Anything else?”

“I-I don’t know if biting is okay, I mean weak biting, not cannibalism or something like that…”

“We can try that out if you want.”

“I already said tying up wouldn’t be good, right?”

“Yes, you did.”

“Then…” Hundreds of possibilities came to her mind, but where hesitation and even slight fear reigned before was now occupied by curiosity. Curiosity how the techniques Kabuto showed her would feel with Kakashi, how the silver haired man would touch her, please her… Hiko’s tongue was dry and her face beet red as she continued to spin those pictures further. Weakly she nodded while her fingers were entangled, twitching under the tension inside her. “More won’t come to my mind right now. Sorry.”

“No need to feel sorry.” assured the man and chuckled lowly. “Maybe it’s better if we talk about things you like?”

If it was possible, Hiko’s face grew even hotter, nearly burning and she was sure her features had the familiar look of a tomato. “M-m-m-my likes?” Her voice squeaked at the last word.

“Your likes.” he repeated, accompanied by a nod. Kakashi’s silver hair fell slightly into his eyes, then he brushed it with a lazy gesture away, his gaze always focused on the shorty. “I want to know how to make you feel good with me. Because I like to see a woman wither beneath me in pleasure, her whole body trembling under my touch while I slowly drive her crazy.”

 

With each word his face came closer, until he was only mere centimeters away. Hiko gulped at the wave of scent crashing into her, the familiar fragrance of Kakashi, only today with a new note. Arousal.

“I like you?” Helpless she smiled and shrugged. He gave her an irritated and also amused look, what made her huff. “I had never such a conversation in my whole life. Let me just think a bit more…”

“Maybe I can help you with that.”

Before Hiko comprehended the mischievous words, she already gasped out loud. Kakashi growled lowly and continued to nibble on her neck, working slowly his way down to her collarbone and dipping with his tongue into the little curve. The sucks and licks soon turned into little love bites, red spots littering over her sensitive skin and making her tremble in need. Nothing new, he loved to attack her neck when they were making out. However, the realization and prospect of what they were going to do made the simple action into a whole storm of little flashes running over her sensitive skin. Weakly she whimpered as the man’s tongue trailed her neck muscles again upwards. “Kakashi…”

“Do you like that?” The warm air ghosted over the wet spur and teasingly Kakashi blew again out as she bucked lightly.

“Yes. Much…” Even for her own ears Hiko sounded too raspy and desperate. But she couldn’t help it. It was this man, sexy and delicious and at the same time so careful and caring. A small tug at her breasts called her attention.

With big eyes she watched Kakashi loosening the fabric, the pale long fingers tugging until the bow gave in and fluttered to the ground, revealing the first of the silver bite marks at her breasts. He paused at the unexpected sight and tilted his head, surely eyeing the first scars closely.

Hiko squeezed her eyes shut. She wasn’t perfect, even before those marks littered her body. For her height she was too curvy, some people would even go as far and call her chubby, even when there was only little fat around her belly. Her thighs and arms were undefined, far from slender and the unnecessary fat wouldn’t vanish no matter how many judo lessons she took. Over the time and the many, many make-out-sessions they indulged to, the brunette learned the male wasn’t repelled by her softness. Even the exact opposite, he apparently loved to grip into her behind and roam over her thighs, growling lowly like a dog while he did so. But this was a moment she feared; one of the many she feared actually, the second Kakashi was able to spot the visible bites all over her. The signs of her torture and nightmare.

So she was even more surprised when she felt his lips pressing on one of the little hills. And in the same second she had to chuckle, because his silver hair tickled her neck and mouth. “K-Kakashi!”

“What?”

“What are you doing?”

He looked up, his lips curled into a sly grin. “Worshipping your body.” was his only answer before his hands reached to the rims of her top and pulled it up, revealing her stomach, the bra and the whole sight of the landscape of scars. Hiko only raised her arms to make it easier to get out of the cloth and didn’t even try to cover her assets. Nevertheless her fingers clawed harder down into the mattress, born out of the anxiety and fear he would reject her body suddenly. But Kakashi had to see. To see what happened to her, because it was now his right as a person in her life.

 

Silently the silver haired cop stared at the marks. She knew what he saw, more than once she stepped in front of a mirror and looked at the half-moons edged into her skin, glistening faintly in the right light. Under his intense look a few of the marks started to itch lightly and Hiko fidgeted around, nervous and giddy and also strangely hopeful.

“And?” the brunette asked. “What do you think? Is it a body worthy of your worshipping?” She couldn’t stop a hint of bitterness tainting the words. But he surprised her once more, like always.

Kakashi pressed one more kiss at another scar, dipped lower and repeated his action. Littering her upper body with little pecks he reassured Hiko without a word. And gladly she accepted the caresses and the heat that came along, moaning weakly when his hands suddenly cradled her still clothed thighs.

“The scars mean nothing to me.” Kakashi murmured. He kneeled between her spread legs, his head for once at a lower level as her own and looked up to Hiko, who pushed hastily her glasses up. “In fact…” the cop tugged his own t-shirt over his head and threw it next to Hiko’s black top into a corner, “I have a few on my own.”

“Kakashi!” Aghast she stared at his bare upper body. She had seen it before, but had been distracted by the sheer power and attraction radiating from the white skin. Now nothing dazed her look and she was able to see all the little marks; typical for a successful longtime SFU member. There were many, small ones and large ones, some were round like the wound was caused by a gunshot, some were more like slashes. But no scar was from a life threatening injury, that much Hiko could see. At the realization a gigantic wave of thankful relief crashed into her. “So many…” she whispered and touched one silver line with her fingertips. Trailing it, she also trailed the rib lying underneath. The knife must've been repelled by the bone and only broke the skin.

“Nearly one for every mission I did at my times in the special forces.” Kakashi remarked and smiled sadly at the unbelieving expression he got. “I worked well with my team, despite not being friends with them, but I always took the most dangerous parts of a job. Storming into a building in the front line? Sure, let me do it. Working undercover in a gang which had the habit to fight among themselves? Where I can sign up? I didn’t really think about the danger I got myself into. I was young and careless, but later I couldn’t get out of this tradition and in the meantime, my teammates grew accustomed to my suicidal preferences. They didn’t know me otherwise and neither did I. But it’s over now.”

“I hope so.” Hiko growled. Following her instincts, she leaned forward and kissed the scar she touched before, in an imitation to Kakashi. But she went further and also licked the slightly rougher hill possessively. The reaction was a suppressed sound, a mixture between a pained gasp and a hiss. Getting up again, the shorty grabbed both sides of the stubborn head and forced the silver haired man to look at her. “If you do anything like this when I’m present, I swear, no one will stop me from killing you before you get yourself killed.”

 

Kakashi chuckled and slipped closer. His calloused hands slid over the skin at her hips, dangerous close to the waistband of her pants, but Hiko didn’t mind. What counted was the body contact he created with getting closer, their chests now pressing against each other. Together they breathed and it was assuring to feel his naked pale skin on her own. Automatically Hiko’s arms circled around his shoulders, while his dragged her hips to the very edge of the bed. “Don’t worry.” The low rumble of his voice vibrated through both bodies. “I now have someone who I can go back to.”

 At this moment the female had enough. The thin thread of her patience was worn out by now, ripped apart by the many little gestures Kakashi gifted her with. Every kiss, every ministration had taken a toll on her, every sweet word made her wanting more from him. With a low growl, resembling more the sound of a dog than a human, she crashed her lips into his and started immediately to devour him. Feverishly she sucked on his mouth and huffed in victory as he opened up and let her invade.

Hiko was drunk. Her head spun around when their tongues met and she felt dizzy, but also her heart fluttered around like a tiny bird, searching for a crack in her ribcage to get free. She didn’t know how they ended up suddenly flat on her bed, she arching into Kakashi’s hungry touches and he pressing against her curves, but it didn’t matter right now. All she heard were the groans coming from her love, all she felt were the hands trailing tenderly over her skin. Everywhere he touched, the flesh felt like it was set on fire. Burning heat raced through her body, following the spur of the fingertips and making Hiko giddy and jitterish.

“Kakashi…” she moaned into his mouth and felt a low rumble travelling through his chest. “Please… I… I need…”

Under her own fingers the back muscles flexed as she trailed them with curiosity. He was so powerful and could overthrow her in a matter of seconds right now, with her body feeling like it was completely made out of jelly. But he didn’t, instead he also trembled under her touch when she caressed his shoulder blades and the bones beneath the pale skin.

Panting heavily, Kakashi withdrew a bit, but only to dip lower and nibble on Hiko’s breasts, which were still cladded into the black lacy bra. Through the thick fabric he licked her nipples and the female had no other choice but to cry weakly as she felt it. Perking up she bucked helplessly into his mouth, not knowing where all those feelings came from.

“I assume you like that too?” His husky voice was muffled, but the dark eyes were fixated on her flushed face. Intensely, he looked at her while she nodded hectically, her brown hair flowing with the harsh movements.

“Yes.” the shorty murmured. “I like it. Because it’s you… who does this.” Suddenly full of courage, Hiko fiddled with her underwear and squirmed desperately to open the hook on her back, but then Kakashi did it for her. She shuddered as his arms slid around and when his fingers made short work of the bra, in her mind little chibi clones of herself fainted consecutive when the cool air brushed against her hardened nubs.

 

“My pants too.” Hiko said clearly and wiggled with her hips. In the process her lower body pressed even more at his groin and Kakashi hissed at the pressure.

“Do you know what you are doing to me?” he growled suddenly and the low sound sent comfortable goose bumps down her spine. “God, Hiko. I want to see the lust in your eyes when I touch you,” his hand reached out to her glasses she still wore and threw them unerringly at the top of her nightstand, “I want to hear your pleads for me, I want to feel your body against mine. I’ve needed you for weeks. If you go on like this, attacking me with… your words and actions and movements,” the brunette chose this moment to scrape lightly his shoulders with her fingernails and chuckled when Kakashi tensed, “I will take you. I will devour you and you don’t know if you like it.”

With a sigh she rolled her eyes. “Have you listened to me? I told you that I’ve also needed you for weeks, not since yesterday. I thought it through and I’m sure. I’m sure about this, about us. And if my mind decides to be a little cockblocker-!”

“You had to say that, huh?”

“Yeah. But that’s not the point. Kakashi, I love you dearly. I can’t think about any other man who would bear so much for me, who would control himself for so long just because he wants to let me feel safe with him. I was never good with words, so I want to show you how much I trust you. I love you.” she repeated, putting every ounce of her emotions into the sentence. Gently she tugged at the waistband of his jeans until her fingertips touched the edge of the boxer short underneath.

An evil thought came to the woman’s mind. Smiling wickedly, she scrapped over the big tent in his pants. And again when Kakashi suddenly froze on the spot, this time savoring every little twitch she felt coming from the erection, which was obviously enjoying the ministrations.

“Hiko…”

“Yes?” Innocently she looked up, but a mob of silver hair blocked her view on his face. Another palm and pressure she put on the half hard member and Hiko’s grin grew wilder as the man arched into her hand with a low grunt, nothing more than a too loud exhale in the silent room. That was all the warning she got.

Suddenly he grabbed the band of her jeans and yanked them down, together with the matching black panties. Faster than she could process it, Kakashi had undressed her completely and just when he stripped out of his own pants and shorts, the female squeaked embarrassed. “How…?” She wanted to ask how could he be so quick, but the man gave her a hot, burning look and shut her up, dazed by the obvious lust in his coal eyes.

“That’s it.” Like a flash he climbed again on her bed and spread, not without his usual care and tenderness, her thighs. His fingers massaged the soft flesh, drew little circles in between and slipped finally to her clit. “Did you imagine it like this, Hiko?”

“Aah!” The shorty cried out when she felt two fingers stroking the sensitive nub and arched her back, her hands helpless clawing into the sheets. But for Kakashi it wasn’t enough. With index and middle finger he stroked her clit and dipped into her fold, collected some juices and smeared them all over her hot center.

“Moan for me.” he demanded and pinched in the same second the flesh. “Let me hear how much you like it.”

“Ka-Kakashi! Yes~… More, please give me more!”

“You want more?” She heard the sly tone in his voice, but was too confused by all the heat raging in her to really comprehend what was going on.

 

Then he pushed slowly his index and middle finger into her wet cavern and Hiko couldn’t suppress the little scream that rippled the whole time in her chest. Finally the pitiful sound tore from her lips, only to be followed by incoherent blabber and breathless moans, when Kakashi curled his digits inside her and inspected like this her trembling walls. “You’re so needy.” he purred and chuckled as Hiko pushed her hips into his direction, taking the fingers until the knuckles into her fold. “If I had known earlier, I probably had thrown you into the sofa and ravished you on the spot. The sweet sighs you utter… I dreamt about this countless times, hearing those sounds from you, only for me and my actions. You are the best present I have ever gotten.”

“Kakashi!” With tears in her eyes, Hiko’s lower body moved hastily, imitating the act itself and letting the fingers slipping in and out, while she clung to the cushions like her life depended on it. It was a wonder the fabric didn’t tear yet, but maybe it was just a matter of time.

“Yes, my little fire fly?”

“P-Please, I need you inside me! I want you, please my love, I need you!” Begging Hiko squirmed and threw her head back, bucking her hips one more time, before the digits vanished and Kakashi’s mouth came in contact with hers. In an instant he invaded her, his tongue faintly tasting of the meal they had, but mostly it was his unmistakable taste, which the brunette loved and cherished. She felt the low groan as he pressed his chest against her cleavage and automatically, like she did it a thousand times before, her legs wrapped themselves around his narrow waist, just like her arms were slung around his neck. Ruffling through the surprisingly soft silver hair, the shorty experienced the most exciting kiss she ever shared with Kakashi: full of need, love and desperate longing, their bodies so close she could feel every vibration and twitch of his muscles. And he must experience the same, if the unconscious thrusts of his hips were an indicator, rubbing his erection everytime over her clit. The little friction drove Hiko crazy, and out of her dazed mind she also rocked her center against him, earning little huffs and stifles from the man clinging to her.

When they separated, both opened their eyes and looked at each other, too deep in their shared lust to back down now. Fascinated Hiko kissed the dark pimple at his face and gave the spot a small lick, while Kakashi grunted and trembled, barely restraining himself. “Hiko. I also need you.” he admitted hoarsely.

“Then take me now!” she cried into his face and gasped when she felt the tip of his member at her entrance.

“Sure?” Rolling his hips the man teased her, withdrawing whenever she wanted to take him in and meeting her again when she didn’t expect it.

“Yes.” Hiko hissed and nearly cried when Kakashi leaned down and gave her right nipple a good strong suck. “D-do it. I think I’m r-ready.”

 

But she couldn’t help herself as to hold her breath when he pushed a little bit forward. Suddenly all her fears surfaced again, taunting her with the many times she was like this because of another man with grey hair, one who wore glasses just like her and also whispered sweet words before raping and torturing her mind and body.

“It’s alright.” Kakashi’s face was near enough to be crystal clear and Hiko saw the worry and care edged into his features, all the while feeling his trembling body flushed against her own. He was again restraining himself in the same second he felt the tension in her, thinking even now about the female when he was about to enter her fold.

            ‘He isn’t like Kabuto. It’s Kakashi. And I trust him.’

“It’s me.” he murmured, like he could read her thoughts. “It’s just me.”

Slowly Hiko nodded, breathed in and thought about all the times with the cop. The times where they laughed, the times they played games, the times they hugged as friends. Then the happy love filled weeks, stuffed with the realization someone loved her and the sweet little gestures Kakashi provided her with. Things like holding hands, little pecks through his mask and long caring hugs, relishing in his warmth came to her mind, also the gazes they shared and the slow progress they made. Replaying the memories, Hiko’s lower body relaxed again and also her fears calmed down enough for her to smile at Kakashi.

“I’m fine now. Please,” she blushed heavily and hid her face in the crook of his arm, “e-e-enter m-me.”

A soft glimmer shined in his eyes as he captured her lips with his. But unlike all the other times they kissed, Kakashi left his eyes open and watched her, telling her through his actions that she had also to look at him the whole time. So she kept them wide open and saw him up to close. The sweatdrops on his forehead, not created by the heat inside the room, but inside his body. The little crease between his eyebrows, giving away he was just as nervous as her (she didn’t know the reason though).

Distracted by the most intense and intimate kiss ever, she didn’t tense up when Kakashi carefully entered, only as half of his shaft was in she noticed the growing pressure. Hiko gasped surprised as she was filled, but he didn’t let her close up again. Groaning her love used his skillful tongue to his advantage, making her moan and panting into the kiss. But even then the woman kept her eyes up, her gaze locked with his, all the while his hips pushed forward.

 

Kakashi was the first one to close his eyes. Hiko still watched him as he separated from her, watched how his closed lids fluttered in ecstasy, the twitch of his lips when he nibbled unconsciously on them and the way his hair dangled sweaty into his forehead. Only then she noticed the comfortable and even arousing tightness and arched into the delicious friction, inviting the man further in. Finally Kakashi was fully sheeted and both of them were panting at the heat born out of their contact.

Hiko whimpered as he started to move backwards, out of her and clawed into his shoulders. Her heels digged into his lower back and hindered him from getting away from her. Truth was the shorty didn’t want him to leave her just now. The closeness between them, the bond that was formed through their intimate connection, she didn’t want to break it yet. A low chuckle catched her attention. As she opened her eyes again, Kakashi shook teasingly his head. “You know how it goes, right?” he murmured in a mocking tone.

Hiko nodded hastily. “But it feels good.” Shyly she hid behind some long brown tresses and listened to the soft breathing sounds of the man. “I… I don’t want to…”

“I know. I somehow also feel this way. But…” He pulled back a bit and Hiko couldn’t suppress a high groan when the friction got unbearable. “It gets even more exciting to await the next meeting, right? To feverishly accept the short moment of separation, only to receive the next blissful movement with more anticipation than before.” With each word he put more distance between them, only to thrust suddenly forward at the end of his monologue. The shorty clung to the broad shoulders and nuzzled her face into the crook of Kakashi’s neck, gasping at the heat swirling inside her. She was sure her grip hurt him, but he didn’t say anything. The brunette had even the distinct hunch he liked it, the long scratches and the stings of pain she inflicted on his back, because he shivered whenever she did it, caused by his slow and torturing thrusts.

It was a devilish heaven Kakashi opened up for her. Each motion from him left Hiko breathless and with more lust and need than before, only to grind eagerly against his hips awaiting the next action from him. After some minutes were they only rocked slowly their bodies for- and backwards, the shorty couldn’t take it anymore. Begging and unshed tears standing in her eyes, she kissed his muscular long neck, only to bite into the flesh when he reacted with an unexpected push. “Faster.” she demanded with vigor and the silver haired man obliged happily.

 

Soon both hastily thrusted their hips together, in search for the peak of their love making. Hiko sweated much, but tried to get even closer to Kakashi and let him feel what she couldn’t say to him. Rolling her lower body, she answered every of his strong movements with the same power he gave her.

“Hiko…” They hadn’t broken the silence, too enthralled by the wordless communication, but the cop uttered her name so desperate and pleading, totally lost in his emotions, like she was the one in charge and driving him crazy that the female let go of the stifled gasp in her throat and gave every ounce a meaning. “My love…” Slamming suddenly into her, Kakashi answered her call and she could only helpless cling to him, while he rocked her body to the sweet oblivion she longed for.

“Nghnnn!” Hiko gritted her teeth as the delicious friction even increased, something she didn’t expect, because it already felt marvelous. Unconsciously her inner muscles clamped down on the dick of Kakashi and squeezed it tightly, which made him cry out. “God! You’re so tight!” he hissed into her ear, a sharp sound which made her toes curl in excitement. Experimentally she tried it again and was rewarded with another breathless gasp from the usual composed man and smirked when he clashed their lips together, obviously trying to stifle his own embarrassing mutterings.

Like this she learned what Kakashi liked and used every new detail to her advantage and he fell willingly into her trap, but not without dragging the shorty down with him, his arms cradled around the small body while moving in her.

The brunette felt the climax rolling coming closer, like a massive wave crashing into the nearing shore. And also her love could feel it; his rhythm broke and became erratic, all the while whimpers, moans and tender whispers resounded through the bedroom. The blankets laid forgotten on the ground, tossed aside by the passionate exchange. Whining Hiko forgot everything and loosened her legs around the narrow waist, changing like this the angle and pushing herself over the edge with a single little action.

“Kakashi!” she yelled out and threw her head back. Heat exploded inside her loins; for a split second her mind became black by the sheer force of the orgasm. “My god!” Mewling like a cat she squirmed hectically, too dazed to notice that Kakashi was also as close as her to the climax and only needed a gentle shove to fall too.

What was provided by her almost violent twitches.

With a deep groan the man came and buried his face in the crook of her neck. She felt the warm liquid splashing into her cervix and almost instantly some of it dropped out of her into the white sheets. Then he slumped down, his strength and power washed away by the mind-blazing orgasm and nearly crushed the shorty beneath him with his weight. However she liked the pressure on her and only smiled weakly as he mumbled an apology, Kakashi’s sweat stained forehead resting on hers.

 

For a while both relished in the satisfying numbness of the aftermath. Entwined, entangled and so tightly pressed together not even a ray of sunlight would be able to get between their sweat stained bodies. His chest heaved against hers, but slowly Kakashi’s accelerated breathing calmed down and as the brunette felt how an inaudible murmur ghosted over her face, she sighed out in bliss. Laying like this could become her new favorite way of spending her Friday evenings, or all other evenings, she really didn’t care. Then Hiko had a sudden brain wave and chuckled, which grew fastly into a loud laughter. Bewildered Kakashi opened lazily one eye and looked down into her wrenched happy face, before opening his other and actually asking the obvious question.

“Why are you laughing?”

It took the brunette a few moments to collect herself and stop her fit, but then she looked with burning eyes up and smiled brightly at her boyfriend. “Because I can’t believe it. All this time I feared sex so much that I shut myself away from the world and it just takes one single, lazy, perverted, incredible man to crush my defenses down and sweeping me off my feet. Thank you so much for showing me this side of myself again, my love.” Still beaming at him, she cupped his bare cheek and stroked it lightly, feeling the warmed-up skin under her fingertips. Then she leaned in for a gentle kiss, just as light as the wing of a butterfly.

Grumbling lightly, Kakashi rolled finally down from her body and settled beside her on the bed. Almost in the same second he tugged the shorty into his arms, pressing her back onto his chest and resting his chin on her scalp. While moving, his now limp penis slipped out of Hiko and she shuddered at the sudden feeling of loss, but the man behind her nestled like a big child his nose into her hair and let her forget the negative emotion.

“You know, this was the best birthday of my whole life.” Kakashi murmured already nearly asleep. “I should thank you, little fire fly. You brought me back, something I never expected a few months ago. And I must say,” now his voice got mischievous with a slight perverted undertone, “I’m more than willing to break even more of your defenses down, not even speaking about sweeping you of your feet.”

“Pervert.”

“Your pervert.”

“Are you really as proud as you sound about this title?”

“Yup.”

“What have I gotten myself into…?”

“Maa, no need to break down. Let’s sleep now, I’m extremely exhausted because of the great sex I just had.”

“No overacting?”

The man nestled closer and entangled his long legs with her short ones, while his fingers caressed the soft skin on Hiko’s stomach. “No overacting.” he whispered into her ear.

Feeling strangely proud about herself, the shorty snickered shortly, before the exhaustion in her own body overtook her eyelids. Soon she was lulled to sleep by the calm deep breaths in her back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a side-note: I wanted to say thanks for the comments and kudos I received over the last weeks/months. As I wrote at the start, this is practically the first fanfiction I created with the tought of posting in mind, so it means a lot to me to see the positive reactions and the constructive critics. I'm happy that 'Find the Right One' gets enjoyed by at least some people out there.  
> (Psst! Extra-Kudos to Miss-Fandoms_Shakespeare for proofreading! ^-^)  
> All of you, stay cool and be happy, 'kay?


	30. The next morning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The morning after their first night spend together. Kakashi watches Hiko sleep for a bit and thinks about his life, while Hiko has another first time waiting for her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I promised less lemon, didn't I? So, here it is, a light lemony chapter with lots of feelings, sap and fluff. I hope you enjoy! (^-^)

Kakashi grumbled in his half-awaken state. An unnerving ray of sunlight directly shined into his squeezed-shut eyes and with a grunt he turned away from the disturbance, but found himself unable to move more than a few inches. Only now he noticed that his arms were slung around something –someone- and his legs were also entangled with other legs. One of the foreign feet was pressing with the calf into his knee, while the other laid in between his two limbs.

He opened lazily one eye and looked down on a deep brown mop of hair, tousled and cascading over a small slender shoulder, revealing the creamy white skin to the man. Then his gaze wandered over the interior, the familiar nightstand, the wardrobe and the stuffed bookshelf, and the silver haired cop’s lips lifted into a tiny smile.

            ‘Aah. I remember now. Hiko gave me the best gift of all.’

While the sleepiness slowly faded away and Kakashi opened the other eye, his mind recalled the evening from yesterday and his smile got wider when the pleads and begs and foremost the desperate callings of his name came back to him. Pride swelled as the man threw a glance at the still soundly sleeping shorty, flushed against his whole naked body and covered by the blanket he had picked up before he also went to sleep.

He had slept with Hiko. Alone the mere thought made his member come back to life with a roar, because his fantasies weren’t fantasies anymore. Unable to help himself, he placed a kiss at the shoulder before him and watched Hiko squirm lightly in her sleep, before she grunted and turned around. She was still asleep when she rested her head again on the pillow, this time facing him.

The brunette looked stunning to him. In the sunlight peeking through the blinds her skin glistened almost. Without her thick glasses Kakashi could for once see her long eyelashes properly and the whole bridge of her nose. Amused he noticed she had small freckles where the glasses usually sat, a detail he missed yesterday. Slowly his eyes followed the line of her neck downwards, enthralled by the red spots he had left on the skin. Even now her lips were swollen from their hungry kisses and he chuckled when he remembered the way she had attacked him a few times, innocent, yearning and curious.

            ‘She is quite energetic in the bedroom, huh? I expected nothing less from her. It fits.’

 

Softly smiling Kakashi brushed his fingers over Hiko’s tender cheek. In her sleep her lips lifted and she sighed full of content before he hastily withdrew. He didn’t want to wake the female up yet. She looked so cute right now, a little bit vulnerable and a bit exhausted, but also extremely gorgeous. The man held his breath until it was safe she was still asleep, then, the perverted side of his brain overtaking, he lifted the blanket and revealed more of her body.

The fabric was light; light enough to warm two people who had a sweaty night without letting them sweat more. It slipped down until her waist, then he dropped it again and let his eyes rake over her upper body.

The first things that sprung into his gaze were naturally the scars. White, they were distinguished from her lightly tanned skin, countless half-moons sprawled over her breasts. Anger grew in Kakashi as he saw the bites, some of them deep enough to not heal properly. Why had someone like Hiko to suffer? Why had someone as enthusiastic and life-loving had to go through such unthinkable pain and fear, when the only thing she did was be with the one she had loved?

Without thinking he reached out and trailed one of them, lying directly above the right nipple. Only the texture differentiated slightly. A stroke across the smooth skin, then a short rougher hill, and again the smooth skin. Nothing much. But they seemed to pain Hiko even today if Kakashi interpreted her bitter tone from yesterday right when he had revealed slowly the whole landscape of old wounds and bite marks.

“Mrrmschaschm…”

He backed away and watched Hiko mumble something incoherent, then the shorty nestled closer to him, pressing in the process her nose into the crook of his bent arm. Warmth spread through Kakashi at the sight. A few months ago it was also unthinkable for him that he would find someone who trusted him deeply; deeply enough to let him enter her life. He hadn’t thought that such a person existed and settled for an existence with his “Icha-Icha”-books and a pack of dogs when he retired, but now…

‘Now I have her. From all the people out there, it had to be her. Now I’m spooning this woman like no time has passed, like it’s the most natural thing for me. And I like it.’

He really liked it. It was comforting to be able to cuddle with the small body, like hugging a plush toy. Also the smell, a mixture of Hiko’s special scent, sweat and other body fluids was intense, intense enough for Kakashi to actually wrinkle his nose. Then he decided it would be for the best to enjoy the time with the brunette as long as she slept. Mischief blinking in his coal eyes, he started to trail the curves of her body, always aware she could wake up any moment, but also thrilled by the dangerous game he played.

But the shorty kept her eyes shut and slept soundly, while Kakashi kept getting hornier and hornier, without any chance to release soon. The peak was reached when Hiko huffed at a touch at her hips, wiggled and rested her right hand at his chest, just above his sternum. He had to lean down and catch her lips with his own and kiss her senseless until she reacted with a sleepy grunt.

 

Kakashi added more pressure, while Hiko laughed hoarsely into their exchange and let his tongue enter her mouth. For a moment she accepted his ministrations, even responded weakly to them, then she bit down into his slick muscle; not strong, but with enough strength to hurt him a bit, so he withdrew and watched the woman grin satisfied.

“A nice way to start a day.” Hiko said with a wink. “I could get accustomed to this.”

“Me too.” Kakashi replied and drew the shorty closer, that her head rested on his chest and her brown hair cascaded over his whole upper body. He knew she was able to hear his heart beating fast, an indicator for his feelings for her.

Pressing her calves against his, she trailed his left forearm, which laid passive over his stomach. “So… What are we going to do now? High five?”

“Just lying here is enough for the first time. Are you hurt anywhere?”

“No, I’m fine. It’s a bit surprising when you think about the span of time in between.”

“Be thankful. Because from now on I won’t go easy on you anymore.”

Hiko raised amused an eyebrow. “Really? You went easy on me last night? Now I’m scared.”

The silver haired man chuckled lowly. “Usually I’m not satisfied with only doing it once. I have needs and I want you to experience everything I have to give in this department.” A total difference to his two-sided comment were his actions. The silver haired man started to play with the fingers of her right hand, which had trailed his forearm only seconds ago. Childishly prodding them, then when Hiko snickered lowly, he entwined their fingers, palm against palm.

“I can see that.” The brunette nodded towards the visible bulge at Kakashi’s lower body, hidden by the blanket. “You pervert.”

“Your pervert.”

“Whatever.”

For a while, no one said anything. Sometime, the woman freed her hand and drew lazily symbols and letters on Kakashi’s stomach, while he just held the shorty in his arms and let his thoughts wander. It was nice to feel the warmth of the other person beside him; to sense the weight of another human being.

“I missed this.” he admitted silently, what made Hiko squirm in surprise. “What?”

“I missed this.” the man repeated with more vigor. “To wake up beside a loved one and talking with such a person after a night spend together. It has a… special nice ring, you know?”

“I… somehow understand.” the brunette said. “Back then it felt good to wake up in his arms and feel his breath in my neck. But now…” Like to secure herself in her thought train, the shorty turned her head until she could look into his coal eyes and kept talking, her arms crossed and the chin resting on her forearms. “Now the feeling is even more soothing and

comforting. I liked to sleep beside you, Kakashi. I always have the faint hunch that I’m safe when I’m in your embrace and I had no nightma-!”

 

Her eyes grew wide as she realized what she just said. Unbelieving awe dawned on the woman’s face, then she broke finally in a dry sob and shocked Kakashi with a sudden jump. Circling her slender limbs around his neck, she pressed a kiss on his lips and laughed freely when they separated. “No nightmare! I had a peaceful sleep! No dreams about him or anything related!” In Hiko’s laughter mixed a slight tremor, like her mind couldn’t decide if she should break into tears or continue to laugh.

Kakashi was partly amazed and partly bitter. Amazed because he knew it was his influence on the shorty to let her sleep through the night; his presence and his touches which did the little wonder for her. That Hiko reacted so strongly to something simple like this made the strong heat in his body overflow and his hands unconsciously started to trail her figurine, flushed against his chest.

Bitter because she still had all those darkness torturing her. The bad memories, the disturbing happenings and he couldn’t do anything against them to make them stop. Kakashi was never someone to let his comrades down, even the one who slept with Hanare (hell, he caught a bullet for the bastard), so it bothered him even more that his girlfriend, the woman who dragged him back into the light had to fight alone and he had to stay aside and could only watch.

But the only thing he could do now was hugging her back. “I’m happy about this too.” he murmured into her ear and felt the figure of the brunette shudder.

“Oh god! I never thought…! After such a night I really believed I would… You don’t know how much this means to me!” Snuggling into Kakashi, Hiko giggled quite affectionate, that the man couldn’t help it and join her snicker.

But he interrupted and groaned desperate as she accidently brushed his aching erection with her lower body.

“So…” Seductively the brunette wiggled with her eyebrows. “You said something about not going easy on me anymore?” Another “unintentional” movement of her hips and Kakashi closed pained his eyes, overthrown by the waves of lust crashing into him. His fingers gripped suddenly into her sides; not painful, but reminding her of his strength and need.

“Don’t tease me if you have not the intention to go to the very end.” he growled into her ear and was answered by a low whisper, which send comfortable shivers down his spine.

 

“Who said I wasn’t going to go to the end?” she mumbled and chuckled as she watched his dazed expression switch to a surprised face, and then quickly changing into a mischievous expression. In a flash Kakashi rolled them around. “Really?”

Circling her arms around his neck, Hiko smiled up to him. “It seems that you have awakened something, my love.”

“And I couldn’t be happier.”

“Your constant perviness rubbed off on me.”

“Lucky me. Now hold still, there’s something I wanted to do for weeks…”

“What…? Kakashi!”

“Did you say something?” Innocently the silver haired cop looked up from the brunette’s right forearm, where he had licked the dark letters of her tattoo. It was true; he wanted to do it for weeks, maybe out of a strange sense of possessiveness or marking the woman in an invisible, painless way. Like this Kakashi had burned himself into her memories, or so he thought, as the one who touched her tattoo like this for the first time.

With a snicker the man went back to the enjoyable activity and listened to the sweet whimpers of the shorty beneath him, when he exchanged his tongue with his fingers, dipped slowly lower and continued his attempt from last night to get to know all sensitive spots from her.

 

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

Breathless Hiko slumped down into the cushions, sweating much and still on the high of a previous orgasm. At her side Kakashi fell face-forward on her bed, still with her name on his lips and deeply buried inside her folds. After a while he recovered enough to lift his head out of the white blanket and smile crooked at her, in his coal eyes a mischievous spark.

“I like how you say my name. So breathy and rasped…” the man murmured and nibbled for a short second at her earlobe, until Hiko pushed him laughing away.

“God, stop! That tickles!”

“Nothing to say to my compliment?”

“It was actual a praise for yourself that you wanted to put into my mouth.”

“Did I ever mention that I really like that smart side of yours?”

She felt a lazy grin building up on her lips, but controlled her voice. “No, you haven’t. But it’s nice to hear.”

“That’s why I mentioned it.”

The female giggled at the utterly content tone of the man. He looked like a greedy king on his throne, all of his belongings at his command and not needing anything else than her in his arms and that made her especially satisfied. While she followed her own thoughts Hiko didn’t notice that her boyfriend separated from her, only when Kakashi climbed out of the bed and tugged in the process at the shared blanket, she looked up and stared for a second at his bare back.

In the morning light the pale alabaster skin glistened weakly and the shorty hungrily let her gaze wander over the hard lines and flexing muscles. Even now Kakashi emitted an aura of power and strength, something she noticed only over the weeks spend in his proximity. He didn’t need words to get what he wanted. Only using his body and soundless language was enough to threaten a thief to surrender or calming a victim down after an attack. With a smirk she let trail her eyes even lower and watched his ass, while he searched without a hurry for something to cloth himself into.

            ‘I think I could really get accustomed to this. Such a great view.’

Unconsciously she breathed loudly in when he suddenly bent down to pick his boxers up. “What?” Kakashi turned around to her, the plain green underwear in his hands and Hiko quickly looked up at his face, blinking a few times innocently.

“Nothing. Just hungry.” she answered, while her fingers fiddled with the hem of the white cushion. Only a moment later Hiko noticed how sexual it sounded, but luckily Kakashi wasn’t the brightest candle on the cake in the morning. He only grinned sheepishly and her heart literally skipped a beat when the cute dimples appeared at his cheeks.

 

“Me too. Wait here, I’ll be back with something.” he said while slipping into his boxers. The whole way out of her bedroom she watched the man, all the while nibbling on her lower lip and trying to suppress a territorial growl as her eyes set on the various bright red claw marks at the pale skin. Then Hiko let her head rest at the pillow.

“I did it…” she murmured mindless and stared at the blurry ceiling. “I slept with him.”

‘I did exactly that what I pushed aside for years, thinking there would never be someone to accept me and here I am. Lying in my bed, naked on top of that and my boyfriend is making me breakfast in the next room.’

The brunette buried her happy grinning face in the cushions and squealed silently into it.

‘And he was so… So… Urgh, I can’t even describe it! Neither passionate nor wild nor gentle, it was just like him, nothing less! And today too. The thing he did with his tongue…’

With determination Kakashi had set off to discover every small tender spot on her body, not leaving out one centimeter, so it seemed to her. But drawn in by her own cries and pleadings, he had given up on his attempt very fast and went along with the flow, ending it for both of them in a mind-shattering orgasm. Even when it was only a few minutes ago, Hiko shuddered in satisfaction at the mere memory.

A loud sound let her head snap up. “Kakashi?” asked Hiko worried, her legs playfully dancing in the air and laying on her stomach. “Is everything alright there?”

It sounded like her frying pans were placed on the stove.

            ‘He doesn’t plan to cook, isn’t he?’

“Yeah, everything’s okay!” the answer came finally, underlined by the quiet sizzling of food, which told Hiko more than she wanted to know. Quickly, but silently, she climbed out of her bed. But when she stood solid on the ground, she felt her worked-up muscles and a familiar ache between her legs protesting against such harsh movements, screaming in light agony and pain. “Ow… God, I totally forgot about this…” the female mumbled while simply grabbing Kakashi’s forgotten t-shirt of the ground and slipping into the comfortable attire. For a second the dark fabric hindered Hiko’s sight, but the intense musky fragrance more than rewarded the brunette.

“I could wear it as a dress.” Hiko said to herself, when she stuck her head through the belonging hole and tugged at the lower rims. And truth to be told, the shirt ended closely above her knees, making it really look like a dress.

A wide, comfortable, really nice smelling dress.

Grinning like an idiot, the brunette snuck into her own living room. The first thing she noticed was the delicious fragrance in the air, making her drool and swallow her own spittle. The unmistakable smell of scrambled eggs, together with some fried bacon, tomatoes and coffee tumbled into her system. Then her eyes catched the tall figure of Kakashi, who stood at the stove and stirred lazily in the frying pan.

Hiko tried to be as silent as possible and thought she succeeded in sneaking up on the man. But when she embraced his narrow waist, Kakashi didn’t even jerk uncomfortable. Instead he only tilted his head lightly and moved his free left hand to her entangled arms.

 

“I believe I told you to stay in bed.” he murmured, however his voice was teasing the shorty with his usual raspy tone. “Yesterday you brought me breakfast.”

“I wondered about the noise and remembering your uselessness in the kitchen, what is apparently wrong, I thought it would be for the better to intervene before you burn down my apartment.” She nuzzled her face into his bare back and chuckled when she felt the vibration in his body, telling her he was also snickering.

“Maa… Over the years of living alone I had to pick up one or two things.”

“From now on you are responsible in the morning. It looks good to me.”

“And I wanted to avoid standing up earlier than usual.”

The brunette relished in the warm presence of Kakashi before she pressed her lips against his pale skin and kissed it gently, just above the small arc of his spinal chord. “We can take turns, you know?” Hiko whispered. “My last offer.”

Suddenly Kakashi breathed heavily in, set the happily sizzling frying pan aside and turned in her hug, until her cheek pressed just between his pectoral muscles. His heartbeat was strong and fast underneath the rips and every breath softly moved the female’s body.

Then his strong arms embraced her shoulders and bending down, Kakashi was able to whisper into her ear.

“I would love to take turns with you.” he said, but in his voice laid much more than a simple invitation to eat breakfast with him.

Raw emotions; like longing and need, softer feelings; foremost love and gentleness were present, but also some things Hiko couldn’t quite put her finger on. She didn’t question him. Naturally her interest was piqued and a part of her mind raged to turn into an inquisitor and torture Kakashi until he spilled the confusing answers willingly, but the woman suppressed that wild urge.

‘He waited until I was ready, so I will wait until he gives me out of his free will everything I could ask for. Patience Hiko, patience.’

“Then that’s settled.” With a chuckle she loosened her arms and watched the obvious irritation at her sudden retreat in Kakashi’s face. So the brunette reached up, cupped his warm cheeks in her palms and tugged him down, until their lips could meet. First it was soft and gentle. Hiko relished in the natural action and stepped closer, until her breasts were flushed against his body. Kakashi groaned; a deep rumbling sound that vibrated deeply in her mind and let her also react. Automatically her mouth opened when his tongue traced the outline and she hummed when he dived in. Meanwhile the fingers of him stroked over her back, slowly getting closer to the edges of his own deep blue shirt. In return she scratched lightly over the already teased skin on his shoulder blades and was rewarded with a hasty tremble in his whole figure.

 

“Hiko…” growled Kakashi in a restrained voice when they separated.

“Yes?” replied the woman, her insides burning and melting at the close contact with the man.

“I’m hungry.”

“Then eat something.” Hiko knew instantly it was the wrong thing to say when a dangerous spark lit up in the coal eyes. His hands slipped around her thighs and lifted the shorty up without any effort, what made her squeak surprised, all the while heavily pressed against Kakashi’s chest. A few steps, then he lowered her again on the cold kitchen counter. Hiko squirmed in a hurry, desperate to get away from the uncomfortable material.

“What are you doing?” she asked with a pout and tugged one of her brown tresses behind her ear. She barely sat on the counter; her ass somehow stuck to the cheap stone and her thighs dangled useless to the ground, until Kakashi stepped into the open space and hovered with his height over her. He supported Hiko and also caged her, but it was so easy to forget that little fact when he reached out and placed his fingers at her knees, slowly circling the kneecaps.

The silver haired man grinned confident and caressed lazily her right leg. His index finger trailed the twitching muscle underneath while getting higher, closer and closer to the triangle between her legs. “You said I should eat and that’s what I’m going to do.” Fast like a flash he reached under the shirt and attacked her wet core.

Hiko whimpered and threw her head back. Kakashi chuckled at her extreme reaction and stroked over her sensitive nub, before invading her with two fingers and scissoring them. “Your reactions are so sweet.” he murmured into her ear, his silver hair tickling at her temple. “I can’t get enough of them and it’s only the third time. I’m already addicted to you, little fire fly. Now let me taste you in a whole different way.”

It dawned on her when the cop got on his knees, helped to tug the hindering cloth away and leaned closer to her tender clit what exactly he wanted to taste. Hiko tried in the same second the somehow scary thought entered her mind to close her legs, but Kakashi stopped them with his strength and looked up. A heavy breath ghosted over the wet flesh and she shuddered in unknown lust and arousal.

“Do you want me to stop?” He raised an eyebrow, an unsecure smile on his lips.

In a haze the brunette shook wildly her head. “No… It was just… I haven’t… No one ever did this with me.” Blood, hot and red, crept into her face and embarrassed, Hiko shut her eyes, not sure what he would do with this new information.

 

She gasped surprised when he chuckled near her hot center, cold breath crashing in short waves onto the wet flesh. Her whole legs twitched almost violently, but Kakashi embraced them in a gentle, but nevertheless tight grip. The calloused hands slid under her upper thighs, circled them almost and the palms rested on the milky white top, the fingers sprawled like spiders over it.

Leaning his right cheek on her leg, Kakashi blinked almost wicked up to Hiko. “No one ever ate you out? What a shame. I bet you taste”, he nibbled on the inner side of her thigh, what made the shorty cry out, “delicious. But it’s good to know that I’m the first who is allowed to do this.”

Suddenly his teasing expression changed into an asking one. “Am I?”

Hiko steadied herself with a deep breath in, then she nodded shyly at the man. “Please.”

Automatically the shorty held her breath as she watched the man getting closer. And gasped out when his tongue clashed with her hot, wet clit. Almost out of instinct her fingers clawed into the silver mane and dragged the man’s mouth closer, but it couldn’t be close enough. “Kakashi!” she yelped as he circled the nub and bit lightly down on it. “FUCK!”

Kakashi snickered. “Good to know I still have the skills.”

The female whimpered again. It was too much. Too much friction, too much movement, too much pleasure. Too much of Kakashi. She already felt the orgasm nearing, a mighty wave ready to splash all her thoughts and mind away. And he hadn’t even started yet, the silver haired man only nibbled on her clit. Hiko knew in theory how Kakashi would pleasure her, but what she told him was also true. Kabuto never did this with her. Everything always targeted his own satisfaction, not hers. The only thing which was urging him enough to stick his head between her legs was the femoral artery to suck blood from. So that left the woman only with fantasies out of dirty romance novels, before she had pushed all of them aside, only giving in when the need got too strong.

Then every other thought was rendered useless. Kakashi’s tongue dipped into her fold and she arched her back into his teasing, her mouth hanging open and spilling embarrassing sounds. “God, Kaka-! Aah! More, more, give me…” Yanking at his hair, Hiko mewled loud out. “Kakashi!”

Was it from the night before, or their activities in the early morning, she didn’t care. Her skin was sensitive to the point of sending electrical jolts through her system with every lick. The toes clenched painful, but at this moment it added to her lust, so did her own sounds and the silent gasps of Kakashi, burying his face between her legs and from time to time changing his position. In the back of her mind Hiko worried a bit about his knees, but the worry soon vanished when he swirled his tongue around. Suddenly his hand joined the play and started to pinch her clit rhythmically to his tongue flicks, what made her cry out again.

 

“God, please, please Kakashi! I can’t, it’s too much!” The brunette closed her eyes, unshed tears burning in them. So she missed the picture of his face, which surely was covered in her love juices, but his words she couldn’t escape.

“I was right. You’re sweet. Usually I don’t like sweets, but you… You’re the exception from the rule.” Kakashi said, his fingers still pinching her clit. Then he added with a mocking tone: “Should I continue?”

“YES!” screamed Hiko and opened her legs eagerly wider. “God yes!” She heard the amused chuckle and whimpered again when Kakashi continued what he started.

When she came, the woman was almost relieved the torture ended. Heavily panting and sweating, she hadn’t had the control over her body anymore, who shamelessly rocked her hips back and forth, uncontrolled trembling and nearly slipping down from the counter, but Kakashi pushed her always back into place. With a low gasp Hiko bucked into the mighty suck until she moaned like a kicked cat, what let the man break into a weak laughter on her behalf, but the high helped her to ignore the short sound. The least she managed was a soft glare into his direction, what made his snicker grow even louder. Hiko let him.

God, he deserved it.

Exhausted the brunette slumped down, her hands still deeply entangled with the silver tresses of his and let her whole body relax in the comfortable aftermath. She nearly fell from the kitchen counter, which was now warmed up by her pleasurable activities and movements, but just in time Kakashi scooped Hiko in his arms and carried her to the couch, where two sets of plates and cutlery on the small table waited. “Lay there for a moment.” he mused and gently settled her on the cushions, before he crouched down to her level and grinned at her. “And? Do you like it?”

She took her time and threw a quick look at his face. Kakashi showed again his dimples off, but that didn’t catch her attention. Instead the nearly invisible streaks of her own juices which covered the area around his mouth and went up to said dimples drew her eyes magically in.

‘Was that me? Was it me who was so eager that I humped his face until I was satisfied?’

Hiko lowered her gaze and nodded inwardly at the big dripping erection, peeking out of the boxers and faintly glistening in the morning light. Apparently he liked to make her scream his name out.

“Yeah,” rasped Hiko after a moment, coughed and then went on, a flush staining her cheeks. “I liked it… Very much.”

“Good.” With a groan and cracking kneecaps Kakashi straightened again and went into the kitchen. He seemed to nestle with the frying pan, but then he grumbled something incoherent and she heard the murmur of water and the man splashing his face a few times, before he came into her sight, the silver hair tousled by her needy hands and with the now nearly cold breakfast in his hands.

 

Silent they ate their food, sitting on the couch and as near as possible. Their legs touched the whole time, so did their shoulders and sometimes even their elbows when they moved the forks. First Hiko believed Kakashi was uncomfortable with such a lot proximity on her behalf, but then she tried to give him more space. In the same second the brunette moved aside, he moved with her, even closing the last bit of empty space between them. And when she finished the last bit of the scrambled eggs, the silver haired cop instantly settled his own plate on the coffee table alongside hers and yanked Hiko in a desperate tight hug.

Like the first time they laid at the sofa as a couple, Kakashi dragging the shorty on top of him and sprawling both of them at the furniture, warmth spread all over, inside and outside. The fact that only little clothing hindered their skin from touching let Hiko’s insides melt again; that still sweat stained both of their figures and she was only now coming down from the permanent high he seemed to put her in, added to the pure luck in her mind.

Breathing out with a deep sigh, Hiko closed her eyes. “I love you.” she said.

The deep voice of Kakashi replied in the same gentle tone he always used in their most intimate moments. “I love you too, my little fire fly.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ~Please read me, I'm important!~  
> Unfortunately, 'Find the right one' will take a little break. Not longer than 3-4 weeks, then I'll be back with new chapters. This will not be a permanent break or something like that, so until then, stay cool and be happy.  
> And once more and because I can't say it too often, thanks for Miss_Fandoms_Shakespeare for bearing my mistakes and proofreading.


	31. Lifted secrets

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The lazy Saturday continues. Hiko couldn't be calmer, all the while Kakashi questions his brain.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guess who's back? God, I'm somehow a bit excited to continue posting new chapters to my loooong project, because I'm still writing on it and ask myself in the process how the readers will like the chapters later on.
> 
> Anyway, enjoy this. A little bit more fluff for the start!

This Saturday was a real eye-opener in many things for Kakashi. There were the little things; for example the fact Hiko made the funniest and at the same time seductive sounds when she came. Also she produced more heat in the time after an orgasm, almost burning him when they snuggled on the couch. But the one little thing that had intrigued him for months from the first moment they had spoken with each other was revealed and he couldn’t be more surprised at the reason.

He let her stay on top of him until Hiko’s breath returned to the normal pace, then he poked teasing into her flanks. “And? Calmed down enough to begin the day?”

With some effort and a grunt the female propped herself up, resting her forearms at his chest and the ends of her brown locks tickling slightly his own skin. “I thought I began the day already by standing up, you know? But thanks for the reminder.”

“No problem.” Unable to help himself, Kakashi stroked softly her left cheek and the warm fuzzy feeling in his stomach grew hotter when she leaned smiling into his hand.

‘She is beautiful like this. Her hair tousled, her face flushed and dressed into my shirt. MY shirt. And it’s because of me. I did it. Oh god, my scalp still hurts slightly from her clinging. I never met a woman before who was so eager and sweet in her need.

Aaaand I’m hard again. Okay, still am.’

Hiko winked at him, before she tumbled nearly over his body in order to get up.

“Where are you going?” he asked and watched interested the rim of his stained shirt revealing for a short second her butt to him, then the woman hurried over into the bathroom, speaking over her shoulder. “Bath. Don’t worry, I’ll be back in a minute.”

“And what are you doing there?”

“Getting something.” She vanished in the entrance area and Kakashi heard her naked feet slapping on the ground.

“You don’t want to spill it to me, huh?”

“You will see.”

The shorty returned, an ominous white plastic bottle in her hand. But when she opened it, all the while propping down on the armchair, the sweet smell of vanilla and raspberry trailed into Kakashi’s nose. The man jerked up and pointed at the bottle of body milk the brunette was holding. “So that’s it!”

Confused Hiko threw a look at him. “What do you mean?”

“The source of your fragrance!” Agitated, he jumped out of his comfortable place and paced over to the woman, who blinked a bit overthrown by his attics to him. “All the time I asked myself why you smell so good! And it was body milk all along?”

“Well, yeah?” Hiko waved with the bottle, then she squeezed it until a creamy white crème squirted out into her palm. Settling the can at the armrest, she wringed her hands, that the milk covered both limbs and started to massage it into her upper right thigh, concentrating at the area which was scarred. Immediately Kakashi understood why she used it.

Sadness washed over him as Hiko cocked her head, her hands roaming over the few bite marks at her inner thigh and spreading the crème over the white skin, switching in the process to her other leg. He finger-combed his hair while crouching down. “It’s for making them nearly invisible, right?”

“Yes.” Straightforward, the shorty answered with her usual melodious voice (which always left him wondering why she wasn’t able to hold a tone for longer than a second when singing) and went over to distributing another load of body milk into her palm. “I’ve used it now since… let me think, maybe seven years? And the scars really got better.”

“And you’re using it…?”

“Everyday. Became a habit for me, I guess. It… calms me somehow.” Embarrassed she smiled, a wrinkle appearing between her brows. “A ritual, if you like to see it that way. There are a lot of things I picked up over the years; things I did to keep sane.”

While she continued to spread the crème on her arms, mainly focusing on the tattooed and scarred forearm, Kakashi took the bottle in his hands and read the description, the fragrance of pure vanilla and fruity raspberry trailing into his nose. Holding it out for her whenever she needed it, he got comfortable on the carpet in front of her chair, sitting right before her short legs and watched her how she suddenly grabbed the corners of the shirt and hauled it over her head. At the sight of her naked upper body, the skin stretching with her movements and her breasts lightly shivering along when she bend over and dropped his shirt on the ground, his heartbeat speed into new heights. Kakashi couldn’t rip his eyes away from her frame. There was something magnificent about Hiko; something drawing his look every time back to her, may it be the scars, the special white of her skin or the sweet little caresses she gifted herself with while spreading the body lotion. The brunette closed her ice blue eyes while her hands dispensed another load of milk white liquid at her upper body. She grimaced uncomfortable; a sweet expression that made Kakashi want to kiss the little snub nose. “Cold.” she explained. “It’s really fucking cold.”

But the silver haired man tilted his head in sudden confusion. Something stirred in him, a warning buzz –kind of- which wanted to tell him something. Something very important. He only caught a hold of it when his eyes wandered to Hiko’s crotch, hidden by her black locks and delicious shadows.

Kakashi groaned weakly in embarrassment. Automatically his hands flew up and covered his eyes, too ashamed to look at the short woman. “We forgot.” he said and shook his head. It’d been years years since he was that forgetful, he always thought about… Kakashi felt like an overly horny teenager, too occupied by the first pair of naked boobs he saw to think clearly.

“Please what?” replied the woman absent-minded while she was busy rubbing her sternum. “I didn’t quite understand you here, my love.”

“We forgot protection.”

‘I had a check-up after Anko, but what if… And it only takes one time to get pregnant. God, I hope she isn’t…’

The man thought about it. A picture flashed before his inner eye: A boy with his silver hair, standing up in the most impossible way and defying gravity and the crystal blue eyes of Hiko, sitting at his own lap while he rocked the child back and forth. Or a little girl, the deep brown looks braided into a plait falling over her shoulder, smiling the same marvelous smile Hiko had while he read her a fairy tale.

Kakashi couldn’t pinpoint the strange sickness in his stomach, making him feel lost and hopeful at the same time. His organs felt like they were falling out of a plane, but it somehow felt good. Another picture came to his mind and unconscious he inhaled deeply.

Hiko, rounded and folding her hands over the bump on her lower body, her face glowing in the gentle smile she threw at him.

‘I would like to see Hiko pregnant with my child.’

Shocked at the realization, Kakashi first didn’t hear the silent answer of the shorty. Only when she lifted his chin with her index finger, he awoke out of his daze.

“Silly, I take my pills. And I get myself checked every six months, despite having no sex. And I believe you’re the type of cautious man who gets himself tested whenever he had a sexual encounter.” Hiko chuckled. “Don’t you think I would have thought about that before everything else?”

“Sure, sure.” choked the man after a few seconds, totally overrun by the various pictures that didn’t want to leave his head.

‘It’s too early for thoughts like this. Much too early, we’re going out for three months now. Hell, we only had sex the night before! So, why, why goddamn I feel like this, longing for the fantasies I never had before? A family.’

“You sound… disappointed.” Hiko stopped every motion, her right hand resting in a strange angle at her opposite shoulder and the left forearm covering her breasts. She smiled, but in her smile sneaked a glint of insecurity, which reached her eyes and stained them with her fear. “D-did I do something wrong?”

“No!” Kakashi instantly noticed what her mind replayed. It were the memories he didn’t want her to relive ever again, not with him, not with anyone. The first signs of an abusive relationship. The silver haired cop edged closer until he was able to touch her kneecaps and massaging them. A simple, but tender caress. Hopefully not reminding the shorty of anything about her last boyfriend.

And he saw the result. Her slightly tensed muscles relaxed and when he continued, the spark of insecurity faded away, leaving only her small smile and the expression of love on her features. “It was just my brain. I… imagined some things I shouldn’t and those thoughts clouded my mind. Sorry Hiko. I’m so sorry.”

The woman inhaled deeply, then her smile deepened. “For what?” She leaned forward and kissed him, which he accepted with a much lighter heart. “It was only me jumping to conclusions.” While she continued to disperse the body milk on her body, weakly humming a soft tune, Kakashi tried to order his confused thoughts.

‘Push those things aside. They have no place right now and I don’t want to scare Hiko.’

_ ‘But why pushing them aside? You long for them, deep down in your subconscious you want to have a child with her. Only with her, if I should might add.’ _

‘No! Place! For! Them! There’s no security we stay together, and no one would want to raise a child all alone!’

_ ‘Then why not marry her? Easy-peasy.’ _

He choked on his own spit. This train of thought scared the shit out of him. Damn his subconscious and his overly active fantasy! Marrying Hiko? Now? It was too fast, too early, far too unreasonable to even think about it. It was the same back with Hanare, he had presented his heart to his ex-wife on a silver platter on the graduation ceremony only after a year of relationship with her. And how had it ended? Hanare fucking his partner on his own desk, while Kakashi had waited for her outside of the building.

“And what now? Pink striped elephants in neon green leggings?” the brunette mused, closing the bottle finally and tugging again his shirt over her head.  When she stuck her head through the belonging hole, Hiko snickered at his expression and pulled at her brown mane before standing up and reaching out to him. “You don’t have to tell me.” She smiled warmly; a smile where Kakashi became all giddy and jitterish. “When you feel like it, spit it, if not, then not. I won’t pressure you, not if I can avoid it.”

He tried to avert the topic by taking her hand and adding his own touch on the slightly uncomfortable conversation. “And if you want to talk about something; something that occurred with your other boyfriend,” Kakashi snarled, disgusted, while standing up, “also tell me. I want to help you as much as I can. Okay?”

“Okay.”

The silver haired cop hovered over the small figure of the woman. Once more his coal eyes slid over the lovely face, down to the saggy blue shirt and to her legs, reminding him what she looked like underneath. Naked, sweating and screaming his name while he made love to her.

He couldn’t imagine a time when he wouldn’t have enough of her. Like he already stated, Kakashi was addicted to the reactions he got out of Hiko and he didn’t plan at all to stop his tries to get to know them all. But just when he wanted to suggest another round with a sly grin, somewhere resounded a catchy melody, electronic and hollow. The brunette immediately turned away. “My gosh, where did I…? Aah!”

Triumphantly she rummaged through a pile of various computer magazines, under which she buried her cell phone somehow and pressed the green button. “Hello?”

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

She wondered why Kisame would call her –a quick look at the clock confirmed her hunch- at 11 a.m. on a Saturday. “Hello? Sharky?” He was more of a night owl after all.

Spinning around, Hiko glanced at Kakashi, who had his arms folded over his chest, still only cladded into only his underwear, which made no efforts to hide the visible bulge between his legs. On his uncovered face amusement and annoyance quickly replaced each other, but then he settled with a brief shake of his head again on the sofa and gestured her to come over.

“Hi-chan? Wait…” Kisame roughly whispered through the speaker and in the background the shorty heard the significant clap of the garden door. Meanwhile she sat down beside her silver haired love and leaned against his warm stature. Kakashi dragged her closer and over the silent shuffle she nearly overheard the whisper of her brother’s boyfriend.

“I need your help. Please.” the blue-skinned giant said and sounded desperate enough to even sell his business to the female. “I thought I can do it, but I was wrong. Do your magic again!”

“Do my magic again?” Hiko echoed confused and nudged at the same time Kakashi, who vibrated beneath her in suppressed laughter. “What do you mean?”

“… Hi-chan, I want to ask Itachi to be my husband.”

“And you where do you need my help?”

“I don’t know how to ask him!”

“Sharky…” Hiko sighed deeply, but smiled. Kisame had always problems to express his feelings to the others around him. To overcome his natural shyness, as a child he had resorted to violence and grew up into a fine delinquent, before Madara Uchiha, an Uncle of Itachi had rescued him from the streets. But it took several years before the two love-birds actually met and the woman chuckled when she was reminded of the first words Itachi had spurted out.

_ “He is the most confusing man I ever met.” _

Not many people managed to confuse Itachi Uchiha.

“Kisame, I don’t know how to help you.” she answered finally with a helpless chuckle. “I can’t help you with your proposal. I never- What?”

Kakashi elbowed her. “Turn the speaker on.” he murmured and with a shrug Hiko did as he say. Coughing lightly, he waited until she finished the preparations, then spoke with raised voice.

“Kisame?”

The fisherman kept silent for a moment. “Kakashi? What are you…  No.” In his voice swayed the utmost astonishment at the discovery that the newest addition to their circle resided at the weekend near his little sister. “You two haven’t done it!”

Hiko thought her boyfriend would keep it low, but instead he snickered in sly amusement. “Let’s say it like this, your Hi-chan has some sides you three will never see beside me.”

“I swear, if you have done something that has hurt her, then you will not get unharmed out of this!”

“Ooh, she has her own weapons to punish me… But to her misery I like it.”

“Kakashi!” Flushing heavily Hiko launched herself at the man, who only laughed at her visible embarrassment. For a second they wrestled, then Kisame coughed uncomfortably on the other side of the connection. The cop tugged Hiko safely in his arms, who accepted it grumpily and raised the cellphone to him. For some seconds she tried to resist the urge to nuzzle the back of her head in the crook of his neck, but in the end gave in, noting he gently nudged her as she did so, what kindled the warm soothing feelings in the pit of her stomach.

Kakashi continued with a happy tone his rantings. “Anyway. Kisame, there is no right time, not the right place for a proposal. You believe now that there must be, but I assure you: there isn’t. Think about Itachi and what he would like the most,” at this moment he buried for a moment his face in Hiko’s hair, “and then just do it.”

“What do you know about marriage?” grumped the fishermen, but didn’t sound as grim as he wanted. “It isn’t like you were married.”

She flinched unconsciously when Kakashi tensed underneath her. It seemed like Itachi hadn’t told his boyfriend what he found out about their new friend in a short-lived investigation and Hiko appreciated it, but the woman wasn’t sure if Kakashi would reveal his previous relationship out of his free will. So she was mildly surprised when he shrugged and spoke relaxed into the speakers. “I was. And it didn’t end well.”

Silence, in which birds on the other side chirped happily in the trees. Then: “I’m sorry.”

“No need to feel guilty.” he answered. “It’s in the past.”

Before the two men circled themselves in useless apologies and platitudes, Hiko interfered. “You heard him sharky. Don’t make me come over and wash your stupid head again and just ask Itachi. Or no banana bread for you in the next year. I know you have the ring already.”

“How did you-?”

“I have eyes and glasses to use them perfectly. Yesterday you already had the ring in your pockets, but backed out at the last possible moment, aren’t you? So get yourself together and on your knee, goddammit.” She rolled her eyes at Kakashi when Kisame sighed relieved.

“Thanks Hi-chan. I needed to hear this, I believe. Also thanks to you Kakashi.”

“No problem.”

“Well then, I’m off.”

“Good luck.”

“Don’t back out again!”

“Not with you breathing down my neck.” laughed the giant and ended the call. Deeply sighing Hiko slung her arms around the waist of the man beside her and snuggled her head against the warmth he provided. “Tomorrow he will crawl in front of our feet.” She muttered and closed her eyes.

It felt natural to lean on to Kakashi, just as natural as breathing. The way their skin stuck together whenever she moved lightly, the feeling of his chest moving in the rhythm of his inhaling and exhaling and the closeness that build up over the time the longer they hugged. Hiko’s lips lifted into a tiny smile.

“What you are thinking about?” Suddenly the hoarse voice of Kakashi rumbled through her body.

She looked up into his face and was one more time dazzled at the sight. Struck in awe the shorty reached out to him and cupped his cheek in her palm, suddenly at loss for words. His onyx eyes were like always half-lidded, like he was ready to go immediately back to sleep. The most rebellious strands of silver hair dangled into his forehead, giving him a rumpled look. Ashamed Hiko registered that it must be from her rough treatment to him during…

She blushed, but kept her eyes locked with his. A grin spread over Kakashi’s face, amused and asking at the same time. He cocked his head lightly and the sun spread rays of light over the left side, illuminating and shadowing the other half. Dimples appeared and she felt the skin moving beneath her hand, while she started to stroke his cheek lightly. 

“Just about… life, I guess.” she murmured finally and watched intently his reaction. When he didn’t say anything, Hiko snickered. “I mean, life goes on. I watched Itachi and Obito changing from little boys I played with, to young adults with some taunts and flaws, only to get finally to a state where they settle down. Kisame and Itachi are about to envelope and Obito found a girlfriend he is happy with. After years of pursuing a tiny bit of happiness, both my brothers found persons to fully accept them and their little flaunts and good sides. I’m just enjoying that my family is finally getting their earned happiness.”

“And you? Are you… happy?”

Hiko squinted her eyes. She was sure Kakashi wanted to ask something else, not related to her state of mind. But she let it slip. Instead of digging in further, the brunette rested her forehead just above his sternum. “I’m happy. More than this. For the first time in years I think I… I can finally start to overcome my problems.” Feeling suddenly bold, the shorty placed a kiss where her scalp rested a few seconds ago and felt an inviting tremble rummaging through Kakashi’s body. Heat flooded her body at the discovery Kakashi was just as easily aroused as her by her actions. Working her way up to his long neck, she littered pecks over the skin and smirked inwardly every time he shuddered under her ministrations.

“You like that, huh?” she asked with a devilish grin when she finished nibbling on his adam’s apple. Under her lips Kakashi’s pale skin felt rough and hot, a combination the shorty somehow liked and again she leaned forward to taste the sweat on the surface again.

His arms tightened around her frame. “Hiko…” Kakashi moaned her name so desperate, so  _ needy _ , that the lust erupting from the two syllables struck like a lightning in her lower stomach, melting it to butter. Without thinking too much, she climbed into his lap to kiss her love properly, all the while he dragged her closer, until not even a sheet of paper was able to get between them.

Their lips met and in an instant the brunette was overthrown by the pure feeling. She groaned and Kakashi used this chance to invade her mouth. His hands slipped under the shirt and caressed her waist, trailing the curves and tenderly touching the rims of her shoulderblades. Tingles wandered through her whole body and concentrated on the areas Kakashi touched. Hiko was dizzy; the kind of dizzy that came along when breath became essential for surviving, but she didn’t want to separate. Didn’t want to separate from Kakashi. She wanted to sink into his embrace, seeking cover in his arms and at the same time provide him shelter whenever he reached out. But then he broke their exchange, panting hastily in and out. His breath brushed over her swollen lips and she licked them, what earned her another breathless rasp of the man.

“My god…” The coal eyes met with ice blue ones and like this, they kept looking at each other, but their hands weren’t frozen like the rest of their bodies. Hiko’s eager digits trailed over the wide ribcage, exploring the small arcs of old scars, while Kakashi continued to trail her behind, all over her spine and small back.

“We should switch the location for this.” she rasped, feeling hot, sweaty and aroused. He only winked mischievously at the shorty and tightened his hold around her figure.

“We should seriously switch.” Hiko repeated, but her sentence lost the meaning in the soft groan erupting from her lips, as the silver haired man found his way to her front and started to massage her already hardened nipples.

Kakashi chuckled. “What if I don’t want to?”

“Then I have to get angry.”

“And then?”

“Probably scr-aah!”

“Like this? This will not persuade me, I believe.”

“Then don’t use your mouth suddenly!”

“No?”

“No! N-not like this!”

“Then I’ll have to resort to other methods to change your mind…”

(…)

Two hours later, Hiko and Kakashi were again sprawled out in her bed, cuddled into the blanket and sharing some of their warmth with the other. The shorty hummed weakly while her hand played with some strands of his hair and she let the soft tresses slip through her fingers, meanwhile he had closed his eyes in the gentle ministrations, his right arm slung around her waist and dragging the shorty on top of him. Hiko thought she was able to feel his heartbeat, but maybe it was only her own, resonating all through her figure.

Suddenly her cell phone rang again. In a wise prediction she had taken it with them and placed it on the nightstand, so the brunette only reached out and took in the same movement she got a hold on the device the call.

“Yes?” The female suppressed a snicker when she saw the lazy blinking of Kakashi, who was disturbed by the loud sound. Without a word he dragged her free hand to his scalp and leaned into her touch, until she picked up her caresses again.

“Hi-chan! We’re engaged now!”

“Congratulations. Do you have a date yet?”

“No, but Itachi said that he thinks the spring would be a good time, so make sure you can come then!”

“The whole spring?”

“No!” Kisame laughed freely, and Hiko could imagine the wave of happiness radiating from him. “The weekends, the weekends! And Itachi also wanted to ask something, wait a moment…”

Ruffling and shuffling, then the calm voice of the Uchiha resounded through the speaker, but even the ice prince couldn’t hide the lucky swing in his words. “I will straight get down to business. Do you want to be my best man and ring bearer?”

In the background she could hear Kisame rumble: “But I wanted her as my-!”

“I asked her first.” snarled the raven, snapping at the same time at Hiko and the fisherman, “Ask Obito.”

“But he’s your cousin, he should be-!”

“He’s unreliable when it comes to something like carrying the rings. I can already imagine how he will come to us and apologizes, because he lost them somewhere. Do you want to cope with that?"

“Hi-chan! Say something!”

Hiko grinned at the attics of her brothers. “Guys, calm down. First, I would be honored to be the best man for both of you. Not the ring bearer though. That’s a bit too much responsibility for me. Let Obito handle that. Itachi, you know how dedicated he can be when he knows how important the matter is.”

“… I’m holding you in account if anything happens.”

“Do that. And second, do I have to wear a dress for this?”

Itachi snorted. “Yes. No discussions.”

“But boss…”

“No discussion!”

“Yes, bride-zilla.” Sighing Hiko listened for a while to the rumble of Itachi about his great day, then Kisame wrestled the cellphone out of his fiancé’s hands and thanked her again with a quiet “I owe you one. And Kakashi too.” , then he ended the call, leaving the shorty alone with her silver haired cop, who had opened lazily one eye during the conversation.

“So then there’s a wedding to attend to.” he said. “Spring?”

The brunette placed her phone on the nightstand and returned into her original position before answering. “Yes. Spring it is.” Then she wrinkled her nose in disgust. “I have to wear a dress.”

“I heard that,” Kakashi laughed hoarsely at her pout, “Seems Itachi is really excited about his engagement.”

“You have no idea how much. Back in our childhood we had to act it out, but he refused to marry Obito or me, instead he insisted on using his invisible friend as a groom. I was the priest!” she added proudly.

“Then do you want me as your entourage?”

Warmth spread in her at the sly question. “Sure. I couldn’t imagine a better company when my brothers get married.”

“Good.” The man closed again his eyes and enjoyed her soft pettings and after a while soft snoring sounds erupted from him. Hiko chuckled and also tried to have some sleep, being naked and laying on top of her boyfriend, safely secured in his arms and stroking his scalp.

‘Can get life better than this?’


	32. See for yourself

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A late night shift for Kakashi ends with a massage from Hiko.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not even faintly sorry that I wrote this. More for all of you who enjoy a bit of lemon in your lives!  
> (And I'm a sucker for the massage-scenario, I'm not gonna lie.)

Kakashi groaned when he felt a painful tension in his back. He tried to reach a rather pesky spot, but the stinging muscle was right between his shoulderblades and even with all his flexibility he couldn’t massage it, no matter how much he squirmed and bent.

‘Weeks, only leaving me with the paperwork on the desk. Gai is on vacation, because he didn’t take one in  _ years _ and without a partner I can’t go on patrols. Aargh, this is extremely annoying. And today I even got the late-night-shift…’

With a groan he opened the door to his apartment complex. Behind him the street lamp illuminated the dark floor and the staircase. His shadow wandered over the corners and crocked when he started to climb upwards, towards his apartment, a hot shower and maybe some sex with his girlfriend. Kakashi smiled at the memories which replayed almost automatically in his mind.

Hiko was far braver than she thought. Two weeks since his birthday and the brunette worked her way up with more confidence than he originally believed. Sure, there were times when he had to hold himself back because her trauma caught up to her, but she never pushed him violently off or told him to stop. His smile widened when he recalled the many times she ordered him to go faster instead. Mood lifting at the thought of some intimate moments with the brunette and something to eat (his stomach growled demandingly at the thought), Kakashi hastily took two steps at the same time and soon stood right before the shorty’s door. Knocking, he waited for a moment and rolled then his shoulders to relieve the pain in them, but it didn’t help.

“ _ Hey. _ ” Hiko opened the door absent-minded, only mouthing her greetings to him. On her right ear she pressed her cellphone and she rolled her eyes as an answer when Kakashi nodded questioningly at the technical device. He slipped out of his leather jacket and shoes, noticing in the air was the light smell of grilled meat.

“Do you seriously think you have to pick out the flowers now?” asked the woman warily and nibbled on her lip while listening to the rants of the icy Uchiha. She kissed Kakashi for a second through the mask, before her hand got a hold off his sleeve and dragged him with her into the living room, where already their dinner waited.

“No, I’m not underestimating the time. No, I also don’t want to abandon the wedding. It’s just… Yes. Yes. I understand. Itachi, everything will be fine. Calm down, will you? Breathe in, breathe out. Repeat. Come on, do it with me.” rambled the shorty and showed her tongue to Kakashi when he chuckled silent. The couple sat down on the table, in front of each a plate with a fine piece of meat, mashed potatoes and various vegetables, all of them covered with a rich brown sauce. While Hiko worked with Itachi on his nervousness and did breathing exercises with him, the silver haired cop yanked his flu mask down and dug in, too hungry to wait any longer. Through his eating binge he didn’t listen anymore to the call, only followed the woman before him with his eyes, who took from time to time a little bite from her own meal, but mainly she just talked. Suddenly her ice blue eyes flashed to him. They were full of concern and Hiko’s forehead wrinkled as she reached over the table and tapped lightly his shoulder.

Again the female only mouthed her question. “ _ Does it hurt? _ ”

He nodded only, scraping the remains of his food together. It was hard for the man, in more than one way. Not being able to go on patrols, the only thing that had kept his mind in place, took his toll on him. Seeing the others going around in their uniforms, when the only thing he could do was writing reports and giving them the directions to their next working place left Kakashi grumpy. He tried to work some anger out in the training room of the KPD, but even he had to break down after some time and yesterday he had overdone the training. Pain had awoken the cop this morning, pain was his faithful companion throughout the whole day and the pain had nearly kept him from riding his bike home, when he had finally left the department building.

“I know I’m the best. No need to thank me, but tell Kisame he has my sympathy. Woah, do you kiss him with this mouth?” With one hand Hiko poured Kakashi a drink, the other was still occupied with the cellphone. She smiled at him, before she sipped at her own lemonade. “Yeah, yeah, everything you say. Bye.” Groaning the shorty also dug in. Between two bites she shook her head. “Itachi is a mess and the wedding is in a few  _ months _ . I already regret my agreement to be his best man. Don’t want to imagine the tantrums he will throw a few minutes before the big ceremony.”

“Probably the nickname bride-zilla fits him in more than one way. We only have to wait until he destroys buildings and smashes helicopters.”

“Yeah.” Snickering Hiko went back to her food and for a few minutes the two were silent. Then she looked up again, her blue eyes peeking over the rims of her glasses and her brown locks dangling loose around her face. “You trained too much, did you?”

Kakashi scratched sheepishly the back of his neck, all the while a childish grin tugged at his lips. “Well, yes. I didn’t want to get out of shape, just because Gai isn’t here right now, so he can’t brag about my lack of youthfulness and such when he gets back…”

“Bullshit.”

He sighed. “You got me. Fine, it annoys me that I can’t go at patrols right now, so I overdid the training a bit.”

Hiko raised only an eyebrow.

“Good, I overdid it _ a lot _ .” Kakashi clicked his tongue and crossed his arms defensively over his chest. “Go on, nag about my foolishness. I know that’s not really mature, but I can’t help it.”

“I didn’t want to nag.” stated Hiko calmly, finishing her meal with a determined bite. She chewed on it and swallowed, then the shorty continued. “It’s you to be a bit annoyed by the fact you can’t go out. I would probably be too, only that in my case they would take away my PC and make me do all those stupid errands. Go pick up those files, bring them to the chief, blah blah blah.” With her fork she pointed at his shoulders. “I’m only worried about the pain you have to go through, nothing else.”

Awed, Kakashi gazed at Hiko. His lips parted a bit, in loss for words. Then he shook his head and snickered lightly, while picking up her plate and his own, bringing the cutlery over to the dish washer. “How do I deserve this…?” he mumbled to himself. “How am I deserving of someone like you…?”

She didn’t hear him, luckily. Instead the brunette brushed her hair back and went over into the bath, throwing some more words into his face, which left the cop wondering and also hoping. “You can hop into the shower then. I will wait for you until you’re finished.” Her melodious voice promised things to Kakashi; things which made him jitterish for a whole different reason than the cold on the outside. The man followed her frame, but the shorty was faster out of the bathroom than expected and vanished inside the bedroom.

While the silver haired male showered and sighed in bliss when the hot water relaxed his tensed up muscles, his mind wandered off to the surprise his girlfriend had up her sleeve, but he couldn’t figure out what could it be. In the end he shrugged and opened the door, only a blue towel slung around the waist and still trying to dry his mane with another blue cloth.

“Hiko?” Kakashi asked and stepped into the bedroom, the arms raised and ruffling through his hair. “I’m rea-!” The word got stuck in his throat as he saw how Hiko awaited him.

The brunette had lost her glasses, top and jeans in the time he spent under the blessing shower. Her little body was only covered by a dark green and black laced panties and a matching bra, not revealing too much of her curves, but also showing them off. Hungrily Kakashi let his eyes rake over the naked skin, until he stopped a bit confused at the sight of her hands.

‘Oil? What does she want to do with that?’

She tilted her head a bit, some chocolate brown strands fell over her cleavage and deliciously curled above the milky flesh. “I can massage you. It’s not as good as a professional’s, but I have some confidence in my skills, so… I’m offering them right now.” Almost pleading, the woman looked at him, the big blue eyes slightly widened and her free hand fiddling with one of her tresses. Unconsciously she fidgeted around; her toes curled and uncurled in an unknown rhythm. Heat surged through his veins and the towel was in danger to slip from his waist, caused by the sudden growing of his member. But Kakashi controlled himself. Instead of immediately jumping Hiko, the cop nodded sharply and let the second towel fall to the ground. Only with the one covering his lower body he followed her silent gesture and laid face-forward down on the bed, the arms crossed below his head.

Sounds of shuffling could be heard as he waited. The almost undetectable dip of the mattress startled Kakashi more than anything in a whole while. Then the snap of the bottle cap resonated through the room, so did the little squishy sound when Hiko squeezed some of the oily liquid into the palm of her hand. He bend his neck to look up to her, in his stomach already settled the tingling heat down, letting his erection nearly ache at the sight of the thighs right beside him and he resisted the mighty urge to rub his hips against the rougher fabric of the towel to relieve some of the pain. Kneeling on the bed, his girlfriend hovered over him and spread the oil over her hands. The scent of coconut trailed through the air.

“Well,” said Hiko and smiled at him, all the while wringing her palms, “Do you want me to talk? Or would you find it more relaxing if I were silent?”

“You can talk if you want.” Kakashi rasped and rested his cheek on his forearm. “I like your voice.”

The ice blue eyes squinted in her loving smile. “Thank you, my love. Then I’m going to start with your upper back, if you have no other areas that need my immediate attention.”

“Maa, there is…”

“Silly, not like this. First, you have to relax.” She purred the last word into his ear, leaning all the way down. Kakashi felt her lips moving against the sensitive skin, nibbling on the edges and teasing him.

Out of the corner of his eye, he watched her getting up into her original position beside him. Straightening, Hiko placed her warms hands at his shoulders and gently started to knead the tortured muscles. The warmth seeped through his skin and Kakashi let a weak groan escape when she added more pressure.

“I learned massaging three years ago, I believe.” murmured Hiko and continued to only rub his shoulders. “Kisame was just about to get his boat cruising business expanded and he had to haul heavy things all day. So, because I was always interested in this art, I visited a course and eased the pain in his back. From time to time Obito and also Itachi have called out to me and I massaged them, because I like to see them smile.” Her fingers grabbed suddenly down and he hissed, but she quickly dipped lower to the muscles over his upper spinal cord.

“Right… there…” he moaned, his eyelids shut and losing his mind to the slow stroking of Hiko. “Just between…”

“Just between your shoulderblades, huh?” The brunette rubbed her hands together to create more heat in her palms and pressed them firmly at the pained area. After a few moments she loosened the pressure and started to trail the nerves underneath the skin, using her thumb to work more power into the flesh. It was just the right balance between forceful and gentle, just the right amount of strength to actually loosen the muscles up without hurting Kakashi any further.

A low whisper accompanied her actions. “I expected it for some time, you know? That you would train out of frustration until it hurts. For days you were such a grumpy cat, all the time saying it was nothing whenever I asked about it. You threw yourself into the desk work, and then your vigorous training. I’m worried about you, my love. But I waited and here we are now: you laying down and me massaging you.”

“Hm… Don’t stop…”

Hiko’s thumbs now massaged the muscles thoroughly. Pressing down into the stinging parts she leaned her whole body into her actions and Kakashi found himself whimpering at the quick flashes of pain surging through. He felt like butter, melting underneath her warm hands and sinking further and further into the soft mattress, until he would met the ground. In an instant the shorty got on top of him, straddling his hips with her thighs so that her lower body rested just above his ass. “Sorry,” she murmured and continued to massage his back, “but like this I can control my movements better.”

Kakashi grunted as an answer. He didn’t care about anything right now. His mind was swept away by the soothing slow movements and the low murmurs of his girlfriend, calming the man down and making him feel like his bones were made out of jelly.

Hiko’s hands worked their way all over his back. One time they were rubbing the tensed area of his shoulders, then they dipped down and stroked his flanks. Even his neck and scalp weren’t forgotten and Kakashi’s deep groan rumbled in his chest when the knots loosened under the ministrations. All the while the shorty started to hum a slow melody. She couldn’t sing, but humming was a different story. He nearly dosed off, but then she leaned down and nibbled on his earlobe, even sucked on the flesh. Immediately Kakashi was wide awake and horny.

“Are you relaxed?” The innocent meaning was undermined by the seductive swing in her words. Another lick at his ear. “Does it still hurt Kakashi?”

“No,” he brought out and coughed. “but at my front there’s a place which needs your talented hands.”

“Only my hands?” The rough laugh sent shivers down his spine and he shook sharply his head. “Then turn around, my love. Wait a second.” She climbed down from his back and Kakashi nearly spun around, hastily searching for Hiko’s eyes. In the process the towel fell open and revealed his aroused state, not that the brunette hadn’t known before what she did to him. Nevertheless she crocked her head in amusement, suppressing a grin at the sight of his twitching erection.

“I’m glad you’re healthy enough to be this… happy to see me.” she smirked. Her now dry hands wandered to her bra, playing with the front hook. Kakashi bit his tongue when Hiko opened the clothing torturing slow, at the same time relishing in the anticipation of the foreplay. He had propped himself up on his forearms, leaning back and like this his black eyes widened when the underwear finally got off the breasts and slipped down to the bed, quickly forgotten by both of them.

A muscle in his cheek twitched when the shorty started to weigh her cleavage in her small hands. Her head fell back and the rosy lips parted as Hiko caressed the hardened nipples, moans echoing between the walls. A knowing glint in her eyes told him she exactly knew what she did to him, fondling her own fleshy globes like this. Some half-moon scars shimmered silver in the faint moonlight and when she moved lightly other marks were illuminated.

The silver haired man reached out to her, wordless begging the woman to come closer. She obliged with a sly grin on her lips and flushed her curves against his body, making him harder than before.

Kakashi hissed, gritting his teeth when Hiko trailed her still warm fingers over his chest, getting closer and closer to his aching groin. “You like to tease me, huh?”

“Just because you make it so easy. Three touches and you are ready to jump me.”

“One touch.” he corrected her, his fingers slipping into her panties. “Only one touch, my little fire fly.” Quickly he found her sweet spot and soon, the man wasn’t the only one panting and squirming. It was addicting to watch the short female trembling and clutching onto his form, her legs eagerly spreading to grant his hand better access. With his palm he massaged her clit, all the while pushing his long digits into her fold and exploring her walls. Hiko gasped loud, a breathless sound which send lightning down into his loins and enflamed his arousal even more.

“Kakashi!” Unshed tears burning in her eyes, the brunette wrapped his erection with her hands and started to stroke the hot flesh, in the same rhythm he pushed his fingers into her. She had to use both limbs, her right pumping his base, the left working on the upper half, massaging the slit, where already pre-cum leaked out.

The cop’s hips jerked upwards. “God… Please.” he panted harshly out. “Hiko, I need you now!”

“I-I need you too! Kakashi, please, let me ride-!”

“Yes!” Dizziness enveloped his head at the mere imagination of Hiko, straddling his body with her thighs, this time sitting on top and pumping up and down with him deeply sheathed inside her. But first the last hindering piece of clothing had to disappear. Eagerly Kakashi tugged at the silk, the fingertips grazing the fine lace. Hiko lifted her hips and with some desperate squirms the hindrance vanished.

One last assuring look, then the cop guided the shorty to his member, his hands resting at her well-rounded hips. When she sank down, Kakashi threw his head back, too entranced by the sheer pleasure and the heat as he slowly slid into her. Sweat stained the forehead and rolled over his temples, his abdominal muscles flexed in the weak resistance to give in to his urges and just pound into the female, turn the tables and bury himself in her inviting heat. But he couldn’t. He just couldn’t.

The brunette let out a rasped moan. “Feels good…” She shored herself from falling forward by placing her palms on his abs, making it easier for the woman to take all of him in. In the darkness Kakashi couldn’t see much, but he felt Hiko, felt how her body trembled while they moved, felt how a desperate call rippled through her chest, before her lips parted and his name came out. The brown locks cascaded around her upper frame, a delicate contour to the white skin. Spirals and curls of hair, the tips just ending barely below her slender shoulders.

Finally the tip of his erection bumped against her cervix and Hiko cried out when she noticed it. Her nails scratched over his stomach, and the silver haired man used his strength to move her on his own will. Slowly he lifted her body again, starting a careful rhythm which didn’t do much for his or her pleasure, only meant to get the brunette accustomed to the new situation. A few minutes they went on like this, Hiko panting and quivering and Kakashi trying to keep his mind together, then she breathed out loud. “I can do it. My love,  _ let _ me do it.”

“Sure. All you want.” But the man let his hands in their place, lightly gripping into the soft flesh when Hiko used her legs to move upward.

The beat was faster, more violent than before. Massaging Kakashi aroused his girlfriend more than he thought and the following ministrations also helped. Pushing upwards, waiting for a split second and moving again down, accompanied by whimpers and soft moans from the female. He watched her and the sight of Hiko, covered in sweat, riding him, the lips parted and eyes shut, head falling back and in an obvious state of bliss was almost too much for him. But he wasn’t one to let do the woman all the work. The cop met her thrusts halfway, bucking his hips into her fold all the while his hands rubbed the tender flanks of Hiko. She shuddered and moaned once more when Kakashi got in sync with her motions, fueling the arousal and pleasure between them. An idea bloomed in his mind and gently Kakashi brought Hiko to lean back, changing the angle of his dick slipping in and out of her. “Why…?” she gasped before he hit her secret spot and made her cry out loud.

“That’s the reason. To let you feel more.” he snickered, partly amused at the surprised expression on her face. The shorty was cute like this, so eager and innocent at the same time, searching with all her needy pureness for the release and trying to please her partner all together.

The orgasm came when her inner walls suddenly clamped down on his member and Kakashi let out a weak wordless scream when the mighty waves crashed into him. Arching, his hips rocked erratic back and forth, relishing in the raw heat erupting. For a moment he was confused. His sight blurred briefly and he wondered if Hiko was able to come by now, but his questions were answered when her hips gyrated, then stilled, only to quiver and finally slumping down in the climax. A sweet cry dropped from her mouth as the shorty exhausted leaned forward, her hair even more covering her upper body and face. The tips of the silky mane barely tickled over his chest, sometimes sliding over the hardened nipples.

“Was it… good?” she mumbled, her eyes still hidden. Her fingers clenched lightly, grabbed into his pectoral muscles. The exhaling breath tickled his slightly wet skin as she sighed, just as agitated and exhausted as he felt.

“It was good.” Kakashi circled his arms around her waist and snuggled into the small frame, burying his face into the crook of her neck. The scent of vanilla, raspberries and the lingering trace of coconut trailed into his nostrils and he inhaled it. “It was better than good.” he whispered into her ear. “Thrilling, if I had to name it. And rather relaxing, though only the beginning.”

“Good.” The female slung her slender arms around his neck. Automatically one hand slipped into his silver mane and played with the strands, since their first time two weeks ago it became a habit of Hiko to do it after they had sex. It was strangely comforting, this little gesture and Kakashi hummed in bliss as he leaned more into the ministration. Then he had to chuckle when a funny thought entered his mind.

The fingers froze. “What are you thinking about?”

“I believe I want to ask Nagato-san to assign me to more late-night-shifts.”

“Please don’t. Staying up so late was hell.”

He rumbled and buried his nose again in Hiko’s hair. “Then not. Good night, fire fly.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was proofread from the one and only Miss-Fandoms-Shakespeare!


	33. Evil little monster

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kakashi and Hiko go on a date.  
> (A bit fluffy, a tiny bit angst and a bit of fangirling from Kakashi? Because I believe he would totally go into fangirl-mode over Icha-Icha.)

Hiko was trapped between two emotions: one was a kind of giddy nervousness, making her blabber the whole time in the car, the other was a sickening pressure in her stomach. Fiddling with the hem of her black coat, she rest her forehead at the cold glass of the car window and watched the world outside fly by. But her mind replayed the memory of this morning…

           

_“We never went on a date.”_

_Startled, Hiko raised her head from the dish of omelet and stared warily at Kakashi, who had just taken a sip from his coffee. “We can go today, you know?” Another sip. Then the coal eyes curved in the adorable way she loved, indicating he smiled behind the mug._

_Slowly the woman lowered her fork. “A date?”_

_She had dates before. With Kabuto and with the unlucky man who ended in the hospital, but never with Kakashi. It somehow wasn’t necessary. First they were only acquaintances, then they became friends, but not with the intention to get romantically involved, but afterwards they got together because of circumstances. They lived in the same apartment complex at the same floor, they spent much time together, drove to their mutual work in her car… Even in their free time either Hiko was in Kakashi’s flat or the other way around. Something deep inside of her moved at the imagination of a date, like a fish squirming and jumping on land, before someone had mercy and killed it._

_Then she thoroughly thought about this matter. Could there be any reason why Kakashi requested a date with her? Quickly recalling the last few days, the brunette couldn’t find a real reason why exactly he asked her out now. But maybe there was simply no reason. He was just this kind of a man, doing things just to…_

_“I mean, we don’t have to.” stammered the male. “If you don’t want, then it’s okay too. I just thought it would be nice to do some things together, like going to the cinema or whatever. But you don’t have to feel obliged to my suggestion, we can stay here or meet up with Itachi, Kisame and Obito-!”_

_“I would like to.” She understood finally why he asked. Smiling lightly, the shorty nodded assuring at her love. Kakashi was just the type of man to sometimes wanting to take his girlfriend out, for no special reason or occasion. “Do you have anything in mind?”_

_“Well,” he scratched sheepishly his head, telling Hiko he didn’t think he would get this far, “there’s a movie I wanted to watch for some time now. Would you come with me?”_

And so they both had prepared in their own way for their first date. The movie Kakashi wanted to see was screened late at night, so Hiko had a huge amount of time to get anxious and nervous, all the while trying to pick out some clothes and decide once again if she should put makeup on or not. In the end she went with a tight green jeans with strategic cuts at her upper thighs and a black blouse with a low-cut red top underneath, but not too low-cut. As an extra Hiko had added some light mascara and berry colored lipstick. She never wore make-up in his proximity before, so a part of her was curious how Kakashi would react. Together with her hair, drawn into a lazy bun with single strands escaping and rimming her face in tender curls, she knocked at Kakashi’s door, her black fall coat hanging over her forearm.

He didn’t open. With an amused small smile pulling the corners of her lips up, Hiko knocked again.

‘Habitual late-comer, habitual late-comer… When he at least remembered to reserve the tickets, then I will be happy.’

“Coming, coming!” His rough voice resounded through the door. The brunette sighed and looked at her wrist clock, then the entrance before her opened without a warning.

Like always the silver haired cop managed to pull the stunt of looking a bit rumpled and handsome at the same time. The silver hair was ruffled and defied gravity, also the white flu mask was in its rightful place. The usual brown leather jacket was thrown over his broad shoulders, worn out by the daily use, underneath the man was clad ino a dark blue turtleneck sweater and a normal, faded out jeans. It was rather simple, but Hiko had to tear her eyes away from the muscles which were outlined by the tight fit of the pullover.

But she wasn’t the only one enthralled. The coal eyes widened when he saw her and a faint blush stained his pale cheeks (at least the part that was visible).

“You look gorgeous.” the man rasped, his eyes still raking up and down, not deciding where to settle on. Was that… admiration in his voice?

“Thanks.” Embarrassed, Hiko tugged one of the loose strands behind her ear and shifted on her feet. Personally she didn’t believe that he was right, in the end she was pretty normal to begin with, but she wouldn’t argue with him over such an insignificant detail. “Are you ready?” she asked instead and was relieved when the man nodded, closed the door behind him and locked it properly.

 

And now they were here, in her car, Kakashi driving it and Hiko on the co-driver’s seat, staring outside and wondering about the actions which lead her into this place. With a weak sigh she turned to her boyfriend, who concentrated on the road ahead. “Probably that should’ve been my first question, but what’s the name of the movie we watch?”

“Icha-Icha-Paradise: The Movie.”

Unbelieving the shorty pushed her glasses up and blinked confused, then she tilted her head. “You’re kidding me.”

He shook his own. “Nope. Didn’t had time to watch it until now.”

“Our first date and you’re dragging me to a porno?”

“It’s not porn, it’s a heart-warming romance with some sexual elements. And it’s late at night, so it’s okay.”

Hiko rolled her eyes and snickered. “Whatever. Concentrate on the road, my pervert.”

Kakashi pouted a bit, but seemed to be calmed by the fact she didn’t outright refuse the idea of watching the movie adaption of his favorite novel. Truth was, the brunette was also interested, but would never admit it to her love, who would instantly try to drag her to the annual “Icha-Icha”-Conventions held in Konoha. She shuddered at the thought.

The drive was mostly filled with teasing and mocking; two things they always did when they were together and Hiko didn’t grow tired of her banter with Kakashi. Sometimes she worried about being too mean to him, but then he started another round of full-grown taunting and the worry vanished.

‘Sometimes I seriously ask myself what Kakashi is thinking. I can see his emotions, but it’s entirely different when it comes to his thoughts. Am I even a bigger mystery for him, or can he read me like an open book?’

The cinema was nearly empty when they arrived and Hiko was glad about that. Nothing unnerved her more than a full hall with lots of noise and talking in it. Despite the late time, she ordered one bucket full of popcorn and a middle sized cup of cola, not caring about the thin woman standing behind her who snorted disgusted at the calorie-rich snack. Kakashi slung his arm around her shoulders and the shorty leaned against him while he ordered their tickets. Just in time, she stopped herself from sticking her tongue out to the bitch, but decided at the last moment to get her revenge at another time.

Just when she and the cop walked in the direction of the hall in which the movie would screen, Hiko turned around to the other woman, made sure she looked at her and stuffed then her cheeks with a handful of popcorn, grinning all the while, full of triumph and satisfaction. In the end she even licked her fingers, relishing in the salty taste of the treat.

“You know,” suddenly Kakashi spoke up, “I would be pleased if you would use that particular move on me and not on some random woman. But I have to say it looked funny how she nearly exploded.”

 

“You saw that?” Ashamed, Hiko gnawed on her lips. But then she straightened up and took another hand of popcorn into her mouth. Feeling bold, she raised her used hand into Kakashi’s sight, then slowly sucked on her own index finger, wrapping her tongue around the digit and pumping it in and out of her mouth. Satisfied she noticed that his black eyes followed every little action like the eyes were glued to it.

With a weak ‘pop’ Hiko freed her finger and blinked in innocence up to him when they entered the dim light of the movie hall. “Like this?” she asked, acting like she didn’t notice the accelerated breathing and dry swallowing of the man. His grip around her shoulders tightened.

“When we are home, do that again.” Kakashi rasped, silent enough that nobody else could hear it. Not that it mattered. They sat down in the seats in the next-to-last row of the small room, maybe granting space for 50 people. It seemed like the “Icha-Icha”-Movie didn’t attract too much audience, because all the other seats weren’t occupied, even shortly before the movie started. So Hiko felt safe enough to lean again to Kakashi and whisper some well-chosen words into his ear, which left him frozen in his chair.

“Only licking my fingers? My, my… Kakashi, I expected a bit more from you.” To make her seductive image complete, the brunette let her tongue flick over her lips, then raised an eyebrow. She saw the sudden tension in his body, she saw the uncomfortable shift in his posture, trying to relieve the ache and uncomfortable tightness in his pants. With a little smirk, Hiko leaned back into her own seat, but was suddenly yanked sideward by the silver haired male, who ripped his mask down. One strap tore with a little ‘snap’.

His big hand laid possessive at the back of her neck, his face was just centimeters apart from her own. The black eyes almost burned in animal-like lust. “If you are implying what I believe you imply, then you won’t get any sleep tonight, little fire fly.” Then Kakashi kissed her, deep and demanding and she happily surrendered to the tongue invading her mouth. The heat, hot and roaring, floated through every cell of her body and settled especially down in her loins and lower stomach.

When Hiko separated from Kakashi, she panted heavily. Throughout their little makeout-session her hand somehow found its way into the soft hair of Kakashi, ruffling the untamed strands even more. Kakashi’s other hand found its way to her head, entangled in her own mane and loosening the bun until her hair freed itself. His other hand stayed at her neck, gently massaging it.

“I believe we have an appointment tonight.” she murmured, gave the man one last ruffle through his hair and finally let her hand drop to her thigh. Just in time, the curtains before the cinema screen opened and the light turned off and the silver haired cop sighed in disappointment, but took her hand into his own.

 

The movie wasn’t too bad, Hiko had to admit. The characters were well portrayed to some point and the story followed the “Icha-Icha”-Paradise plot straight without any side roads: two unbelievable beautiful lovers, a colorful past standing between them and some steamy action mixed into the scenery. But her attention was mainly on Kakashi, who was totally immersed into the story. When something funny happened he snickered lightly, when Yoko revealed her tragic background he wiped some tears away and he growled lowly whenever the enemy of Hiro appeared. However, every time the lead characters had sex on screen, the man went completely still. First the brunette thought because he didn’t want to reveal how aroused he was by the pictures, but she understood when Kakashi hissed and his hand around her fingers tightened unconsciously, seeing the female going down on her male counterpart.

‘He imagines us. In every juicy scene he places me and him into the place of the protagonists and he has to control himself from jumping me in the middle of the dark room.’

Hiko couldn’t suppress the smile forming on her lips. Somehow she found it strangely cute how much the man tried to not ravish her, apart from the fact he was like a little kid watching his favorite TV-show at a Sunday morning. The grin wouldn’t fade during the last half of the movie and was still present when the final credits rolled down the screen.

“It was good.” said the shorty and finished the last bits of her popcorn, which she had generously shared with her boyfriend.

“Right!” Overjoyed Kakashi hobbled up and down on his seat, all the while squeezing her right hand with his tight grip. “The scene between the first encounter of Hiro and Yokos husband was extremely good, especially the last hateful glance Hiro threw! And obviously the actress who played Yoko did a great job, to be able to show so much emotion,” at this point he had to take a breath, “at the climax of the movie, with the pistol in her hands and forced to decide between her love and her revenge! You could literally see the exact moment she decided against the hate, in the significant change how she held herself!”

“Did you like it?”

“Absolutely!” He beamed brightly at her, the broken mask somehow covering his lower part of the face (she had tied the two ends of the strap together) properly.

“Then it’s fine. Now come on, we have an appointment.” The small female let the word vibrate in her mouth and watched amused how the man hastily jumped out of his chair, grabbed her hand tightly and almost hauled her over his shoulder in his attempt to go as fast as possible out of the public hall.

 

Kakashi had parked some distance away from the cinema, so they had to walk through some dark alleys. Hiko was a bit nervous every time something had moved in the shadows on their way to their date, but now her mind was full of the things they would do when they would go home. Like this she didn’t notice the creeping shadow in her back, sneaking carefully closer with each silent step. Kakashi also didn’t notice, but the woman couldn’t blame him, she was in the end the one who had aroused him to the point his brain wasn’t properly provided with blood.

A hand, quickly moving into the side pocket of her coat, gracing her thigh underneath the thick fabric. Immediately Hiko tensed. Sweat formed at her forehead and at her palms, her heartbeat roared like loud like thunder through her ears. Another cautious touch, but now she was prepared.

Out of instinct she swirled and loosened her grip around Kakashi’s hand, at the same time her free hand tried to catch the wrist of the thief. For a short second she looked into wide eyes, growing even wider in shock as she met the limb and stepped closer, determined to knock the enigma who dared to touch her out. With all her might she punched the shadow in the stomach and smirked shortly as the man bend down and choked at his own spit. Another hit with her elbow, making the thief scream out in pain. Hiko growled lowly while stepping backwards, only to prepare for the final move which would bring the mysterious man on the ground. Right now he was in the optimal position for her to dig her right hand into his left shoulder, her other laid still around the thin wrist. Her body moved on its own and her eyes darted around, noticing little details about the man before her.

‘Cheap clothes, but the shoes are branded. Some stinky cologne, but underneath there’s the scent of sweat. He didn’t expect an attack, but wasn’t also not prepared to run either.’

Adrenaline flooded the shorty’s brain as she stepped towards the thief, twisted into his front and at the same time wrapped her right arm around the waist. To her surprise he was light for someone bigger than her, but it only made it easier to throw the criminal over her waist. When he was falling to the ground, Hiko added even more power and smacked him into the dirt, making him howl in agony.

“Hope it teaches you a lesson.” she snarled, watching the thief squirming and coughing rolling around. “Don’t you fucking dare to rob anyone again.”

“That hurts…” The raven head, the shoulder length bushy hair tied into a high ponytail, held his stomach and groaned in pain. Then the small black eyes opened and he spit out. Luckily the drop didn’t hit her, but Hiko nevertheless stepped disgusted backwards. She pushed her glasses up.

“The street is dirty enough, do you really think you should spit on it? Anyway, because it’s late at night and I have better things to do, I will leave you here. Fucking use your brain and be glad I don’t have the nerves to deal with someone like you right now.”

 

Hiko rolled her eyes and snorted, but the familiar big hand of Kakashi wrapped carefully her own and entangled with her fingers. “Let’s go.” he murmured lowly into her ear. “I believe he has learned his lesson.”

“He better should.” However, the brunette leaned automatically into him and let the man guide her into the direction of her car. Behind them the thief spit some more insults, before they were out of their hearing range.

“Don’t you have some questions?” Hiko asked finally when her red beetle came into sight. She snuggled more into the warm embrace of Kakashi and felt the warmth of the man seeping into her. His fingers tightened around her waist as he spoke. “No. I know you take martial arts lessons, I know you don’t like criminals, especially those who touch you and I don’t want to get in your way when you get into action. Besides,” his serious tone changed into a much lighter, playful voice, “I never knew how sexy it could be to watch you kick ass.”

“So that’s why I had to fight the thief alone!” Acting hurt, the female crossed her arms (it hid her trembling hands from his sight). Meanwhile Kakashi opened the car and they slipped into their belonging seats, the man again as the driver and the brunette on the co-driver’s seat. “You were busy enjoying the view!”

“Always, little fire fly. Always.” he mused and broke into a hoarse laugh when Hiko turned embarrassed to the window, playing with her now loose hair and twirling a strand around her fingers.

The rest of the drive they were silent. From time to time the shorty threw a glance at her love, smiled warmly and turned again to the window. The reflection in the glass revealed that he also stared at her figure and smiled; the same caring smile with the curled up eyes she loved so much.

‘My heart is going to break if you continue to worm your way into it. How much longer will you stay with me? A day, a week, a month, a year? I don’t know anymore; I don’t know how to think straight because of you. How much love can a human bear? I feel like I could reach my limit soon, short before the breaking point. And I don’t want to lose you, but I have the dark premonition that one day I will have to make a choice between you and… I don’t know.’

“We’re here.” Hiko was awaken out of her thoughts by the soft tremble of her car and Kakashi, who turned the engine off. After they left the red beetle, Hiko instinctively searched for his hand and he took it, which made her feel… special. Lacing their fingers together was great, a comforting touch and as she did so, he squeezed for a second, not caring that hers was sweating from the adrenaline still coiling in her system.

When they were standing at their floor, Kakashi still holding tightly onto her and the brunette fighting the little anxiety attack in her head, no one did anything. She didn’t notice the sudden interruption of the flow they had followed all evening, but he did.

“What’s wrong?”

Startled Hiko looked at him, into the coal eyes, asking and at the same time also curious. She tried to say it, but as her mouth opened, nothing came out. Suddenly her mind spun like an attraction in a fun park, round and round around. So she settled for a shy shrug and let her eyes drop to the ground. Was it right to tell him she loved him so much, that she couldn’t tell if she would be okay without him? That she already feared the day of losing the best thing she probably ever had?

 

“I know,” Kakashi started and drew with his thumb little circles on the back of her hand, “that you’re scared. You must be scared, because I’m too. That’s what all outward strong people are, I think. They are scared of something, of losing someone, of be suddenly alone again. I…” He choked. “I don’t…” He surged forward and before she even realized what was going on, he hugged Hiko. His embrace was desperate, like he wanted to convey his feelings through it and didn’t trust the words to do it for him. Hiko recognized the little, almost not noticeable crack in his voice, the tiny flare in his body. She had it too, all those years ago, whenever something involved feelings which overstrained her. The therapists questioned her about her inner state and she wasn’t able to tell them, because they wouldn’t understand and then hearing the same question from Obito or Itachi, making her suddenly cry in despair or sadness.

It was the sound of a person who tried to suppress his strong emotions.

Kakashi had buried his nose into her hair, one hand resting at the back of her head and the other cradling the woman’s waist, dragging her body as close as possible. Carefully she slung her short arms around him, her ear pressed against his broad chest. She didn’t trust her voice, so the female nodded. Only a simple nod.

But the silver haired man understood. As an answer he also nodded, sharp and brief. His nose moved in her mane and ruffled the tresses further, but Hiko didn’t care.

“Can we… just sleep tonight?” Shyly she whispered into the fabric of Kakashi’s shirt, not sure how he would take her question. “I don’t want… I just…”

“Okay.” Without another word needed, the cop nestled at his pockets and got the keys to his apartment out. While unlocking the door, the brunette kept close to him, her side always pressing to his. Their hands kept entangled, fingers gingerly sliding against each other in the most intimate way her mind could imagine. All the way through his flat they kept connected, out of an unspoken promise not to let go.

It would be the first time they slept together in Kakashi’s bed, noticed Hiko when she entered his bedroom and eyed the masculine furniture. Somehow they had always ended up in her apartment when having sex, so they did also end in her bed afterwards. She knew the bed in front of her was just as comfortable as her own, she sensed it every morning she woke the man up, but it had a strange ring of intimacy to it. Especially when they really only slept today. Nevertheless she started to undress, beside her the man also hauled his pullover over his head. The differences of their personalities were visible in the way how they treated their clothing: Kakashi folded them neatly and placed them at a chair in a corner and Hiko dropped them careless on the ground, at least trying to pile them up. When the two people were only in their underwear, he opened his drawer, rummaged for a moment through it and then tugged at a familiar dark blue t-shirt out and held out to her. With a smile she took it gracefully. Quickly, the brunette got out of her bra and slipped the wide shirt over her head, while Kakashi prepared the bed for them. In secret she sniffed at the fabric and her smile widened as a wave of the familiar scent teased her nose.

 

Hiko didn’t feel nervous. The anxiety had calmed down, but not enough to function normally again. So she hesitated for a split second before the female crawled into the comfy warmness of his arms, circling her own limbs around the big body. Yawning, Kakashi reached for the blanket and made sure they were properly covered, then he snuggled like a child would embrace his favorite plush toy into the shorty. While the male was busy getting comfortable, Hiko had time to reflect the evening and the sudden insecurity coming along.

‘We both are hurt. I didn’t really comprehend this, but we both are. My injury seems more grave and visible, but the sensitive person he is, Kakashi was extremely hurt by the violation of his trust. I’m his first relationship after he had to endure this and he is mine. I have to make sure never to wound him. I don’t want to see him injured by me, nor another person.

I need him, but he also needs me. We need each other.’

“Kakashi?”

“Yes?”

“Can I tell you something?”

“Sure.”

She breathed in and steadied herself. It wasn’t easy to recall those memories, but she had to. She wanted to share it with him, so he was able to help her. “The week I was tortured… I only kept sane because of a spider.”

His hold around her waist tightened slightly, but nothing else happened. He just waited for her to continue and the shorty was thankful for his silent understanding. Like this she was able to go through this mess without an interruption and a chance to reconsider.

“I laid on my back the whole time,” Hiko whispered into the darkness, “the only thing I had to do was to stare at the ceiling when he wasn’t there. It sounds stupid, I know. But… He… He hated spiders for some reason and I always had to kill them when he saw one. I laid there and tilted my head around and noticed that in one corner, in the darkest one a big fat spider had webbed a big net. It became my everything when he was away. I watched the spider webbing more or when a fly was captured in the sticky net. I measured the time at the movements of the spider and distracted myself from the pain and hunger by watching her. Sometimes I thought I could use it as a distraction for him, but then he would have destroyed it for sure and I didn’t want that. Then that would’ve meant my only companion would be… gone.”

Hiko pressed her face into the chest of Kakashi. Desperately she tried to concentrate only at the spider, at the small little creature who was long dead, but was so important to her. She choked, but nevertheless brought the words out. “It was also funny. He was able to control me, to tie me up and everything, but he couldn’t hinder a spider from entering his home, the thing he hated the most. I broke down on a Friday and laughed into his face as he… did his thing to me. A tiny little spider was able to disobey him. And I… I couldn’t. Because I was weak back then. Everytime he asked something of me, whether dressing the way he liked or walking one step behind him, I complied without even thinking. But that day I laughed, even though he yelled at me. He hit me harder than before, screaming into my face why I was laughing, but I just cracked. I couldn’t stop, so he kept hitting me, beating me further down and insulted me. That I was trash and not worth to be hold, I should be grateful he awakened me and that I would be forever his possession.”

 

“Hiko…”

“Kakashi, I’m not his possession anymore. I don’t want to be his slave anymore and you try to help me with that. You show me how it is to feel good again, even with scars and even when I’m not beautiful. You teach me to trust into someone else, to let someone into my life. You’re so close to me, my love. You’re so fucking close.” the woman rasped. With every word her index fingers dipped harder into his arm muscles, until her digits went white under the force she used.

The man started to trail her spinal cord up and down with his rough fingers. The tips followed the arc up, drew a little circle between her shoulderblades and trailed again down to her lower back, again and again. Hiko arched into the gentle ministration, not more than a weak bending of her spinal cord, but enough to let the man feel what a huge effect his actions had.

“Thank you for telling me this.” he said weakly. His husky voice cracked under the suppressed emotions which seemed to roar in his body. “But in one thing you are wrong. You are beautiful. Maybe you are small, but the self-confidence you show, the way you hold yourself, but also your whole body are gorgeous. I love your hair and the way it curls. I love your curves, because you appear cute and sexy at the same time. I love your lips, the rosy color they have and the way they feel on mine. I really love your eyes and your way of dealing with everything around and I love the way you pout when I tease you.” He stopped and swallowed, but his ministrations didn’t freeze. They got even gentler and she arched into the touch.

“I love you Hiko.” The whispered words travelled through the nerves of her whole body, tingling and warming her more than the blanket could. The female didn’t smile, instead she returned the gentle confession with every ounce of tenderness she could muster. “I love you Kakashi.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can't thank Miss_Fandoms_Shakespeare enough for all the mistakes she has to correct. I see the amount and everytime I'm feeling sorry for all this mess... T.T  
> You're a brave soul. A very brave one.


	34. Conference

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There's work waiting, but not only boring paperwork could prepare Kakashi for the surprise which waits at the KPD.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the pause, but life was a pain in the neck to me <.< Work and such, but hopefully the chapter will make up for it!

Hand in hand, Kakashi and Hiko walked towards the police department. The sky was grey and heavy looking clouds tainted the wide space above them, but the man didn’t care about it. The weekend replayed like a track in his mind, again and again, only to start over.

‘It was the first time since my birthday we just slept and had not sex while being in one bed. We just… slept. Somehow it was even more intimate than a round of steamy action, just to get down beside her and enjoy embracing her, while sinking into sleep. And I said “I love you” for the first time.’

Kakashi hadn’t thought about it too much, but today, as he woke up again with Hiko in his arms and in his own apartment instead of hers, the thoughts wouldn’t stop. For once he got out of bed before the woman and prepared breakfast and when she stumbled into his living room, his heart had _jumped_. Not like it didn’t all the time when he was near Hiko, but this morning it really nearly broke out of his chest. It literally skipped a beat at the mere sight of his girlfriend, the hair rumpled, rubbing tiredly her eyes and blinking sheepishly when a plate with pancakes was placed before her. Maybe the intimate confession in bed about her rape led to Kakashi feeling like this. Even now Kakashi felt the grief and rage pulsing through his body as he recalled her words. The image of the shorty how she desperately clung to a spider and lost her composure while facing yet another beating, another wave of insults, another humiliation and degradation of her self-esteem was hurting him more than he could believe, but at the same time, Kakashi was strangely hopeful hearing that from her. Because that meant she started to trust him with her past, not only with the present and possible future.

The thing that scared him… His heart never acted like this with Hanare. His heart never tried to escape through his throat, it never sang in happiness when they walked hand in hand.

And then the fear. The date itself was great and the cop remembered everything with a sharpness usually reserved for crime scenes, from the moment Hiko licked her fingers seductively to the point of her tensing up before their apartments. But the moment he had felt true fear was the second she let go of his hand in the dark alley.

He looked down at the black beanie, which covered the chocolate brown scalp of Hiko. Kakashi knew what she was capable off, but nevertheless he panicked when he turned around only to see the female getting attacked by an ominous shadow. He had never felt so helpless, so defeated, but then she had beaten the thief up, merciless and without any hesitation. Her angry face as she stood with her hands propped up at her hips above the crouched figure was probably the sexiest thing he had ever seen on the female and only because of that he was able to push his fear aside.

Her face showed she was okay. She wasn’t bothered by the attack.

They entered the atrium of the KPD and like they usually did, Hiko tried to loosen her hand from his grip, but today Kakashi held the little hand tighter. He didn’t want to let go of the woman.

 

“Kakashi…?” Confused she looked up to him and once more he was lost in her ice blue eyes. “Don’t you want to…?” She wiggled with her fingers in his grip.

“No. Not today.” he replied and watched lightly amused how the blood started to rush into her cheeks. But he just hid his own embarrassment behind his mask and he knew that Hiko knew. Or how else could he explain the elbow hitting his ribs or the weak “Idiot!” she hissed, before they continued their way to the main office.

The secretaries seemed to whisper about them as Kakashi and Hiko took the last steps and pushed the door open. It wasn’t like all present officers set their eyes instantly on them, but some did, amongst the few were Obito and Sasuke, the latter with deep stares. Hiko leaned into him and automatically he slung his arm around the slender shoulder, a motion that had become strangely common in the last  few weeks (if he ever tried to slip his arm around her waist, he had to bend nearly a 90 degrees, so actually it wasn’t so surprising).

“Did you hear?” Obito strolled over casually, not without raising an eyebrow at his snuggling sister. “The chief wants to send some officers to a conference.”

Kakashi shook his head. “Nope. But good to know.”

“What’s this year’s about?” asked Hiko, though her voice was muffled by the leather jacket she had nestled her face into. It almost seemed like she wanted to crawl into the cloth and flush herself against his naked skin, only to get even closer to him.

Obito’s eyebrow’s reached new heights. “It’s more orientated for the police officers at the main office, not like last time, I’m afraid. The main theme was the evolution of police or something like that… It’s held at Kumogakure.”

“Oh man…” The shorty pouted. “Guess this time I can’t have some vacation…”

Kakashi watched her curious. “You took vacation?”

“No. I made it a vacation. Besides, I already knew what the professor was talking about and on top of that, I had to correct him during his speech. Five times. Then he gave up and let me handle the presentation. The other participants thanked me in the end.”

The silver haired cop laughed at the imagination of Hiko, leaning smug into her chair and balancing it out while correcting the person in front, until the man gave frustrated up and left his podium, agitated grumbling and throwing his arms into the air. “You never cease to amaze me, you know that?”

 

“Hey, hey!” Obito gestured in wild motions around, while Hiko smiled and leaned in for a kiss on the mask. “My girlfriend isn’t here, I will get jealous!”

“I don’t care.” mumbled Kakashi and slung his arms around the small frame. After they shortly kissed, he turned again to his friend and smiled his infamous Sorry-not-sorry-smile, which the officers at the main office learned to hate. “Why not go to the labs underground? I heard they have a puppet for mouth-to-mouth practices down there.”

“What!?”

Hiko snickered and snuggled closer into his arms. On instinct Kakashi placed another kiss at her forehead, before cradling the female in a ginger hug, her back pressing against his chest. In the back of his mind he was aware that they were acting overly sweet and lovey-dovey at his workplace, what they had never done before, but something had changed over the weekend.

They were closer, if that was even possible. He wasn’t totally sure it was. But going on a date, seeing the woman fight and then the silent words they had exchanged before sleeping somehow made their bound grow.

The loud Uchiha was for once silent. His black eyes were set on them and on his lips played a little smirk. “It’s good to see you both like this.” The man nodded to underline his words. “You take care of each other. Good to see you stay true to your word, little sis.”

“Huh?” Surprised Kakashi let go off her and shifted between looking at the female and the raven head. “Stay true to “your” word? What have you promised?”

“That-!” Quickly Hiko wiggled out of his arms and shut her brother up. “I will tell you later, okay?” she said with a sweet smile, melting Kakashi’s heart at the sight. The other man tried to slap her hands above his mouth away, but she used more force and still kept looking at the silver haired cop, who nodded finally.

“Good. Later.”

 

Her smile widened and she took her hands away from Obito’s mouth, who dramatically bend over and coughed loudly. While he exclaimed various times he was being strangled by the shorty, Hiko kissed Kakashi one more time, then she exited the main office with a small wave. He waved back and watched her leaving.

           ‘And I miss her already.’

“When will Gedou-san announce the person who will go to the conference?” Kakashi asked when Obito calmed down enough to speak again. The other man shrugged. “Don’t know. But I hope this time I get elected. It would be awesome, for a whole week in one of the best hotels of Kumogakure! They do breakfast-buffets, you know?”

“That’s cool.” The silver haired cop didn’t believe he would be selected though. He was still too new in the department and other officers were far more fitted to visit a conference. But strangely he wasn’t bothered by it. Sure, a few months ago he would’ve been agitated because of the lost chance to advance in the ranks of the KPD, but now he was consent with his status. He had a loving girlfriend, a bunch of friends and he was good in what he was doing.

‘Another change in my life. First I was so resentful for being placed here, but now I like the comradeship and easy-going way that’s ruling this department. SFU was all about keeping up a serious front and act all superior in comparison.’

Obito patted with a cheerful grin his shoulder and awoke the male out of his thoughts. “Enough! We have to work to get done! Ready for some paperwork?”

Kakashi had to put in some effort to chuckle, but it was honest. “Sure. So, where is my stack?”

 

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

_ChatRoom of the KPD_

_Main office: ObitoU.; GaiM.; KurenaiY.; AsumaS.; KakashiH.; IzumoK.; KotetsuH.; NarutoU.; SasukeU.; KibaI.; TentenF; ShikamaruN._

_CHIEF: To all police officers in the main office, I’m sure some of you have already heard, but next week there will be a conference be held in Kumogakure, under the main theme of “The past and future of the police”. There will be several lectures to different topics and the persons I will send there have to represent our department with the utmost dignity and pride._

_The officers going are: Kurenai Yuuhi, Obito Uchiha, Kakashi Hatake_

_The exact dates and times will be send to you over the intern network._

_Thank you very much for your hard work and keep it up._

 

Flabbergasted, Kakashi stared at the screen. From behind Obito already started to make a list what he would take with him and what he would do in the free time, but the silver haired cop couldn’t think straight. He really hadn’t believed he would be selected, he was even grateful for not being sent, because then he wouldn’t have to leave Hiko. With a wary sigh he closed the chat and rolled his chair back.

“Where are you going?” Obito yelled over the various desks as Kakashi stood up.

“I just want to ask Gedou-san something.” he replied casually and knocked at the office door of their chief. He waited for the grumped “Come in!” and opened the door, noticing the suspicious glance in his back from the loud Uchiha.

The chief sat at his sturdy desk, a pair of glasses located at the nose. His eyes were fixed at the screen in front of him, but the redhead looked up from his work as his subordinate stepped closer.

“What can I do for you, Hatake-san?” Nagato gestured Kakashi to sit down, while rubbing with index finger and thumb the bridge of his nose. “It is about the conference, I assume?”

“Partly.” the cop admitted. “I was just wondering why I was selected. It’s been only a few months since I’ve been stationed here and it’s not so much time, compared to other officers like Sarutobi-san.”

“Hatake-san, can I speak openly with you?”

“Sure.”

Nagato leaned back into his seat and nestled at his thin glasses, still not accustomed to the new device. “It’s a thank-you gift.”

Kakashi had expected something entirely else, so his response wasn’t the most eloquent one. “Huh?”

“Since your arrival, Kobayashi-san has calmed down. You can’t know about it, but before she was a real troublemaker, threatening the officers and disturbing the peace in the main office with her antics. Sure, she is always on time, does a great job and mostly didn’t mean it, but her lack of social skills really troubled me. I had a whole cabinet with complaints about her; from simple things like unintentional insults to her pranks. Especially the weeks around the middle of May are bad, but this year you distracted her somehow. I’m not asking how you did it, but all the officers are grateful for the change in pace.” said Nagato straight forward, his intense eyes set at his officer. “I can’t speak for the entire station, but now working with Hiko became much easier. Besides, you work hard and deserve the chance to go to Kumo. It’s not only based on the relationship. Currently, you’re one of my best officers and I’m sure you will be able to represent our department properly. Now back to work, the major wanted to call me in a few minutes.”

The chief dismissed him so fast that Kakashi couldn’t really process what he meant with his words. Only when he was again at his desk, the topic of the conversation penetrated his skull and he shook mildly laughing his head.

           ‘I have still to break the news to Hiko…’

 

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

Said brunette was currently busy with her work. Gnawing on her lower lip, Hiko typed intensely at her keyboard, from time to time grumbling something incoherent and wildly clicking with the mouse.

Since the terrible things she experienced, the woman always relied on her instincts. She hadn’t listened to them when Kabuto had approached her and after the rape she swore to herself to let them influence her. Today they told her to be more sensitive to her surroundings, to watch out for possible threats. It was a constant whisper in the back of her mind. Sometimes she even forgot about it, until Hiko paused for a moment in her work, then the voices returned, nagging about an unknown distant feel of danger.

It was annoying.

“Gooddammit…” she snarled and tugged at her beanie. The cloth hindered her ears to catch every possible sound, so the female dropped it at the wooden desk and ruffled through her open hair.

The harsh fall came with all his might to Konoha. But thick clothes like her black coat, a pullover with the print of a halfmoon, jeans and engineer boots helped a lot. Absent mindedly, Hiko stretched out a wrinkle in her pants and sighed, again nibbling on her bottom lip.

Hinata looked up from her work. “Hiko? Is something wrong?” Her voice was earnestly worried and she didn’t want to bother her, so she waved with a little grin at the younger female.

“Na, only the weather.” Indeed was the sky depressing like this, all heavy clouded and grey. “It’s… kind of a mood-killer, don’t you think?”

Hinata joined the stare out of the window, but a gentle smile spread on her lips. “Only if you believe so. There are things you can also enjoy in fall, like drinking tea, getting comfy in your home, c-cuddling with your loved one…”

Hiko chuckled weakly at the blush which creeped over the raven’s face. “Oh? Then how does it go with Naruto? Good, bad, something in between?”

“Good. Really good.” While Hinata talked more and more lively about the last date the two young ones had, the brunette relaxed in the constant stream of words. The Hyuuga girl was too nice, but somehow nobody dared to taint such purity. Even Izumo and Kotetsu, who were usually not hesitating to make some perverted comments about their co-workers, restrained themselves in the near proximity of the shy girl and asked nicely about her health and such. And since they were dating, Naruto grinned more often and visited the IT-office, bringing also sometimes a sweet treat or two for Hiko with him (she had long forgiven him, but enjoyed the treats too much to tell).

 

Itachi had unfortunately caught a flu, so the shorty was able to set her own break times. After she chatted a bit with Hinata and did her work at the same time, she decided she needed one. Maybe also a tea, like her co-worker suggested.

“Do you want something to drink Hinata?” Hiko asked, but the woman on the opposite desk shook her head. “Thank you, but no. I appreciate it, though.”

With a small smile on her lips the brunette left the IT-office, only to hear the desperate groan of Shino behind her, before the door closed fully. “Am I that invisible…?”

‘I will get him something as an apology.’

But the regretful thought faded when she entered the open kitchen and saw the well-known back of her boyfriend, scrambling through the gigantic fridge. She paused for a split second and simply appreciated the view in front of her, but just like he had sensed her with his trained SFU-instincts, he turned around quickly. Kakashi’s eyes lit up when he noticed it was her.

They were alone in the kitchen, not unusual. Most police officers didn’t use the room to sit down and talk, they just stored their food here and got their obligatory cup of coffee if needed. Hiko leaned close to the male against the counter, that her small back rested at the edge and crossed her arms over her chest. “So…” She watched him slightly squirm at the teasing tone she used, while he finally found his lunch in the depths of the black monster. “Any plans for tonight?”

“Let me think about it for a moment…”

A delicious shiver crawled over her skin as the black eyes raked over her body. Her clothing wasn’t revealing, but Kakashi had the undeniable talent to make her feel sexy even in loose and unwomanly clothing. She felt the path he took, from her feet over to her clothed thighs, to the soft fabric of her pullover, which stretched over her breasts to the small open space where her neck peeked out, revealing nothing but creamy skin to the man. Then he shifted to her face, caught her ice blue eyes with his and studied her features like he would go away and never get the chance to return.

 

He smiled slyly underneath his flu mask. “I think I have an idea.”

Hiko almost giggled. There was a mischievous spark he couldn’t hide from her and anticipation started to build up. “Will you tell me?” she rasped while stepping closer, nearly into his reach. It was only another form of mockery for the brunette and she quite liked the outcome of it. Kakashi had started it the week ago and the encounter they had then in her bedroom was heated enough to melt a whole army of snowmen.

Kakashi glanced again over her. “Let’s say it like this… The shower hasn’t had her share of the fun yet.”

“The shower?” the shorty repeated a bit shocked at the image. “How…? Do you want to carry me the whole time?”

“You think I can’t handle you?”

“My love, you _can’t_ handle me.”

“Seems I have to change your mind.” Faster than Hiko could react, he had scooped her up, her body fully flushed against his. Automatically she wrapped her legs around his waist as Kakashi stared in triumph at her. “See?” The flu mask lifted with his words. “I can handle you.”

“Good. You have proven me wrong. But what are we going to do now?” Hiko raised her eyebrows. They were still tightly pressed against each other, not that she would complain. His warmth sapped through their clothes, his arms which were slung around her waist and held her possessively up flexed and she felt his breath ghost over her lightly parted lips, even through the mask.

“You could remove my mask.”

“And then?”

“You could kiss me.”

“And then?”

“I could ravish your mouth until you beg me to take you right here, but I’m not going to do it. I would leave, even if it also pains me to the very core, but knowing this evening both of us are burning to get laid. You get my point?”

 

Alone the pictures set her lower stomach on fire. With a grin she rubbed lightly up and down, making Kakashi groan weakly. The sounds he produced turned her even more on. With her teeth she tugged at the hindering cloth stopping her from touching the man’s lips, not willing to unwrap her arms around his neck. “Oh really?” the shorty mumbled into his ear, when her original goal failed. Instead she started to lick slowly the earlobe, fully aware Kakashi was extremely sensitive there (Hiko was fond of this secret and planned to never reveal it to anyone). Another deep groan, rumbling through both their chests while the female chuckled and sucked the little nub.

But Kakashi wasn’t lazy. Instead of just giving in to the emotions running amok, his hands started to roam all over her back, mainly focused around her butt and upper thighs, but also her flanks weren’t forgotten, making her squirm and pant lightly. He had nuzzled his face into her shoulder, muffling his hitched breaths and moans in the fabric.

Hiko licked one last time over the whole shell, then started to make her way down his neck, sucking, kissing and also licking. His body trembled in need and pleasure, but so was hers. She panted harshly out when his fingers squeezed her ass firmly. “Kakashi!” Only a low sound, but in the silence of the kitchen it echoed between the walls, just like their moans and other embarrassing sounds did.

A surprised squeal escaped the shorty as her lover found her own weak spot with his lips, a small part of her neck just beneath and behind her ear, usually hidden under the deep brown curtain of her mane. Kakashi sucked for a second, let his mouth wander all over the spot and chuckled when Hiko moaned loudly into the thick silence. “My needy little fire fly… What am I going to do with you?”

“Hrchm, hrchm…” At the cough Hiko and Kakashi froze on the spot. After a moment the silver haired man turned away from the door, not caring whoever stood there and covered with his own body the smaller woman. Like this the shorty could spot Ebisu in the doorframe, adjusting his black sunglasses and wearing a small scowl on his face. The second-in-command was a very secretive and closed-up person, from head to toes. Nevertheless he worked diligently and was serious, to the point of reminding officers about their reports three days before the due date.

 

While Kakashi let Hiko slowly slid down on his hard-rock body, Ebisu started his little tirade, just like a mother who discovered her precious son together with a girl in the comfy bed. “I can’t believe it! Such indignity inside of the KPD! I hadn’t expected such improper behavior from both of you!”

Hiko ignored the shouted words completely and only looked into the black eyes above her, totally captured in the intense look she received. There were love, lust and… loss?

“Sorry Ebisu-san.” the shorty said after a few seconds when the dark-clothed man paused in his roasting. “We just got… carried away.” She straightened a crumple in Kakashi’s shirt out. Her fingers lingered for a moment above the abs and caressed tenderly the stomach muscles underneath, which flexed under her ministrations.

“Carried away?” Ebisu snorted, obviously extremely agitated by the words she used to describe the predicament he found the two in. “You call that “carried away”? The police station isn’t a place to get “carried away”!”

“Maa, Ebisu-san…” Kakashi turned around, one hand raised to scratch in a sheepish way his scalp. “You can’t blame me. Kobayashi-san is just too irresistible.”

“Kakashi!”

“It’s true! She used her evil charms and put me under a spell, so that I wouldn’t resist when she made her move!”

“You’re such a horny bastard! You picked me up and were the one who suggested to “ravish me”!”

“Who is horny, huh, who?”

“Stop being such a smug idiot, and drop that disgusting smile of yours!”

“You can’t see it.”

“Oh, and how much I see it. The crease in your eyes is sign enough.”

During their banter they had shifted their attention towards each other. Hiko placed her hands at her hips and glared with a pout upwards, while Kakashi wore the same infamous smile he showed Obito earlier, but his voice was just as teasing as the shorty’s was angry. Only until the second-in-command coughed loudly. “Is this a soap opera? Or is this a workplace of diligent police officers? I will tell you, it’s not some place where you can make-out in the broad daylight!” he yelled agitated, pushing the dark sunglasses up.

“We didn’t make-out…” Kakashi murmured silently, but Hiko elbowed him.

 

“Will you shut up now?” she hissed between gritted teeth to her boyfriend, then smiled forced at the other man in the room. “I’m really sorry, Ebisu-san. It will not happen again.”

Ebisu mumbled something incoherent, threw one last suspicious glance at them (like they would continue after he caught them!) and left the kitchen.

The silver haired male slung his arms around her. He leaned down, his mouth moving under the rough fabric of his mask and closely beside her ear. “Now that he’s gone…” The seductive tone didn’t miss the goal, but the brunette wiggled fastly out of his hug, trying to ignore the heat flooding her whole body.

“Not now. Later.” she promised with a wink. “Originally I only wanted to brew some tea and instead get almost arrested for PDA. Enough fuss for a day, don’t you think?”

“But you have to admit that you started it.”

“Fine.” Blushing a bit Hiko tugged a cup out of the drawers and filled the kettle with water, while Kakashi leaned against the kitchen counter, one leg relaxed bend and both palms resting at the cold top of the counter. “I started it. Satisfied?”

A low chuckle from the man; one of the kind which crawled into the pit of her stomach and enflamed her. “Not as long as we haven’t done some _things_ together.”

“Things?” asked Hiko innocently back and bound the strip of a tea bag around the handle of the mug, all the while biting her bottom lip and smiling.

“ _Things_.” repeated Kakashi and slid closer to her, still casually leaning on the working platform. His narrow hips touched the flank of the woman slightly, his muscular arm pressed against hers and his left foot rubbed slowly up and down her calf, ruffling the rough fabric of the jeans. “And how much I love to do _things_ to you…”

She giggled and shushed the childish man beside her. “Already told you: tonight. I’m looking forward to it and your…” Hiko turned slowly around and let her eyes rake over Kakashi’s body, making sure he got the full force and meaning of her look. Smirking inwardly she noticed he tensed up and the bump which had formed in his jeans, begging to be released and treated.

 

“Performance.” she ended with a smirk and gave him a playful wink.

It was funny how much had changed over the years. Before Kabuto she couldn’t even whisper the word “sex” without turning into a gigantic tomato-head. With the rapist, she had loosened up, only to completely cut off the tires binding her to her sexuality. Eleven years she had buried this part of her and totally forgot that she liked sex back then, when the grey haired glasses-guy decided to gift her with an orgasm. With Kakashi it was nothing new: she only discovered her old confident self again. Including her love for ambiguous words. And knowing her words had the effect of making him hiss and squirm made it only more enjoyable for Hiko to tease the cop, who now fidgeted uncomfortable, trying to relieve some of the ache in his groin.

“God fire fly, what are you doing to me?” he groaned embarrassed. “I can’t go down into the main office like this!”

“Not my problem. And before I forget, don’t you dare touch yourself until we are home. I will naturally follow my own order too.”

Kakashi whined almost. “Hiko! You can’t say something like this so easily!”

“Why not?” she sighed and poured the hot water into the cup.

“Now I’m all day at my breaking point! Not one calm minute without controlling myself and trying to forget the way how you look when you are aroused or thinking about your words just now, or all the other times we made sweet love!”

“Oh, Kakashi… Maybe I intended it? And it’s cute that you say “making love”. Didn’t know you were the romantic type. Bye, my love.”

Fastly the brunette hurried over to the door, in her hand balancing the tea out, but the silver haired male growled something and she had to stop on her way to catch it.

“And you’re a little sexy witch. You like to torture me, but I will get you back.”

She stopped. “Really? Then I have something I can look forward to.” With a lazy wave Hiko ran from the kitchen, not without swaying her hips a little, what earned her a desperate groan. As she entered the IT-office again, she remembered her second task at hand.

           ‘Damn, I forgot Shino’s cup…’

She didn’t know that Kakashi stood with a raging hard-on in the kitchen, sighing inwardly and thinking about the message he yet had to break to the woman, partly looking forward to the evening and partly hoping the evening would never come.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Like always, my thanks go to the wonderful Miss-Fandoms-Shakespeare for proofreading and correcting my mistakes. :)


	35. We can call it a day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kakashi really wants to tell Hiko about his participation at the conference, but... Well, she has other plans for the evening and he wouldn't dare to interrupt them.

The day itself was quite normal. Hiko worked diligently, all the while trying to include Shino in more of her actions. Shortly before she exited the office for the last time, the cloaked young man even smiled at her; a small pitiful smile, but nevertheless a smile.  Her instincts calmed down, letting out a sigh in annoyance at her own stupidity.

“See, there’s nothing to fear.” the female mumbled to herself. While walking down the hallway to the atrium, her speed picked up unconsciously. Hiko couldn’t wait to get home again. Through work she had managed to contain the lust, but now, with nothing what could distract her pervy mind from the delicious images, her loins started to produce more moist liquid and soaked the panties in the process. When she entered the entrance hall and noticed Kakashi casually standing there, his face buried in the green-clad “Icha-Icha-Tactics”, said cloth was uncomfortably wet.

At the sight of Hiko the silver haired man instantly placed the thin booklet inside his jacket, not without marking the page he he was on, of course, and reached out. “Hey.”

She grinned and took his hand. “Hey. How was your day?”

“Paperwork, more paperwork and even more paperwork.” Kakashi rolled his eyes, but smiled lightly underneath the mask. “Time that Gai gets back. Did I mention the paperwork?”

“Only one or two times.” Slowly they made their way out of the department, much like they had entered it. Their hands were linked, the sky was still grey – a bit darker due to the late time – and both clad in their respective clothes, but Hiko hoped this fact would change when they got home.

The drive home was filled with stories about the happenings inside the KPD. However, as Hiko turned the wheel to enter her their street, she decided to take the conversation to the next level.

“So…” She stretched the “O” out. “Have you done something?”

“Huh? What?” Confused Kakashi tilted his head.

“Remember our little chat in the kitchen and the…  _ thing _ I asked you to do, or to specify, not to do?”

It took him a moment, but then the cop hissed when the memory hit him with the force of a wrecking ball. Sharply he shook his head that the silver tresses swayed with the movement. Hiko chuckled at the eagerness of Kakashi. “Good. But I’m a bit sad you’ve forgotten about it. Seems my words don’t have such an impact on you…”

“You really believe your words have no impact? My little fire fly, I needed ten minutes to calm myself down enough to keep at least some of my pride! And only by focusing on my boring mindless paperwork steadied me that I wouldn’t storm into your office and take you on your desk and I hadn’t cared about two young officers watching us! The only reason why I didn’t jump you the moment you entered the atrium was that I pushed every horny, lusting, arousing thought away with every ounce of self-control I have.” he rasped strained out.

Biting her lower lip, the shorty had to concentrate on too many things. At the same time she gnawed on her bottom lip, parked the car swiftly, fought the steamy pictures in her mind and rubbed her thighs together, in the hope to relief at least some of the ache between them. Kakashi was the same as her: he could arouse her with just words like she did to him. And he also figured it out, because the man leaned over to her, the mask lightly scratching over her earlobe as he whispered with a smug undertone.

“I hope for you that you also followed your own suggestion. Or was it too unbearable for you? Hiko? Have you touched yourself in the Konoha Police Department, maybe in an unobserved moment through your pants, while you told me not to?”

“No! Naturally not!” she shouted.

“Good.” repeated Kakashi and opened the door. Hiko followed, suddenly feeling all hot and breathy, but she was wrong, the heat was there all along, the whole day to be exact. Automatically she had done the same thing as Kakashi, shutting off the emotions running amok inside her.

He waited for the shorty. “I can’t wait to be finally inside you.” he said while linking her fingers with his own. “Back in the kitchen I thought about all the things I want to do with you. To make you moan into my mouth, to make you buck and arch into my touch, to make you rasp or scream my name… whatever you like.”

Both of them picked up a faster pace as they usually had, almost jogging to the apartment complex. Nevertheless Hiko fell slightly back. Her short legs wouldn’t keep up with the long strong limbs of Kakashi, so she was dragged with the man like a kid would drag a doll around.

When they entered her apartment, the shorty couldn’t suppress the crooked smile anymore to tug at her lips. Kakashi was so eager to get into the action that he couldn’t keep his fingers by himself, pressing himself against her small frame that not even a ray of light would get between them. The bulge in his pants rubbed teasingly up and down while he shoved her forward and she laughed out at the alien but satisfying feeling.

“Wait.” she demanded just when the man wanted to move into action, his hands already sliding sneakyily under the rim of her pullover.

The black eyes widened. “What are you planning?”

Hiko grabbed his hand and pulled him in the middle of the living room. “You know my bathroom isn’t the biggest, so we have to get out of our clothes here. And honestly… I want to be the one to get you out of your clothes.”

“If I get the same pleasure?”

She licked her lips at the thought of Kakashi pulling her out of her jeans, his fingers softly tracing the outlines of her panties, only teasing and barely touching the skin. The same thing she planned to do to him. “We will see.”

Kakashi shuddered at the sight of her expression. The evening sun illuminated his broad and tall figure in a way the shorty only could call “artistic”. If she could draw, she would surely get the cop to model for her, but she couldn’t even make a single straight line without messing up. She had to settle for burning this into her brain, with every ounce of determination she had.

The silver haired male didn’t care about the weather at all, so he was only cladded into a simple short-sleeved tee in black and a worn-out blue jeans, which hung dangerously low from his hipbones. Gingerly Hiko hooked her index finger under the hem of the shirt and lifted it slightly, revealing a bit of pale skin and the waistband of the red boxer shorts peeking out. Absent mindedly, she held the shirt in position and traced with her other free hand over the darker band, while her glassed eyes raked over the masked face, searching for the precious emotions she put him in.

Arousal, wild and tamed at the same time.

Love, possessive and unconditional.

Resistance, to his own needs and to her bolder getting hand, slowly caressing the sensitive skin around the navel and playing with the streak of curling hair leading down to his groin.

Hiko’s smirk grew wider. “I have to say, red seems to be your color.” Slowly her fingertips slid farther under the fabric of the dark shirt, scanning the outlines of hard muscles and little crescents of jagged scars. “It’s such a stark contrast. White and red, you know? Reminds me of snow white. Black like ebony, white like snow and red like blood.”

Kakashi heaved a bit, obviously not satisfied with the slow pace she set. His arms hung by his side, the fists tightly clenched and trembling under the force he used on himself. He shook his head, eyes shut and the shorty was sure he bit his bottom lip to hinder any embarrassing sounds from spilling.

She withdrew suddenly. “Lean down for me, my love.”

The man expected something like a hungry kiss and his eyes creased at the hunch, but she only loosened the straps of the flu mask. Like feathers her fingers stroked over the rough fabric, only to curl around the thin white strings and uncovering the handsome face underneath. Kakashi had so many layers, not only the mask and his demeanor. Under all those thick, but easily cracked layers was a man who had denied himself every interaction with other people, too scared of being hurt again. But he trusted her somehow, because of simple things like being friends beforehand. She couldn’t even imagine how this relationship would have gone, if she had met her boyfriend otherwise and he had started hitting on her. Surely not like this.

He helped her with her problems. He had kept up with her fear, with the possible rejections and nights on the couch, even with her fastly growing hunger for more. So she wanted to give something back to him – the feeling of being loved. And she knew exactly how she wanted to let him feel that.

“Your eyes are black like ebony. So beautiful. So intense.” Tilting her face upwards, Hiko placed little butterfly-kisses at the still shut eyelids. Not more than a quick pressure at the delicate skin, rimmed by silver brows and faint wrinkles. Her right hand cupped the cheek and traced the bone with her thumb, while her other hand felt the pulse at his neck quicken slightly. The moment she retreated, said deep pools opened and blinked quite sheepishly. She chuckled at the confusion in the clever man’s face. “Didn’t expect that, huh? I can go on a bit more. Can you?”

Dimples appeared at his cheeks as he smiled. “I can go on how long you want.”

“Excellent.” purred the brunette. “Absolutely  _ ex-cellent _ .”

She didn’t kiss him yet. Instead Hiko caressed the upper body of the man, dragging her palms over the strong neck; gently scratching the frail skin, over the soft bows of the collarbones; following the curve and lingering there for a moment before continuing the journey and resting her lightly shaking limbs on the last few of Kakashi’s rips on either side. Even through the shirt she was able to feel the pure heat he radiated in waves, thus the faint pounding of the heart transferring the blood into the whole body. Drawing the last rib with her thumb, Hiko savored the soft sounds from the cop inside her.

It made her aroused too, even more aroused than before. Knowing that someone could get high from only your touches was a mighty aphrodisiac after all. She suppressed a moan, buried it deep inside her and concentrated again on the task on hand.

Driving Kakashi slowly crazy. But she needed more skin, more bare, delicious skin to work with.

“Lift your arms.” she commanded, a husky undertone swaying in her voice. He obliged hastily. The brunette snickered silently at the eagerness, only to break into a helpless laughter when she had managed to rid the tee up to his head, but got stopped by her own height. She tugged a few times at the tee, then the woman pouted. “Kakashi? Strip it off for me, please.”

Faster than a flash itself, the silver haired mal hauled the tee over his head. Hiko feared for a split second it would rip, so forceful was the tug at the fabric, but only the threads groaned a bit at the rough handling.

The last time Hiko got such a marvelous and clear view on the upper body of Kakashi was his birthday night. In the faint darkness she wasn’t able to appreciate the pure charm back then, but now nothing could hinder her eyes from noticing every little detail and telling the history of the man.

Her eyes trailed over the chiseled chest, whispering about hours spent training and working out. The various scars, earned in countless dangerous tasks and missions, protecting his comrades or fighting in the front line. Each crooked or jagged bulge, each faint sign of a gunshot, resembling little craters, told a different tale about Kakashi.

Hiko started with a long, flat one, which was placed at his pectoral muscles just above his left nipple. She bend forward to the skin, paused shortly, then embraced her love and kissed the scar lightly. And again, just to make sure.

A mighty tremble flared through Kakashi’s body. “Hiko.”

Just a groan, filled with the desire to touch her too. The female couldn’t deny the sheer volcano erupting in her belly at the hushed sound. Whimpering, she switched to the next scar, a horizontal slash; still a bit pink and rough even after years, and placed another peck on top of it.

Like Kakashi had worshipped her body at their first night together, Hiko copied his movements without a hint of hesitation. Her plump lips moved all over the chest, then over the clearly outlined abdomen muscles, mouthing the different hills and marks. Turned on by the trembles and shudders travelling through the older man, the brunette mirrored his arousal with the same amount of unconscious moaning and silent coos. At the same time her hands slid down to the front of his pants, which were restraining his erection. The sound of the zipper becoming undone echoed through the room and Kakashi gasped as she suddenly palmed the still clothed bulge.

He cried weakly. “Hiko! God!”

“Your skin is white like snow. I swear, if you ever decide to go outside at winter and miraculously  lose all your clothes, nobody would ever find you.” mumbled Hiko while nipping at the ripped abs. Her hands continued to massage the hard-on, but without any real pressure, only cupping it and lightly rubbing up and down. After straightening up again, she leaned to the upper arm of Kakashi and licked oh-so-slowly over the red contours of the abstract tattoo. “And here is the red. Red like blood. It’s you and I like it.”

“Firefly, please…” He bucked desperate into her hand. Moisture transferred through the cotton of his briefs and stained her palm, but she didn’t mind it. “Don’t tease me any longer!” he begged, the usually half-lidded eyes shut close and sweat drops forming on his forehead.

With a chuckle Hiko tilted her head upwards, up to his lips. When they met, it was simple and light, nothing more than a loving kiss. Then Kakashi groaned. His tongue snaked over her sensitive flesh and she opened up to him. The cop took it as an invitation to embrace her tightly, in the process pressing his whole length against her stomach.

Fastly the kiss grew into a sloppy, heated mess. Hiko moaned into Kakashi’s mouth and he returned the favor just as needy as her, while their tongues clashed together, rubbing, tasting and still needing more.  

“Kakashi…” Another swipe over her bottom lip as she rasped. “I love you. Love you  _ so _ much.” Hiko started to kiss everything in her reach. First the jaw. Then farther down over the neck. A little bite, then sucking on the pale skin until it bruised. Kakashi’s surface burned under her lips, a delicious difference to her cool mouth. Nevertheless her whole body was also on fire, begging her brain to finally give in to the temptation before her.

“You’re driving me crazy.” breathed the male out, the words nearly lost in a little whimper. “You’re driving me fucking crazy. Hikoooo… I know I said I could go on as long as you want, but when you continue to do this-!”

“What?”

“-I won’t be able to hold back any longer, so please! Stop this!”

“What am I doing?”

“You’re rubbing yourself on me! Goddammit!” Kakashi hissed sharply and threw his head back. The arms around the woman tightened and only know she noticed that he was right. In her dazed state she had curled herself around the large erection, standing proudly out of the jeans and briefs, and stroked it with her whole body by rocking up and down. A prominent wet spot was on the front of his tight boxers and left even some moisture on her black pullover. Curiosity filled the shorty at the stain, but she restrained herself. For now.

“I’m sorry.” she whispered. “It was an unconscious thing.” On the inside she adored the look of awed lust on Kakashi’s face, the dazed eyes and the slightly open mouth, the flushed cheeks and the sweaty silver hair dangling into the forehead.

It was enough.

“Come on, my love. Help me a bit.” The brunette tugged at the jeans, on her lips wearing a shy smile. “I also can’t wait any longer.” she added.

Together with him, she discarded the jeans and boxers in one swoop and finally,  _ finally  _ Kakashi stood fully naked in front of her. Her eyes slid to the lower part of his body and took the sight in.

His erection was twitching in the cooler air of the living room. Pre-cum glistened all over the sensitive organ, dispersed by the unintended humping of the woman. Accentuated by silver locks of pubic hair and a pair of surely aching balls the hard-on grew even a bit larger while Hiko watched him intently. Kakashi shifted on his feet, what made the organ also move and she couldn’t tear her look away from it.

“Hiko,  _ please. _ ” She understood in an instant. Slowly she reached out to the hems of her pullover and striped the cloth off. The fabric slid like fingers over her sensitive skin and sent weak jolts of electricity through her system. Then, her eyes were locked with the black dazed eyes, the shorty dropped it with a lazy twist of her wrist at the ground, just on top of the pile of his clothes. Her jeans followed and she felt the path his eyes took as he watched the rough fabric drop to the ground, softly ruffling in between the heavy breaths from both.

“You can help me with my underwear.” suggested the brunette and at the same time discarded her glasses and wrapped the fragile device in her beanie. She threw it over the backrest of the sofa and heard the soft ‘thud’ as it connected with the furniture.

Then everything happened suddenly very fast.

In one moment, Kakashi stood one step away from her, his hands clenching and unclenching as she ruffled through her brown mane. The next thing Hiko knew were the greedy touches all over her body and the pure mass of flesh crashing into her. Lips claimed hungrily her mouth and she groaned in the bruising kiss, happily opening up to the tongue begging for entrance. The female gasped as Kakashi scooped her up. “Wait!”

“Not anymore.” A low growl, sounding more like it would belong to a wolf or lynx. “You teased me too long. Now it’s my turn.”

It should’ve been scary. It really should be. But instead of being intimidated by the dangerous demand, the female’s love juices overflowed. She felt them streaming down her inner thighs and clashing with the skin of Kakashi. The heat was overbearing and Hiko cried desperately out as he held her against his chest while nestling with the hindering panties. “Kaka-! Aah! Faster, don’t-!”

His fingers slipped eagerly past the silk and she cried out. “Kakashi!” Whining the shorty trembled in the man’s arms as he fingered her with experience, knowing which places he had to rub to make her scream. Automatically her thin arms circled his neck and she pressed her face into the crook, jitterish and sweating.

He laughed hoarsely; a sound which send shivers down her spine whenever she heard it. “I’m feeling generous today. I won’t make you wait…  _ long _ .”

Suddenly he dived knuckle-deep inside and Hiko’s head lolled backwards in a cry. Her mind was thrown in a state of utmost dazed lust, swirling and washing every fatigue and coldness away. There was only place for heat, more heat and burning sensations, torturing slow and deliciously carried out.

It must be hard, holding her relentlessly moving body and pleasuring her at the same time, especially in such a strange angle, but Kakashi didn’t complain. His black eyes were fixed on her face while he curled his fingers and brushed over the little sensitive spot. Hiko screamed surprised out. “AAH!”

Kakashi smirked in victory. “Should I leave you hanging there?” As a warning he stopped every movement and even dared to slip a bit out of her fold. “Should I leave you there, near the edge but not able to get over it yourself, because you need my touch and my voice and my body to reach it? I’m tempted, my little fire fly. Very tempted.”

“Don’t-you-dare.” she snarled. Her legs entangled and her heels digged into his smaller back, she raised her face to his. “Don’t you  _ fucking  _ dare! Or I’ll forget myself and become your greatest nightmare!”

“Oh, really?” Innocently he bucked his fingers and she moaned. “But you’re already in all my dreams.” With his free hand he unhooked her bra and watched the woman eagerly squirming out of it. Then Kakashi snaked said arm around her waist and shored Hiko, while he moved his fingers out of her and helped with the discarding of the soaked and surely ruined panties.

Hiko didn’t think anymore. She only felt, felt how he brushed with his face over her breasts, felt how his hips moved and rocked when he started walking towards the bathroom and felt his legs raising when he climbed still with her body pressed against his into the tube. Kakashi nuzzled his features into her hair and whispered, while he searched at the handle for the right water temperature. “You want it now harder, huh? You need it. Don’t be afraid of me, ever.”

Warm, blessed water rained down on them. Hiko cried out as he lowered her body slowly. Skin rubbed over skin and soon she was only a panting and whimpering mess, while Kakashi only trembled under the force of his feelings. His tip stroked lightly over her entrance, teasing just like she had and her toes curled at the sensation.

Suddenly the man slammed her back into the white wall. “God, Hiko! You’re making me hornier than any woman I ever fucked.”

“Don’t talk!” The brunette clawed into the broad shoulders. “Fuck me! Please, please, please, just fuck me, I need it, you don’t know how much I need it, I need you inside me, now, please, now, only now Kakashi!”

“As you wish.” With one single thrust he completely entered her, setting a fast and unforgiving rhythm. Skin slapped against skin, over and over while the silver haired male pushed Hiko up the wall and massaged her nipples with his thumbs, never forfeiting the task he was given.

The brunette responded with everything she had, rolling her hips, gasping and panting and finally their mouths crashed together. Tongues clashed and Kakashi grunted in the kiss. She couldn’t describe the emotions running wild in her, only one thing was for sure: Hiko wouldn’t last much longer, not under the force of the thrusts and bucks of the man’s hips. Desperately she squeezed her eyes shut and clawed into the silver wet mane of his. “Kakashi! I’m coming!”

He didn’t answer, only speed up his attempts.

The light exploded before her eyes. With a silent scream Hiko tightened around the still pounding member, entranced by the peak of pleasure and her skin sensitive to the point of hurting only with the light pressure of water against it.

Kakashi needed only a few more hasty motions, then the warm liquid spilled inside her. She felt it splash and sighed at the pleasant feeling, while he buried his face in the crook of her neck. Heavily panting they kept their position for a few more minutes. After that Kakashi started to kiss Hiko once more, this time not claiming and bruising, but gentle and longing. All the while the cop raised her from his limp member and placed the shorty at her own two feet.

The next thirty minutes were spent with washing and scrubbing the other, in between were tender words and countless loving looks. It didn’t help her libido at all, so it wasn’t a surprise to found herself in the embrace of her boyfriend once more when they exited the shower, what only lead to another round of intense sex. Afterwards they snuggled into her blankets, too exhausted to do more than hugging the other. Kakashi had his eyes closed and relished in the comfortable feeling of Hiko, who rested her head in the crook of his arm and drew little signs and letters on his stomach, while his hand mirrored her movements in her back. Only then Hiko raised her eyebrow with her last willpower and tilted her face into Kakashi’s sight.

“When exactly were you going to inform me about your participation at the conference?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay >.< (Hopefully the smut will compensate you all!)  
> And like always thanks to the lovely Miss_Fandoms_Shakespeare for looking over my mistakes and correcting them! :)


	36. Departure

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kakashi leaves for the conference and discovers Hiko's travel-mood.

The shorty’s tone was calm and collected, but she couldn’t fool Kakashi. She was indeed able to mask her feelings, but mostly decided that there was simply no need to do so. Automatically, he tensed up and the little ministration on her behind died down. Though the woman continued hers and wrote still loopy letters and symbols on his stomach.

“How do you know?” he asked and hoped this would distract her for a while.

She gave him a single sour look. “Nagato-san wrote it in the main office chat, yes, but as the administrator I have some… advantages. I get notifications whenever Nagato writes something, may it be for the main office or the biology lab down under. So, when were you going to tell me about it?”

“Originally in the kitchen.”

“But I distracted you. Okay.”

“Then in the car.”

“But…?”

“I didn’t want to disturb you.”

Hiko rolled her eyes. “You didn’t want to disturb me? Really? That’s weak. Kakashi, don’t give me that shit. What’s wrong?”

He didn’t answer. Instead he withdrew a bit from the female, well tried. As he just freed his arm from her grip, Hiko grabbed with surprising strength to the limb and forced herself on him. “Don’t you dare!” she hissed, just like an hour ago, but this time with real anger in her eyes. “Don’t you dare and turn your back on me now! There’s something you don’t want to tell me, fine! Everyone has his own secrets and I respect that! But I don’t understand why you didn’t want to tell something as insignificant like going to the conference and kept quiet about it!”

Her ice blue eyes burned into his black eyes. But Kakashi couldn’t met her stare for long and tilted his head away from the force lying on top of him.

The brunette was right. Normally it shouldn’t be such a big thing to tell her about the conference. It was even a good occurrence; a sign of the chief that he trusted Kakashi enough to let him represent the KPD on foreign ground and Hiko would’ve been surely excited about it, not like…

 

Kakashi grunted. “Didn’t feel like it.”

If it was even possible, the anger in her eyes flared up. “It doesn’t matter if you felt like it or not. Going away for a while now concerns me too, just like it would concern you if it was me who was sent to a conference! Do you planned to inform me on the day of your departure, like: “Ohh, I didn’t tell you, but I will be gone for a week. Bye and take care.”?”

“No.”

“Then what else?” she growled. Her hands clawed painfully into his flesh and scraped the skin, but he bore it with the same stoic face he also used in his time in the SFU. Unemotional, uninterested and standing above such little hindrances as pain. “You insisted on telling you whenever something troubled me! You insisted on revealing my past and the horrors that come along! Now I insist on telling me what the fuck is going on with you right now, because I can’t understand!”

She was desperate. Shocked. Kakashi spun his head to Hiko, only to watch the unmistakable glistening of unshed tears in her eyes. Nibbling on her lower lip and quivering in the attempt to suppress the raging emotions, she first shook her head, then glared again at him. He felt the voice rumble in her chest, raw and vibrating through bones, flesh and air. “Please. Tell me. I want to help you, like you have helped me with my problems and insecurities. And I hate the way you block me out. I feel like… back then, when _he_ said I didn’t need to know, it’s nothing of my concern and I should keep away from his business. _Please_.” she repeated, begging him to understand and let her see inside.

Kakashi grimaced lightly. He never intended to hurt Hiko this way, it was just hard to tell her his reasons, and so he shut up about them. Huffing he embraced the shorty and draped her over his frame so that her face was near the crook of his neck and he could talk directly into her ear, without having to see her pained expression. “It’s not your fault. Sorry. It’s just my past getting in the way.”

A quick inhale to steady his resolve, then he continued. “Whenever I had to attend a conference or a meeting, hell even late-night-shifts were out of limits, Hanare would get angry. She always used to say things like, the work was more important than her, I only cared about the police and not one bit about her feelings… I neglected my wife, so she was right. So I kept quiet about things like this, only informing her on the last possible instance, what reduced the numbers of naggings to the minimum. And I guess, out of old habit, I also kept quiet now. Sorry, my little Firefly. I didn’t mean it.”

 

To his relief he could feel Hiko’s lips pressing softly against his skin, a short kiss, nothing more than a caring caress. In waves her cold breath ghosted over his still heated surface as she spoke. “It’s okay. As long as I’m there to wash your head and you don’t do it again, it’s okay.” The female propped herself up that she was able to look into his face and the unending patience and care which laid in her expression let Kakashi’s heart grow warm. Gently she eased her fingers and stroked over his chin, nose and eyebrow, until the digits came to a stop in his scalp. “I’m not your ex-wife. Never will be, just like you are not Ka-… him. I’m happy for you that you get the chance to go to a conference. The chief must trust you a lot when he gives you this chance and it shows your great abilities. A week is nothing and I’m a big girl-!”

“Sure about that?”

“Now you can joke again, huh?” mused Hiko back and lowered her head to kiss Kakashi. The touch of her lips assured the man further than her words and he let her take the control of the exchange, from the way she mouthed him to the point she dived into his mouth and to the moment she broke it and retreated. The silver haired male sighed unconsciously out in bliss when he noticed the flushed cheeks and the light daze in her eyes.

He wouldn’t do it again, keeping something from Hiko. She was right, he had said she could tell him everything and should follow the same path. From now on Kakashi would tell her if something would concern her and their relationship. Because they were working on themselves and their problems together.

The brunette tugged a curled strand of hair behind her ear and rested her chin at his sternum. “Alright. So, anything else you have to tell me?”

“Hm…” He rubbed shortly his nose against the tip of hers and watched with a small smile the love shining out of her eyes. “Three things, I believe.”

Hiko’s mouth fell open at the amount. “Three things?”

“Three things.” repeated Kakashi. “First, I don’t really want to go. A few months ago I would’ve killed somebody for this chance, but now I’m content with my life. Second, during my school time I drew a lot. Even participated in some contests and won first prize and such. But I gave it up after High School, because I didn’t feel like it anymore. However, you make me want to pick up the pencil again.”

She raised amused an eyebrow. “Ah! And what do you want to draw?”

“You, of course.” replied Kakashi without a hint of hesitation and watched a heavy flush tinting the woman’s cheeks. Inwardly he cooed at the sight, in the end it was a proof how much she still minded his compliments after months of relationship. “And third and probably the most important, the week away from you will probably the hardest week I will face this year. Maybe also for the next year.”

Sadly nodding Hiko sighed. “For me too, my love.”

Her ice blue eyes wandered over his face, before she shut them and snuggled into his embrace. The man almost overheard the last hushed words, silent and shy and making his heart ache and jump at the same time because of the sheer meaning lying in them.

“I will miss you too.”

 

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“Do you have everything?”

“Yes.”

“Toothbrush?”

“Yup.”

“Enough clothing?”

“Mhm.”

“Something to write?”

“All here.”

“Cellphone and charger?”

“On top of the pile, which you know, because you packed all my things.”

“I only want to make sure, my love. Did I forgot something…?” Deep in her thoughts, Hiko tapped with her index finger the side of her nose, even scratched it from time to time, while her sharp gaze wandered over Kakashi, who stood with a light travel bag in his hand in front of her. Then, with a sudden determined push of her glasses, her expression lightened. “Ah! Do you have also enough under-?”

“Are you seriously asking me if I have enough briefs in my bag?” The man rolled annoyed his eyes. “Did I miss something and you became my mother?”

She shrugged uninterested and unimpressed at the little snarl swaying in his voice. “Just to make sure, my gosh. And you begged for it. Yesterday evening you still sat at the couch and insisted it would be fine when you pack your things _this morning_. I only did it because I didn’t want to watch the train disappear in front of our eyes.”

Kakashi didn’t dare to say anything against the (true) statement of his girlfriend. Instead he nestled on the hems of his leather jacket, then gave the clock at the wall a quick glance. “We should drive now.” he said and quickly grabbed Hiko’s car keys. “Otherwise I will really come too late.”

One week really went fast by. It was Sunday evening and the train to Kumogakure, which the three chosen officers had to board to get punctual to the conference, would depart in an hour.

Kakashi had seen many sides of Hiko over the time, but never her ‘travel-mode’. In the short time since yesterday evening, the female managed to make a list with all items, stuff them accordingly into his bag, prepare some snacks for the long train-time (it was an overnight-express) and be overall so hyper and enthusiastic that he just wanted to hide behind his “Icha-Icha-Tactics” until she had calmed down again. Out of suspicious squinted eyes he watched her animated blabbering, while Hiko slipped into her black coat and engineer boots.

 

Not even the drive in her beetle could make the woman shut up. Automatically she turned the wheel and watched the street in front of her, all the while still chit-chatting about the travel, the sightseeing at Kumo, the great skyline, the surely yummy food at the hotel, the possibilities, the different speeches he would hear (because she even found the timetable of the conference) and so on. Somewhere along the way Kakashi simply turned his brain off and nodded when she paused for a split second. Inwardly he cried out of joy when they arrived at the trainstation of Konoha, an old building which was renovated a few years ago, but juvenile hooligans already managed to spray obscene words all over the once nicely yellow painted walls.

“Kumogakure is famous for their sake!” stated Hiko enthusiastic, like she knew all about it. However Kakashi knew that she had purchased a guide for the city and only recited some of the most mentioned points, but with an accuracy that scared the shit out of him. “Forty years ago, the distillery’s had problems with the resident farmers who provided them with rice and such, but they solved the problem in a historical debate in the town hall, which also belongs to one of the historical buildings of the inner city! The arcs used are typical for-!”

“Hiko. Seriously. Stop.” groaned Kakashi. “It’s really interesting to hear all this, but talking like a machine gun and throwing different topics together overloads my head.”

“Oh.” He gazed over to the shorty. Hiko didn’t show any signs of feeling rejected, just the kind of light surprise of someone who didn’t even notice what they were doing. Silent she parked the car and got out and Kakashi followed her quickly.

He couldn’t shake off the distant premonition that he just screwed up. And he even tried to be gentle in his rejection! So the silver haired man took a hold of her elbow, just a light touch and turned her around, as she nestled with the lock of the back of her beetle.

“Hiko, you were only a bit hyper the whole day. I never knew you could be such a slave driver, that’s all.” he said and stared into her ice blue eyes.

To his surprise the female began to chuckle weakly and reached up to stroke for a short moment over his masked cheek. “I don’t mind. Really.” she mused at the unbelieving stare he threw at her, “I only didn’t realize I talked that much! I mean, I knew I talk much when I’m feeling lonely, I did it always when Obito or Itachi left me behind or I had to go on a conference alone, but I guess it’s only to secure that every talk we would’ve had in the upcoming week is already done, you know? I know it sounds stupid, but it’s an unconscious thing and-!”

“You’re doing it again.”

 

“See?” Hiko scratched with a sheepish smile her cheek. Shrugging embarrassed the woman opened her car and let Kakashi grab the straps of his bag, then tugged at the door and closed it again. “I can’t count the times I buried my brothers under my blabber.”

In some distance Obito waited, with a worn-out duffel bag to his feet and animated chatting with Rin at his side while gesturing wildly around. Kakashi could imagine the partly annoyed, partly amused expression on the Uchiha’s face when Hiko fluttered around him like a small pixie and talked all day without a pause to breathe.

He took her small hand, all the while shouldering his light bag with ease. “You already feel lonely? And I’m not even gone yet.”

“N-not _really_ lonely… Just the kind of faint premonition before a travel. And I’m thinking about the upcoming week. It will be the first time we won’t spend much time together.”

Kakashi squeezed her palm. “I feel the same. But we will manage it somehow, I’m sure. They have a miraculous new invention, called cellphone if I recall correctly.”

At the same time he had to admit that he also already missed the female, even when she was walking beside him and snuggled into his flank. Talking over phone was in the end only a weak alternative to talking face to face, not to mention the casual touches shared all over the day, the hugs, the kisses, the sex… He sighed weakly and like an answer, Hiko sighed too. “It’s not the same…” she whispered, shortly before Obito and Rin could hear their conversation.

Kakashi tugged the female closer and felt her nose and glasses pressing into his ribs. A light, assuring touch. “I know.”

“Hey! Kakashi, Hiko!” Obito waved enthusiastic at them, what made Rin roll her eyes at the loud shout. “I got the tickets already!”

“He’s like this since Saturday.” said the nurse with a tiny smile. Only at a second look Kakashi noticed the dark bags under her eyes and the little signs of exhaustion. The woman must’ve a tough day at the hospital, nevertheless she stayed up late to send her boyfriend off, who rubbed with an embarrassed grin the back of his neck. “Sorry darling. I told you, you don’t have to come with me, it’s only a short trip.”

Rin placed a quick kiss at the raven’s cheek, her smile widening in the process. “And I told you, one week isn’t short. Your return is scheduled for next Saturday morning, right?”

“Yes…”

“Six days, Obito-koi. So, excuse me if I want to send my boyfriend off, when he’s spending the next week in a faraway place. I’m never doing it again!”

Obito instantly got a hold and blinked with wide eyes and a pleading look on his face at the woman. “I was just worried about you. Lately you worked so much and I didn’t want to burden you further. See, there are dark arcs underneath your beautiful eyes.” Kakashi watched how the Uchiha trailed over the skin of Rin, then tilted his look to Hiko, who followed the conversation just as immersed as him until now.

 

He leaned down to her ear level, his mask only brushing over the shell. “Maybe we should leave them alone for a moment…”

“An offer totally altruistic to you, huh?”

Chuckling weakly Kakashi nuzzled his nose into her brown scalp. “Absolutely. Who do you think I am?”

“Seriously?” Hiko shifted in his arms that she was able to give him a scolding look, before she buried herself again in his side. “A constantly horny hypocrite.”

“I’m hurt by your casual and not at all correct title, but I’m probably willing to forgive you, given a few conditions that must be met beforehand.”

“That would be?”

The silver haired man dropped his bag to the ground, only to let his hands rest at her round hips. Satisfied he noticed the brunette leaned trusting against him; almost unconsciously and laid her own palms at his cladded chest. “First: we will kiss properly before I have to leave. Second: You will call me any time when there’s something, even if it’s deep in the night or in between a discussion. Just call me if you need anything, okay?”

She nodded in silence and looked with big, loving blue eyes up.

“Third: My father called me and said you could visit him during the week. Actually he needs some help with his computer, he didn’t explain it to me and I also didn’t dare to ask. Only a few hours and tell him beforehand, otherwise the dogs will be on the loose. And fourth…” The pang in his heart deepened when he watched Hiko break into a light grin at his words. Kakashi breathed deeply in and leaned closer, that nobody beside her could hear the sappy words he whispered into her ear. “I’m going to miss you so much, my little Firefly. I don’t know how I’m going to sleep in the night, not with you by my side.”

Hiko chuckled, partly teasing, but also partly with a sad swing. “Same for me, my love. Same for me.” Only when she buried her face deeper in his shirt, Kakashi felt the little damp spots forming in the fabric, exactly at the height of her eyes.

But they were interrupted. Kurenai appeared out of nowhere, a big trolley dragging with her. “Sorry that I’m late!” she yelled and a few night birds in their proximity raised their heads at her loud exclamation. “The traffic was terrible, can you believe it?”

Obito waved at his colleague. “Naah, no problem. We have still plenty of time, the train arrives in twenty minutes. Where did you leave Asuma-san?”

“At the station, he had some paperwork left to do.” answered the brunette. Nestling with her heavy bag, her mysterious and yet open red eyes travelled over the two present couples, once Obito and Rin, who still argued a bit –only with their eyes though- and then to Kakashi and Hiko. The shorty still had her face buried in his side and her short slender arms slung around his waist and for a split second, the silver haired cop thought he saw a glint of envy at the face of his colleague.

‘I believe now she wished for Asuma to be by her side. It can suck when you’re the only one without someone who’s sending you off.’

He remembered clearly one or two occasions where he had waited with his comrades of the SFU at the airport or the same train station they were right now and watched with light jealousy the lucky people around him, while Hanare had been stuck _somewhere_ with _someone_. He had always played it down and shrugged it off, but nevertheless it had hurt, knowing his ex-wife didn’t care or didn’t _want_ to care enough to come with him.

Kakashi let Hiko hide her face in his side, meanwhile he made some light conversation with the female cop, trying to pass the time and distracting himself from the soon parting from his girlfriend.

The five minutes-mark passed. Rin had forgiven Obito for his unthoughtful words and returned to her usual calm and collected self. Talking animated with Kurenai, the two brunettes seemed to get along very well and the raven Uchiha also participated in the conversation with some wise comments, what seemed to surprise Kurenai.

Ten minutes. Hiko still clung to him with unknown strength, but he let her. At least she had stopped to shut out herself and had raised her head towards the people surrounding her, even took part in the talk from time to time. Slowly the group made their way towards the train station and the stage from where they would take the train and Obito distributed the tickets among them.

 

The train already waited. It was one of the modern ones; in white and silver and built like an arrow to minimize the air pressure while travelling. Also the insides seemed to be comfortable, not that Kakashi could tell much about it. Only quick flashes of the cabins left an impression when the group passed by in search for their compartment.

“Stop!” Suddenly Rin raised her right hand like a true policeman, the left was linked with Obito’s. “It’s here.” She pointed at the train’s door.

“Well, seems it’s soon time to say goodbye.” said Obito, set his bag down and pulled the shocked nurse into a sudden deep kiss. Kakashi watched amused the two lovebirds, then he remembered his own predicament.

Out of the corner of his vision he watched Kurenai already entering the train, not without waving at the two females and lightly snickering at the dazed Rin. The rest of his mind was occupied by the bravely smiling woman in his arms, who just wrinkled her nose in the same cute way she always did when she tried to hold back her tears (he knew that expression from all the dramas she watched lately).

“What was with the proper kiss you wanted to have?”

In his chest the sting of pain grew larger, but Kakashi didn’t show anything. Instead he leaned closer to Hiko and removed (not after a quick check that nobody looked this way) his mask. “Good you’re reminding me.” he murmured and pecked her forehead. “Otherwise I surely would’ve forgotten.” Kakashi moved over to her nose and kissed the tip of it, what straightened the wrinkles out. With a wink he looked into the ice blue eyes. “I’m such a tardy person, you know?”

“And a sweet talker.” growled Hiko. Impatiently she yanked his head down, crashing her lips into his. In an instant she overtook him. Kakashi pulled her closer and relished in the feeling how her small body was pressed against his, the way her heart pounded against his ribcage and the little shiver running through her, telling him what exactly the brunette wanted to do. But too soon she retreated, with a slightly accelerated breathing rhythm and flushed cheeks. “But I don’t want you any other way. Remember, don’t eat yellow snow, don’t read your porn while crossing a street and have much fun. Now hop on, my love.”

The last words she whispered into his ear, while her hands fiddled with the fabric of his flu mask and tugged it again into place.

Her blue eyes shimmered in sadness. Kakashi was hurt to leave her like this, but the train would depart in a few minutes. He wanted to say something, _anything_ to make those unshed tears disappear, but he was at loss for words. So he just pulled her in a tight hug.

Thankfully Hiko seemed to understand him, like always when he wasn’t able to find the right words. Her hands cradled his waist, her fingers brushed over his back and clawed into the fabric of his leather jacket, desperately wanting to make him stay, but Hiko was too dutiful to hold him back.

When they parted, she got to her knees and picked his bag up. Reaching it out to him, the shorty’s eyes trailed once more over his whole figure like she wanted to imprint it into her brain. “Didn’t I say to hop on? Gosh, you’re such a worry-wart. It’s just one week, you said it yourself.”

 

“Right.” Kakashi took the heavy backpack and hauled it over his shoulder. Obito held the door open for him, but he couldn’t resist to turn one last time his head at his girlfriend. She walked just now over to Rin, who also had a sad expression on her face, but in the same moment the silver haired man turned his head, Hiko also looked back. One quick silent exchange and he nodded assuring at her, what the shorty quitted with a small wave and a chuckle.

Relieved, but not entirely relaxed, the cop climbed fully into the train and watched through the window of the door how the brunette lowered her hand slowly, all the while her smile also dropped with it. She looked so lost and lonely the detective was tempted to jump right away out of the train again and just stay with her, but then Rin hugged Hiko tightly and said something. A small grin spread on his beloved face and together the females set off, slowly making their way down the stage into the direction where they came from. With a sigh the male walked through the small hallway to their compartment, the raven Uchiha in front.

“Man, you hit my sis hard.” Obito murmured to Kakashi while they searched for their booth. “I mean, she was clingy with us, but with you it reached a whole new level.”

“With you? Means Itachi and yourself.” The cop adjusted the strap of his bag absent minded, his coal eyes shifting from the different doors to the windows and peeking through the curtains.

“Yup. Hi-chan would always get either super-hyper and bubbly or tried to make us stay longer, but never ever she nearly crawled in our jackets. It’s a habit from… the thing that happened, ya know?”

“I understand.” And Kakashi really understood. Mix the constant ignorance of her parents and the abuse of her boyfriend plus the emotional person Hiko was on the inside and you get a person who clings to his beloved ones desperately when faced with a situation said loved ones have to leave for some time.

Obito nodded in some sense of wisdom. “Good to see her like this. It only means she cares deeply, and you too.” After the raven saw the slightly confused look of Kakashi, he added with a raised index finger: “Like I said before, you two look good together. You balance each other out somehow. She’s much calmer in comparison to the years she was alone. More… like the girl she was before all that. Ah, wait…”

Still with a raised hand he got his cellphone out and scrolled like a flash through the picture gallery before Kakashi could say anything against it. Then the male huffed satisfied and raised the screen to him, all the while wearing a sad grin on his face. “That’s now 15 years ago. We took it the day Hiko and her parents left for Sunagakure.”

Kakashi pushed himself to analyze the image with the same analytical logic he earned and used all the time in his job. Three people – _teens_ \- could be seen. Obviously they were close, the way they posed for the invisible photographer. To the right was Itachi, with the characteristic lines and wrinkles in his face, but his stature was cladded into the clothes of a goth. Much black, chains and on top of that eyeliner. To the left was Obito, even then with an idiotic, but happy grin. His left arm and hand were raised for a peace sign, while his right was slung around the neck of a younger Hiko.

 

She was adorable. Back in High School Kakashi crushed more on slender and outgoing girls, but the shy and flushed girl in the picture, in a Bermuda shorts and a red tank top, the long brown hair pulled into a ponytail and the thin, rimless glasses blinking in the sunlight was simply stunning to him. The girl stood with her arms crossed in her behind and one foot slightly raised, unsecure smiling at the one who took the photo, but there was also melancholy in her expressive eyes. If he had to guess, she had already reached her current height back then. No tattoo on her forearm, no scars revealed. No dark past to hide. Back then she was just a child and the aura of calm determination, but also deep shyness seeped through the years, converted through the picture.

“See?” asked Obito and also took a quick look at it, before turning the phone again on standby. “You must notice it too. Hiko was almost the same in our childhood, playful, witty and uncorrectable defiant when she knew a person. Then, when _that_ happened, she was scared. Like a small animal. It hurt to see her back then, because she wasn’t the person I knew anymore. Even as she recovered, it wasn’t the same. It was like she forcefully pushed herself to be happy, not like she was actually happy. And she had those walls around her, the walls of tricks, biting sarcasm and fits. But somehow you fixed it. And I’m really thankful for that. Ah, we are here.”

With that the loud Uchiha dropped the topic and entered their booth, while Kakashi was left on the hallway, confused even more than at the start of the talk and also slightly embarrassed at the approving tone his friend had used. The only thing that kept flying around in his mind was the picture of a younger, innocent Hiko, who was only worried about the lack of interest her parents showed.

‘She was really cute. Probably, when we would’ve been going to the same school I would’ve talked to her. Maybe. But only when she would’ve made the first step. I was in the end a shy one.’

His phone vibrated demanding and mindless he tugged it out of his pocket. The message popping up made him smile and he quickly typed back, before he opened the door to the cabin and started to prepare for some sleep.

           _Hiko: The train hasn’t even started yet. Maybe I can be a stowaway…?_

_Kakashi: I appreciate the thought, but I had to do my duty if they find you. Love you._

_Hiko: Spoilsport. Love you too. Save travel and think of me, okay?_

_Kakashi: The whole time, my little Firefly._ _  
_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My dearest Miss_Fandoms_Shakespeare, thank you soooo much for fighting your way through the jungle of my mistakes. :)


	37. The worst week

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While Kakashi is gone for the conference, he and Hiko have to deal with the absence of the other.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A tiny bit late, but hopefully the chapter will make up for it >.<

**Monday:**

Hiko checked her phone for the twenty-third time today. But there was still no messages from Kakashi, the lazy…

She sighed and concentrated again on the computer screen in front of her. Lately there were some robberies at small businesses in the more rural parts of Konoha, so the IT-office had their fair change of the work, trying to analyze the clues and little signs maybe leading to the thieves.

           ‘You have to focus! Don’t let your private life influence your work mentality!’

“Right, right…” she muttered silently, shook her head with a sharp grunt and finished the list of the items that were stolen. Then the woman started a program (which she programmed herself, but it was only a beta-version) to find possible connections between the goods. It would take some time for the program to get all the possibilities right and listed, so she shifted her eyes over to her subordinates. “Anything found yet?”

Hinata rubbed absent minded over her closed eyelids, then the pale eyes opened with a distinct flutter. “No, not yet. B-but I’m searching with all my might.”

Hiko chuckled. “Don’t be so tense, just relax. If you try too hard, even the biggest things tend to be insignificant. You’re looking now for two hours only at the tapes of the surveillance cameras from the shops. Go take a break for me, okay?”

The girl seemed like she wanted to protest, but Hiko didn’t give her a chance to. With gentle force she grabbed the slender raven’s wrist, pulled her out of the chair and opened the door, all the while happily talking to her colleague. “They won’t run away, promise. How about some quality time with your cute boyfriend, huh? I bet he will be thrilled to be visited by you, Hinata.”

“U-Uhm… Probably…”

“Naah, not probably, but definitely!” Smiling brightly, the brunette waved exaggerated at the shy Hyuuga, before closing the office with a resounding clap and turning to Shino, who had stopped typing on his keyboard and looked through his sunglasses at her. “I haven’t forgotten about you. Anything with your part of the investigation?”

The insect-lover (he had brought some of his beetles, captured in a big bottle to his workplace and placed it at his desk) had been instructed with controlling a car plate number a shop-owner had scribbled down. But Hiko’s heart sunk down when the male shook slowly his head.

“The number isn’t registered in the system. I tried also some varieties in the combination, just in case the victim switched accidently something, but the cars and their numbers wouldn’t match up. That can only mean…”

“Stolen and rigged.” groaned Hiko and rubbed the bridge of her nose. “A faked number. I didn’t think some small fries would think this far ahead.”

 

Shino shrugged. “Only means they were a bit clever. We can catch them nevertheless.” Then he turned to his PC, but not without a last comment. “Your phone showed a message.”

Hastily and not caring about the knowing little smile on the subordinates face, she rocketed around the desks and grabbed her cellphone, eager to finally read the long-awaited SMS.

_Kakashi: Hey. Sorry that I only message so late, but I didn’t want to disturb you. Nagato told us about the increased workload. The hotel is nice, thus Obito is completely head over heels. I was right, I couldn’t sleep well yesterday without you._

“You… stupid…” Despite her weak insult, the brunette spun around while her heart jumped happily in her chest. Again she read over the short text and her smile widened. With flying fingers she typed back and sank down in her own wheelchair, twirling around and all the while crossing her legs.

           _Hiko: Sweet talker. You and your silver tongue. You never disturb me xoxo_

Shortly she asked herself if the hugs and kisses were too much, but her hyperactive hands already had send the message. But Hiko hadn’t had to wait long for the reply.

_Kakashi: But I really missed you by my side >.<_

_And I hug and kiss you too_

_Hiko: Missed you too. (-///-)_

_Kakashi: Aww, you blushed? How much I would like to see it now in person…_

Snickering she shot a selfie and send it, noticing her cheeks were really a bit red. Then the shorty tugged mindless at her brown locks, which curled wildly because of the humid weather from underneath her black beanie and waited for the next message.

It wasn’t perfect. Not at all. But it was a beginning.

 

**Tuesday:**

Sakumo watched intently how Hiko fixed the router in his home. “I never thought this would be a problem.” he said with a cheerful tone.

“It was out of good intentions. But please, don’t use a box made out of lead to protect the WLAN-router anymore.” mused the brunette. “Better place the device at a higher place where the dogs can’t reach it and won’t chew on the wires.” With one hand she closed the lid of the router, with the other she fended off Bull, who tried to lick all over her face.

The silver haired man had at least Pakkun in his reach. Patting the pug, he had followed her around the house, while reporting with a sheepish smile all his technical problems. And Hiko fixed most of them: the countless error warnings at the PC, the messed-up connection at the TV, to her distress the coffee-spitting coffee-machine (she insisted that the whole electricity in the kitchen was shut off while she worked on it) and now the hidden router in the box. Inwardly she wanted to cry, partly in frustration, partly in happiness, because Kakashi’s father announced it was the last of his technical exploits.

“I didn’t know about that.” said Sakumo, not a bit fazed by the countless amends he made. This part Kakashi definitely had inherited from him and Hiko was able to deal with it, had to after the time she spend with the younger male.

Something was up. There was simply no way Sakumo would be stupid enough to place the router in a box of metal. He had a plan and it seemed like it revolted around her.

Hiko decided to lay her cards open. “Let’s talk openly. We both know you aren’t a naïve man and actions like _this_ -“, with her thumb she pointed at the now free router, “don’t fool me. What do you want?”

His silver eyebrows lifted in new heights. “My, my, what are you talking about?”

The brunette looked over the upper rims of her glasses at him, until he fidgeted uncomfortable under her unwavering stare. It was her patented “Don’t give me that shit”-glare; motionless, scolding and at the same time extremely effective against the members of the Hatake family.

 

In the end Sakumo sighed deeply and waved at her. “I really had a problem with my PC; I just want to state that. Don’t misinterpret, I only wanted to see what kind of person my son is spending his time with. We never talked alone before and I wanted to change that. And the best method seemed to be to fake some technical problems, ya know?” Embarrassed he rubbed the back of his neck; a gesture all too familiar to Hiko. He was too much like his son, or his son resembled too much his father. She snickered amused at the creased eyes and sheepish smile and got finally to her feet again, in the process defending herself still against Bull. “Next time just say so. I would like to talk with you a bit more than we have until now, there’s no need to fake problems.”

“Well, that’s good to hear.” groaned Sakumo. Lightly grunting he also propped himself up, what quitted the dog in his lap with a sharp bark and a flight into Hiko’s direction. Then he offered his arm like a Victorian gentleman to her, a strangely nice gesture what made her giggle. “Would you like some coffee while we chat?”

“After I repaired the coffee machine I better hope it’s the best coffee in the world. Wait, did you cause that malfunction?”

“Maybe…”

Bull was left behind. The black mastiff yelped pitiful, then followed the two animated talking people, who got along very well even without Kakashi acting as a buffer.

 

**Wednesday:**

           _strikingSWORDs: man, big T! where have you been??_

_GinGerGeneral: yeah! We missed you! Without you breaching isn’t the same :(_

_tRuthseekEr: sorry sorry sorry >.< I kept my profile low for a bit longer than expected… but it was needed. My last target noticed something and went to the police_

_GinGerGeneral: WHAT??? NO WAY_

_strikingSWORDs: even the big ones make mistakes_

_GinGerGeneral: TRUTH MADE NO MISTAKE YOU CUNT_

_tRuthseekEr: woah, Gin. Keep it easy. Poor swords is right, ya know? There’s no security for anyone out there, not for him, not for you and totally not for me_

_GinGerGeneral: sorry truth_

_I’m just a bit overworked. Real life is hard to me right now T_T_

_strikingSWORDs: to me too. I swear, one more… anyway, there was someone asking for you, big t_

_tRuthseekEr: what did he want_

_strikingSWORDs: the usual. Your skills to hack something. But there was also something strange, I mean, it wasn’t like he really cared about it. The way he wrote and such. More like… he wanted to find YOU._

_GinGerGeneral: we didn’t say anything, but he was persistent. I would say he was desperate or determined, either way, he was creepy_

_tRuthseekEr: name? anything to identify him?_

_GinGerGeneral: nothing. Only the username. <chimaera>_

_strikingSWORDs: and he needed always a long time to type. Wasn’t a pro at the keyboard. Prim and proper sentences. Maybe an oldie?_

_tRuthseekEr: don’t know. But would an oldie ask for a hacker? Unlikely don’t you think?_

_strikingSWORDs: my, my… Sherlock was reborn as a hacker (lol)_

_tRuthseekEr: it’s only logical. An old person wouldn’t search for a hacker, only if he is one himself and wants to team up or he is desperate. chimaera must be younger, but not accustomed to write in a chat. There are still youngsters out there who haven’t found the greatness of chatting ^^_

_GinGerGeneral: truth is right, it’s logical_

_strikingSWORDs: fine *sigh* anyway, he won’t find you, right? We kept shut up and he took flight somewhere_

_tRuthseekEr: right. So, what’s going on with you guys? I’m a bit bored._

_GinGerGeneral: like I said, real life is hard on me. Didn’t had time for hacks._

_strikingSWORDs: but I did. Know the company “Hyuuga &Co KG”?_

_tRuthseekEr: from hearsay_

_strikingSWORDs: tried to get in, but the security was tight. Wasted three months, only to find your handwriting there, big T._

_tRuthseekEr: whoops._

_strikingSWORDs: WHOOPS my ass! Three months, man! Motherfucking three! And anyway, when did you have time to get in??_

_tRuthseekEr: a long time ago, my friend… a long time ago. I’m a tiny bit longer involved in this business than you are_

_GinGerGeneral: as expected of truth *proud*_

 

Hiko giggled at the comment of GinGer. “You act like you are a doting parent watching his youngest child spread his wings. Or a little fangirl.”

But the quick flash of amusement vanished the moment her eyes fell on the merciless timer in the right corner of her screen. Mockingly the date and time was presented there; a cruel reminder it were still three days until Kakashi returned. She sighed tiredly and drew with her fork obscure lines in the rest of her unfinished meal.

           ‘I cooked too much. Again.’

Originally she wanted to occupy herself a bit by visiting the hacking tool’s chat again after a long time, but somehow it didn’t feel the same as before. Before there was excitement, the kind of thrill coming along with doing something forbidden and the sly happiness of doing something right with the wrong means. Now Hiko only felt some hollow satisfaction by merely talking with her hacker friends, and even this little movement in her emotions faded away quickly.

Like it had some strange aura around it, Hiko looked again at the timer below. Huffing annoyed she typed a hasty goodbye in the chat, what quitted the others with partly unbelieving, partly hysterical shout and a grunted comment, then she turned her PC off.

‘It’s true, I was occupied otherwise all those months. Kakashi had swept me away from my double life as a hacker and now that he’s gone for some time, I can’t even bring myself to find my next target. He changed me.’

Her cellphone vibrated and Hiko instantly dropped her thought while reading the message on screen, a dreamy smile on her lips.

           _Kakashi: Last discussion for the day is over. Food wasn’t as good as yours. I think about you._

_Hiko: I think about you too. I miss you. Cooked too much again._

_Kakashi: ^^ Freeze it. I’m gonna finish all the food you cooked in my absence. Promise?_

The shorty snickered at the emoticon and blushed faintly at the childish art of asking her to cook for him.

           _Hiko: Promise. You can get also fresh food from me._

_Kakashi: I hope it’s not the only thing that I’m getting from you…_

“You’re a pervert…” she mumbled. “ _My_ pervert.”

 

**Thursday:**

Heaving sobs shook her. Trembling and flinching at every sound around her flat, Hiko sat curled up in her bed, the knees drawn to her chest and tried to ignore all those things, but she couldn’t. In the silence of the night the sounds outside became louder and her own ragged exhales resounded like thunderclaps through the tiny room. A passing car just beneath her open window startled the woman and she flinched heavily and whimpered, a little pitiful sound, fitting for a small weak animal. Her clenched up fists tightened even more in the fabric of the blanket.

It hurt, but not as much to chase the dark dream away.

Since Kakashi, the nightmares weren’t scary. Sure, Hiko still woke up from them in the middle of the night, but when she felt the big strong body beside her and heard the soft snores resounding from him, she was able to go back to sleep in a flash. And usually it was more of a memory. Her mind replayed the rape like a broken tape, over and over again and strangely Hiko somehow got accustomed to the same old pictures. But today, deep in the night and without her love protecting her, a new thorn had invaded the memory.

A dark twisted thorn, dripping of all her insecurities and fears, spreading poison all over the already tainted dreams. A low whimper escaped her throat as the dream replayed again in her mind. She was pitiful, and she knew it all too well.

_“Talentless, without an ounce of grace, just a plain small girl. Who would miss you when I’m done with you? You’re all alone and nobody will come to your rescue. You belong to me, now and in your final moments.”_

Talentless, no. Hiko had talent, the talent to build a PC from scratch. She had a brain and used it, sometimes too much to the annoyance of the ones around her.

Without an ounce of grace, maybe. Heavens knew the shorty could be clumsy and also quite slow, but only when she lacked sleep. But Hiko felt Kakashi’s eyes on her whenever she listened in her apartment to music she liked, so maybe this statement was also invalid.

Plain and small? Hell, she knew it all along. How couldn’t she, when the only thing she saw at a bar was the upper body of the one behind it? And the plain part was also true.

_‘No, it isn’t. Remember all the compliments Kakashi made. In his eyes you are gorgeous, beautiful, an eye-catcher. He adores you. YOU, with the deep brown curled locks, the desirable curves, the scarred body. He’s worshipping you whenever he’s around, calls you cute, sexy, clever, all those things no other man said so openly. He would come to your rescue.’_

“Kakashi…” Hiko whispered his name, hoping it would reach him somehow. Then the dream hit her again, like a train at full speed. Gasping Hiko clung to the blanket. A weight was born and pressured her; the mother was the darkness in her mind and the father was the silence around her.

 

She couldn’t take it anymore. Her stupid pride had forbid her until tonight to make a call; to give in to the weaker urges of her mind. But she just had to know if Kakashi was okay, she _just had to know_. With heavily trembling digits she searched for his number. The shorty needed to hear his warm voice, needed to hear that he was okay and needed an assurance he was unharmed. Hiko needed Kakashi’s words if she couldn’t have his embrace.

One ring, two rings. Anxious the female gnawed on her bottom lip while she waited, her free hand fisted painfully the fabric underneath her. Just as she wanted to give up, the calming voice of the silver haired man echoed through the speaker.

“…-ello?”

Naturally he must’ve been sleeping. It was after all after midnight and not even the birds started to celebrate the beginning of the day. His hoarse voice was more raspy than usual and the gentle slur in his single greeting only accentuated the warmness. Hiko felt how some of the weight crumbled down, but there was still an honorable amount of it present.

“Kakashi?” Again she whispered his name, just as weak and pitiful as she felt.

“Hiko? What’s wrong?” This simple question, uttered out of concern and immediate attention on her, made Hiko sob strangled out. The tears she suppressed until now broke with all their might free. Hot and wet they ran over her cheeks, while she listened to the soft coos on the phone.

“Firefly, ssh. Don’t cry, please. Tell me what’s wrong, my little Firefly. I don’t want to hear you cry…”

And she really tried. The shorty tried to close the gates, to stop the flood interrupting her callings of his name and making her sniff and stutter, but whenever she heard the familiar voice and name rolling from his mouth, another sob hit her.

It wasn’t sadness. It was relief.

Sometime, the silver haired male had given up his attempts to calm her down and only assured her he was there, Hiko breathed deeply in and was finally able to open her mouth without the next cry rippling in her chest.

“Nightmare. I… I had a nightmare.”

Kakashi didn’t reply. It was his silent way of telling her: Go on, I’ll listen.

“It… it was the same. He- _he_ did his thing with me and spilled all those insults, while I just could… _endure_. It was like all the other times. But…”

Her throat grew tight at the memory of the terrible pictures. “He… showed me. You laid beside the bed and there was _blood_ everywhere! You were so still, so lifeless, I couldn’t bear it! And he told me… He told me…”

_“See? Do you like it to be with him? I can destroy your life any time I want and he is just another pebble I’ll crush. I can kill him just like I have killed you. And his dead eyes will watch me while I drink your blood and you weep like the pitiful pet you are.”_

“I was so scared. You were… And I couldn’t… That you…” stuttered Hiko, unable to control the again surfacing tears and sobs.

“Shssssshh. I’m okay.” said Kakashi clearly. “You are okay. Hiko. I’m okay and I will come back to you.”

 

“It was just… I needed to make sure you were alright. S-sorry for waking you up.”

A little, static sigh. “You can always wake me up to make sure I’m still alive. It’s not a problem.”

Hesitant hope bloomed in Hiko at Kakashi’s words. “Really?” she asked and buried her face in her knees. “You really don’t mind?”

He chuckled lowly and the sound send shivers down her spine. “Really. And… I missed your voice. I miss you.”

“I miss you too. It’s not the same.”

“Yeah.”

The shorty smiled wearily, wiping the last bits of unshed tears in her eyes away. In her mind grew the scenery out of instinct: the silver haired male laying on his stomach, the cheek pressed into the pillows of an impersonal hotel bed and the cellphone resting at his ear, the tiniest of happy grins on his face. Surely his hair was ruffled and the white blankets would only stop at his waist, because Kakashi didn’t like to be “suffocated” by the fabric. He also liked to stuff his arms beneath the pillow and raise it like this, claiming he could sleep better.

A soft ruffle and a grunt travelled over the phone. Hiko closed her eyes, now completely relaxed and listened to the breathing sounds, which became slower and steadier over the time. Unable to help herself, the brunette turned her head that her left temple rested at her kneecaps and snickered quietly. “You’re not falling asleep on me, aren’t you?”

Kakashi grumbled lowly. “Sorry. Long day. The conference is more exhausting than I thought. Then Obito who drags me around the town…”

“Sorry. I shouldn’t have-!”

“Hiko.” She quickly shut her mouth at the weak growl coming from her boyfriend. “I said you could always tell me if something bothers you. And especially when you have a nightmare that involves me. I want to hear your worries, so I can proof them wrong or make you feel safe, no matter how late it is or how busy I am. I love you, my little Firefly.”

“Kakashi…”

“That’s my name.”

A giggle escaped her. “And you’re still able to have a witty comeback.”

“It’s a talent.” he answered, not without pride tinging his voice.

“Indeed. But… I love you Kakashi. I love you _so_ much. Thank you, my love, thanks for so many things.” whispered Hiko. “I can’t wait for your return. I… I want to sleep by your side again, I want to feel your arms around me, I want to see your face. I miss you.”

“My gosh, Hiko. Please, don’t say more. It’s hard for me, but knowing you feel just as miserable is making it even worse. I also want to be by your side again. God, I miss you.” Hiko’s lips trembled at the raw emotions dwelling in his voice. He sounded… desperate, just as longing as she felt and lonely. “Kakashi?”

“Yes?”

“Can we just stay on phone? I want to hear you, otherwise…”

“You won’t sleep?”

“Mhmm.”

“Okay.”

At his acceptance Hiko slipped further down in her blankets until she was able to rest her head again at the pillows, hugged the big one she had again scrambled out of the closet tightly and pressed the phone closely to her ear. When she was positioned to her satisfaction, the shorty slung her legs around the body pillow like a monkey and closed her eyes. “I love you.” she repeated.

Hearing Kakashi’s hoarse snicker over the phone was probably the best thing that happened the whole week. The nightmare wasn’t forgotten, but the worry that was born out of it had faded into the background of Hiko’s mind and sighing deeply she snuggled deeper into her bed.

 

**Friday:**

“Seriously? The villain reveals all his evil plans to the protagonist and he just stands there like: Omg, now I’m surprised. The program won’t get any better from here.” mumbled Hiko, but nevertheless stayed on the couch in Kakashi’s flat. Tonight she didn’t want to return to her apartment. Alone the smell in here was relaxing her mind and unconsciously she smiled while getting comfortable in her second home. In the moment she came back from work, the woman slipped out of her clothes and into a loose green tee with a wide neckline that nearly slipped from her shoulders and a pair of short wine red shorts, barely covering her lower parts. No bra and only some white cotton panties, the most comfortable underwear in her wardrobe. Her cellphone laid beside her thighs and every five minutes her eyes wandered over the screen, waiting for a message or a call.

           ‘Tomorrow at this time he is home again.’

At the coffee table in front of her were the last bits of a pizza she ordered, the shorty had covered herself with her fluffy movie-night-blanket and she watched uninterested the fight between the lifelong sworn enemies developing. Half an hour, then the villain was defeated, planet earth was saved and the hero got the girl of his dreams, meanwhile Hiko asked herself how anyone would give his money for such a stereotypical plot. “There was simply nothing interesting.” she talked to herself, folded the soft blanket and placed it at the armrest of the couch. Absent minded preparing for bed, it was around 11 p.m., the brunette wandered through the tiny apartment and passed by the entrance.

A knock. But not at Kakashi’s door, but somewhere else at the floor. She shrugged and felt automatically after her cellphone. One last look at the screen, she assured herself (knowing it wouldn’t be at all the last time tonight), but her heart jumped when she saw the short blink, signaling she got a message.

           _Kakashi: Are you at your apartment?_

“What…?” Hiko typed a _Why?_ back, waiting in the entrance area and leaning against the doorframe to the bedroom, one leg bend that the bottom of her foot was pressed against the cold wood.

The answer came instantly.

_Kakashi: I’m in front of your door._

Her brain froze. Hiko read the reply. Then again. Slowly, like a horde of snails, the realization dawned on her. Her hands trembled as she placed the cellphone at the cupboard where also different keys and shoes rested, and ordered quickly her hair, before opening silent and carefully the door.

 

First she noticed the familiar leather jacket, brown and worn out. Then her eyes squinted only to recognize the silver hair, the white straps behind the ears and the same bag she had packed for him a week ago.

Relief. Sheer, mighty relief washed over her and Hiko nearly whimpered when she saw how Kakashi raised his arm to knock at her door. Her naked feet meet the cold floor. Without her notice her body reacted and she hadn’t had anything against it. Not at all.

One, two, three steps, then she stood behind him. Impulsive the brunette closed her arms around the narrow waist and felt how the man tensed up. Snuggling into his back, she whispered the words she wanted to say the most now.

“Welcome back, my love.”

The tremble rummaging through his body was nearly as strong as her own. “It’s good to be back.” he said. “But I really want to see you.”

She let go. While her arms dropped to her side, Kakashi turned slowly around. Hiko’s chest heaved at the intense expression in the coal eyes and unconsciously the woman stepped closer to him. His eyes raked over her whole body, stunned and greedy to take everything about her in. He shook slowly his head, without taking his eyes off of her. “The week was too long.”

“Obviously.”

Then nothing counted anymore. One second they stood one step apart, only connected through their locked eyes, then Hiko felt how the strong arms she had longed for wrapped around her frame and carried her into his still open flat, the bag dragging somehow with them. The door shut close loudly and he spun the female around, pressing her back against the wooden barrier. “Missed you.” he growled into her ear, while his hands eagerly travelled over clothed and bare skin, feeling the curves of her hips and thighs. “Missed you, missed you, missed you missedyoumissedyoumissedyou so goddamn much!”

Hiko nodded hastily. Her hands seemed to have a mind on their own, the way they ripped at the jacket and black shirt. Buttons flew around, then finally the fabric tore open and she felt under her fingertips the chiseled chest of Kakashi. There was nothing else but heat and the desire, the _pure need_ to feel, to finally be one with him again. “Too long…” she panted and placed open-mouthed kisses at his neck, while he nestled at his flu mask and tossed it unnerved to the side.

 

The jeans of his rubbed in a sinful way over her skin as they clashed together, devouring each other like it was their last time. Tongues met and Hiko groaned into the bruising kiss, feeling the calloused hands she loved so much slide under her shirt and massage the already swollen breasts. She wasn’t lazy. Rubbing and scratching from time to time, Hiko let her hands wander down and nestled with the belt and fly, jitterish and knowing he was just as frantic as she was. Kakashi helped her discard the shorts, then a devilish spark appeared in his eyes. “I’ve always wanted to do that…” he mused silently with a sly undertone swaying in his words. Before she could ask a yank at her lower part, a tearing sound and the sudden feeling of cold air around her wet and dripping core said more than words.

Hiko gasped surprised and searched for his eyes. “You…!” His lips closed over her open mouth and the tongue diving in made her forget that her love just shredded her panties. Blissfully moaning the female wrapped her arms around his neck and allowed herself to be swept away by the desperate force he used, while Kakashi grinned wildly and raised her higher. Now their faces were at the same level and while she got lost in the kiss, he finished the last bit of the fly and freed his already hard weeping erection. Then he lowered her again and Hiko wrapped automatically her legs around his narrow waist.

“Need you…” she panted as the tip entered her fold. Pressing her chest against the broad upper body in front of her she felt the shiver when the silver haired male filled her inside. The burn from the stretch was welcomed, so were the stings and the growing pressure on her lower stomach. Hiko purred in the mere satisfaction to become one with Kakashi again, after six far too long days of absence. And apparently he was just as desperate as her if the low animalistic growls vibrating in his throat and the nearly painful grip at her thighs were an indicator. The first thrusts were slow and deep, but soon they were both too enthralled by the movement and the sheer ecstasy of being together that the rhythm got out of control. Hiko screamed when Kakashi pounded into her with all the desire he had bottled up over the week and she answered with all she had to give. Her nails scratched the skin underneath the tattered shirt, her heels digged in his smaller back with each rock of their hips and their shared breath mixed with tongues, lips and sometimes teeth.

No words, just the carnal instinct to feel.

No confusion, only the blessed simplicity of sweat stained skin.

No solitude. Instead hands, feverishly clawing into the other after a week of absence and not planning to let go so soon.

Kakashi gritted his teeth. “Hiko, I’m-!”

“Yes! Please, don’t hold back!” she cried out and yelped as he hissed and picked once more up the pace.

The orgasm exploding inside was the most intense she ever felt. Another shout accompanied the storm crashing into her and Hiko buried, trembling and still flinching in the last waves of the warm aftermath, her face in the crook of his neck. Kakashi grunted, then also came with a weak curse on his lips. He nestled his nose into her mane and inhaled deeply, then a sly snicker tingled in her ears. “What a welcome.”

The brunette nodded without looking up. Instead she tightened her hold around him, knowing he wouldn’t disappear, but her subconscious mind ordered her arms nevertheless. “Good to have you home.”

“Bed?”

“Please.”

“Another round?”

“Yes please.”

“I missed you.”

“I missed you too.”

“You know, I really need it. The whole week I haven’t touched myself, so I have to make up for the lost time.”

“Goddammit, how much longer do you want to stand here, with your jeans around your ankles and still hard inside me and just _talk_ about sex!? Now get your ass in the bedroom!”

Kakashi snickered again and kissed lovingly her neck. “As you wish.”

 

**Saturday:**

Kakashi awoke in his most favorite position. Hiko laid curled up beside him, her cheek resting at the crook of his arm and her own limb lying over his chest. Her fingers were slightly bend, exactly over his heart, like she even in her sleep checked upon his heartbeat. The smell of vanilla and raspberry was in the air and her brown locks he cherished cascaded over her shoulder and clashed with his neck and adam’s apple. His right arm served her head as a pillow, the hand touched barely the bare skin at her spinal cord, while the left laid over her fingers. Did he mention they were both in their birth-suits?

Night had been intense.

Slowly and determined not to wake her, the cop breathed satisfied in. Then he couldn’t suppress the little giggle anymore and silently shook his head in amusement, a silly wide grin splitting his mouth.

‘Best night until now. Not because of the quality, also because of the quantity. Even I will be a bit sore after four times and she will be surely.’

Kakashi stroked light like a feather over her cheek and watched Hiko for some minutes how she slept, adorable and cute and also sexy. His finger slid over to her lips and trailed the faint marks of his desire, red and screaming at every other man to back away from his woman. One thing he had learned over the conference: Hiko belonged to him and he belonged to her. What else could it mean when they had written like two lovesick teenagers over phone, when he was constantly fooled by his imagination that she was right behind him, when she couldn’t sleep calmly while he was away?

The last fact made Kakashi sick. Alone the description of her nightmare let him shudder in disgust and anger at the things she endured. But that he was dragged into this, used by her deepest fears as a new point to torture his girlfriend, this made Kakashi book the earliest fly back to Konoha, right after the last discussion of the conference ended. And finding out Hiko had wanted to sleep in his bed was apparently a big turn-on for his libido.

Somewhere in the apartment his phone let out its loud ringtone. For heaven’s sake, at least the annoying sound was muffled, that it wouldn’t wake the shorty, but Kakashi cursed the caller nevertheless under his breath while he carefully got out of the warm embrace and searched still naked for the damn device.

He found it in the pocket of his jacket. His trusty companion laid exactly there where they had left him, right in front of the entrance door, accompanied by a few buttons from his shirt, the pitiful rests of the white panties and the other clothes, hastily discarded in their shared haze and as he leaned down to nestle with the zipper of the pocket, his mind recalled their first heated encounter.

‘That was definitely hot. Her little snarls when I wasn’t rough enough, the eager groans when I hit the right spot, the screams she let out. Hiko knows how to make me eat out of her hand.’

Kakashi smiled when he remembered the third time they had sex that night and at the same time the first when they were actually located in the bed (second took place at the floor _in front_ of the furniture). Hiko had kissed her way down, all the way from his face and lips to his neck and chest, licked with a crocked smile over the collarbone and his nipples –Kakashi hissed at that specific memory- traced absent minded his stomach, only to halt just above his for attention begging crotch. “Soon.” she had promised and then gave him a handjob, her slender fingers sometimes firmly and sometimes loosely wrapped around his dick, nevertheless making the man groan and pant in the need to release.

           ‘She really knows how to make me her loyal dog.’

He didn’t mind though. If that meant to get to talk with the best friend he ever had, to eat the best homemade food he tasted until now, to share some intimacy with one of the hottest women he met and to make a strong and witty female like Hiko feel safe in his arms, then he also wouldn’t mind to wear a dog collar.

 

“Not a bad idea…” he chuckled. Over his perverted thoughts he completely forgot about the phone call and as he did, the annoying melody stopped suddenly. Feeling a bit guilty Kakashi scrolled through the ID-caller list. The last name was _Obito Uchiha_.

           ‘Oha. Fuck.’

Just when he hissed sharply, a SMS came in.

           _Obito: Where the fuck are you?? Kurenai and I are searching everywhere!!_

The silver haired male ruffled embarrassed through his mane and went back to the bedroom, only to find a sprawled out Hiko, who occupied now most of his space. Carefully he climbed back in and avoided to settle accidently at her hands down, all the while typing an apology to the colleague.

           _Kakashi: Sorry. You can stop your search party. I’m already back._

_Obito: You’re not @ your room, we’re standing in front of it._

“And they are calling themselves police officers…” Kakashi shook unbelieving his head. The raven could be sharp, but only once in a blue moon and those blue moon occurrences were always to the most uncomfortable times! With a groan the man leaned into the head of the bed, the blanket thoughtfully spread over his lower body and with one eye at Hiko, who just sleepily opened one of her own and blinked up to him, her locks in a tousled mess.

“Who dares to disturb my sleep?” she mumbled in a raspy voice and crawled over. When she leaned her head into his chest, Kakashi showed her the display. “Your brother. You know, the dumb one.”

“Obito, huh?” Hiko wrinkled her forehead in light frustration. Then her expression lightened up like she had the best idea since the discovery of the wheel. “Would you please give me your phone for a moment? And tug the blanket up to your face.”

Amused he raised an eyebrow. “What are you going to do?” he asked, while his hands automatically followed her advice and covered his lower face with the white linen. The brunette did the same to her neckline, then pressed her back into his body and raised the phone with the screen directed at them. “Selfie-time.”

The shutter clicked. Still amused and know dawning on him what she had planned, Kakashi embraced the shorty and watched how she send with flying fingers the image of himself and her. Afterwards he snuggled with closed eyes into the warm body beside him and smiled when he felt she did the same.

“Are you hungry?” he asked and closed the hug around her. His hands slid over the soft skin of her stomach and he couldn’t suppress the urge to stroke over it, caressing the most sensitive part around the navel. Hiko squirmed, her eyes set at the cell phone. “Nu-uh. Not yet. Ask me again in a few- aah.”

Chuckling she raised the cellphone to his eye level and when he had read the message, Kakashi joined her laughter.

_Obito: okay. Now I’m a bit scarred for life. SHE IS MY SISTER AND I DIDN’T NEED TO KNOW HOW SHE LOOKS AFTER A NIGHT FULL OF SEX!! GOD_

“Write back I will pay his psychiatrist.” murmured the cop and started to nibble at Hiko’s neck. He loved the feeling of the woman withering in his arms at such a simple action and added his hands into the quotation. The thumbs slid over the top of her thighs, dangerous high to the surely damp pubic hair, only to retreat, what let her moan out. “You have an appointment.”

“O-kay. Send.” In the same second it was done, the brunette turned in his arms and closed the last bit of distance between their mouths. But shortly before they met, Hiko winked wickedly at him.

“He will surely continue to complain about the picture.”

“I don’t care. Now come closer, it seems I have a big problem and only you can help me with it.”

“Mhm. But I’m not a doctor.”

Kakashi whimpered when her small hand wrapped around his erection and started to pump slowly up and down. “I’m sure you will do great.” he brought out. “Already do.”

“Thanks, my love.” said the shorty and grinned in victory when the silver haired man threw his head back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you Miss_Fandoms_Shakespeare for proofreading. It means really a lot to me :)  
> And I promise for the next chapter some angst. (some of it. I still can't differ between only little angst and the kind of angst which overpowers anything else)


	38. Quarreling is a hassle

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hiko and Kakashi spend an evening like usual, but then something happens which spoils the good mood.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry! >.<   
> I'm sorry that the chapter comes so late. Hopefully the angst will make up for it...

Hiko didn’t think too much about it when Kakashi’s cellphone vibrated for the first time. She just spared the man a quick glance how he napped soundly at her couch, the screaming green booklet in his lap and the phone beside him. Then she returned to her self-given task of cleaning all the internal files at her data-drive from unnecessary stuff, all the while thinking halfheartedly about her alter ego “tRuthseekEr”.

 _‘I can give him up. Deleting the account and everything. I mean, he hasn’t done anything in the last_ _months, so nobody will really miss him, beside the two youngsters. I feel like I don’t need truth anymore. Before Kakashi it was something to fill my days and keeping my mind from going crazy over the possibilities, but now…’_

The brunette sighed. Since hours her mind went in circles around the same topic and a solution was nowhere to be found. Sure, she could delete everything right now, hell, she had already selected the ‘Delete’-function, but withdrew in the end. tRuthseekEr was a huge part of her life after all and her original goal, the reason why she started to hack never revealed itself. She couldn’t decide right now.

The doubts first came to her after a week of working again with Kakashi, after he returned successfully from the conference (and had to listen to a pissed-off Obito, who needed to give both of them a deafening lecture). Silent, like shadows the fear of being rejected by her boyfriend because of the things she did invaded her mind and brought her now to today: arguing with herself if she should erase every trace of her alter ego or not.

Sighing Hiko continued to look through her stuffed files, when Kakashi’s cell phone vibrated again. But this time, the male awoke with an abrupt stop of his snoring. She listened to his sleepy grumping and turned on her chair just in time to see the bright red contour on his cheek. He had covered his face with his arm and now some wrinkles were deeply engraved into the flesh, making him look even more rumpled and confused than he already was. The brunette chuckled at the cute sight. “Had a nice sleep?” she asked instead, trying to control her lips from rising any further.

“Hm.” Kakashi was like this after an hour of napping. Hiko also experienced it, the warm and nevertheless unnerving grogginess after a nap which left someone only hoping, no, _craving_ for the infamous “Only five more minutes”. Sleeping was an entirely different thing. It didn’t leave you so… out of place.

“I’m not feeling like cooking today, so would you like some fast food?”

With cracking bones Kakashi stretched and yawned, reminding her of a cat, then he closed Icha-Icha-Tactics and crocked his head, already wearing a little smirk on his face. “Sure, sure. Want something special?”

“Indian?”

 

Kakashi’s nose wrinkled lightly. Indian food wasn’t his and Hiko knew this, thus used every chance to tease him a bit. So she raised laughing her hands like she gave up on the matter, then turned around on her chair and shut the engine off. “Alright, sorry. Anyway I feel today more like burgers or such.”

“Got it.” The silver haired cop, only in a pair of low hanging sweatpants –it wasn’t the first time he crashed shirtless at her place after work- tried to reach under the coffee table, but only managed to push the various flyers of restaurants with take-out-service even farther out of his reach. Hiko watched him how he stubbornly stayed on the couch, only stretched his arm wider and wider out and not getting any results from it. In the end Kakashi huffed agitated and lolled his head over the armrest, which had served him before as a pillow-replacement. The coal eyes set on her, how she hid her wildly grinning face behind her bend legs and peeked over the rims of her glasses at the male. “What’s so funny?” he asked, light amusement swinging in his words.

“You of course.” retorted the brunette and brushed a strand behind her ear. For once the rebellious lock stayed where she wanted. “Too lazy to get up and fetch the number on your own.”

“Hiko…” whined the male. His half-lidded eyes turned into miserable puppy-eyes; an expression he used to his full advantage whenever he was too lazy for something. “Please?”

They didn’t lose their effect. Sighing like it was a total misuse of her time and she had thousands of other appointments, but was gracious enough to gift him with such a humble action, Hiko slowly slid out of her wheelchair and bend to pick one of the flyers from underneath the small table. With a twist of her wrist the thin booklet landed just at his sternum and almost teasingly kept stuck at the naked skin. “There, you big baby. Remember, I like my American fries with lots of sour sauce.”

Kakashi catched her wrist just when the shorty wanted to turn away and placed a quick kiss at her fingertips. “Thanks my little Firefly. Anything else?”

“The bacon burger. There’s nothing better than a big fat burger, the juicy and tender meat and almost unbelievable smoky bacon in a mix. And the strawberry limo.” said Hiko. His small intimate action was sweet; so sweet in fact she felt a faint flush spreading over her face. After months of relationship the woman didn’t blush as easily as before anymore, but there were still times the silver haired womanizer managed to let her cheeks go red. However, she had learnt from the best and didn’t let Kakashi take the spotlight alone. Hiko brought her lips to his level and breathed a peck at his temple, then buried her nose in the thick mane of his. Ruffling and smiling at the musky scent he emitted, she inhaled deeply, then retreated.

Unluckily his cell phone vibrated again and highly unluckily for her, she was near enough to read the name of the messenger on the screen, just when the female wanted to mock her boyfriend further.

 

To say her stomach dropped was an overstatement. But the slight sickness deep inside her was not a good sign. Endeavored to maintain a straight face and barely keeping a furious hiss to herself, the brunette took his cellphone and hold it out to Kakashi, who blinked at the sudden light in his eyes. “I would say _Anko_ wants to talk with you, or am I wrong?”

“Oh. Okay.” Kakashi took the device without a hint of hesitation and Hiko nearly gagged at the surprised look when he opened the messages.

A terrible memory came back to her.

_Kakashi sitting at her side beneath the oak tree at the day of the summer festival. He scrubbed embarrassed the back of his neck, while chatting with her about his previous bed partner. “We were never serious. It was just physical and we set it at the very beginning. But I didn’t see her the last weeks and she didn’t text me either, so I think whatever we had is now over.”_

‘It also means he never said to her he is in a relationship now. All this time he never fully cut the ties with the bitch.’

It hurt. Quickly Hiko stepped away from the couch, trying to steady her accelerated breathing, but it didn’t work. With every heave of her chest the revelation got heavier, whispering from the one thing she never expected from Kakashi.

Betrayal.

He didn’t notice her sudden absence. While she retreated, he read over the text (Had she been the one who messaged also earlier? Did he get three texts in total?) and shook his head that the silver tresses flung in the harsh movement.

Why didn’t he say anything? Why didn’t he instantly erase those messages or at least wrote back he wasn’t available any longer? Was it this hard?

Hiko swallowed dryly. The pang in her heart deepened and numbly she registered her weak knees. That special possibility came never to her mind. The pure thought of Kakashi cheating on her…

It hurt. It _fucking_ hurt. “I’m not hungry anymore.” she murmured and stumbled backwards. Away from him, away from the cellphone and away from the sex-invitation which blinked surely at the screen. Finally he reacted. After all it was strange for the food-loving woman to suddenly claim not to be hungry. “Hiko? You’re pale like a corpse!”

His worried words intensified the pain. Like oil to a bonfire. “I’m not hungry.” she repeated, while her mind clung to the simple sentence, otherwise she would drown in the merciless waves of grief. To her distress Kakashi followed her. As he got up from the couch, still so damn shirtless and the caring light shining out of his dark eyes, an intense flame erupted in her stomach.

‘Right. I’m not the old me anymore. Get your act together woman and stand your ground!’

“What was that message about?” Hiko trembled under the force of her sudden anger, but it felt oddly good to release some of it. Clenching her fists, she raised her head and pushed her glasses up, glaring at the confused man. “A little quickie? Or perhaps something longer lasting than a fuck?”

 

First the silver haired male squinted his eyes in suspicion, before he dared to break into a little grin. “You’re jealous.” he stated, a tinge of pride swelling in his voice. Crossing arms over his ribcage, the man chuckled lowly, meanwhile Hiko couldn’t believe what was happening. Did he believe she would get agitated over something… Okay, she was jealous, but that wasn’t the main point right now! The main point was that he didn’t end the agreement with the purple haired bitchy woman he fucked before Hiko!

“I’m not jealous.” she snarled. “But I’m really interested why she texts you. Now. On a Saturday.”

“She… Uhm…”

“Yes, that’s what I thought. Did you ever end it?”

Kakashi crocked his head. It seemed to dawn on him that this discussion wasn’t simply about a normal jealousy-streak. “What do you mean?” he asked, this time thankfully without the mocking tone. Otherwise Hiko would have surely gotten her weapon from the bedroom.

“Did. You. Ever. End. Your _fucking_ Sex-thing?” she asked. “Did you ever tell her that’s over, that you’re in a relationship? Did you plan it at least or forgot about it!? Obviously not,” Hiko answered on her own question, before Kakashi had even the chance to breathe in, “because then she wouldn’t text you!”

“Hiko, would you please calm down for a moment?” He raised his hands, the cellphone still in his right hand and came towards the shorty, like she was an overly nervous horse he had to tame. “What is this right now about, I don’t understand.”

She laughed dryly. “How would you react if I should get a text from the one man I had a relationship with after my… What would you believe if I would say we never officially ended it?”

Silence. Crossing her arms, Hiko waited for an answer, but he didn’t answer instantly. Instead he cocked his head, deeply entangled in his thoughts. While the cop tried to come up with a decent sentence, she snorted out and stomped over to the armchair, where the man had dropped his loose KPD-shirt. Agitated she fisted the soft material, resisting the urge to sniff at the t-shirt and forgetting about this stupid fight, but her pride forbid her to go down now. What he did (to precise: what he _didn’t_ do) was hurting her and she wasn’t one to accept a thorn stinging in her side so easily. Not anymore.

 

“I probably would get angry.” Kakashi said. “I would hate the thought of you being with another man-!”

“This isn’t about jealousy!” shouted Hiko. “It’s about your stand towards our relationship! It’s like you don’t even expect it to work and keep another woman as some replacement when it breaks!” She threw the cloth at him and growled when he caught it easily. At least Kakashi hauled it over his head, hiding his gorgeous body underneath.

“Hiko…? Who do you think I am? Someone who cheats or searches for ways out of a relationship wherever I go?” His onyx eyes blinked in slight anger.

“No, but it feels for me that way.” she said, gritting her teeth.

“Then you don’t know me like I thought you did.”

“You don’t understand!”

“Oh, I understand very well.” snarled the male and scrubbed wildly through his hair. “You don’t trust me. After all… we did, we shared, and you still don’t trust me.” He shook his head.

Hiko was already tired of this fight. Her anger burned bright and violently, but just as fast as the flame lit up, she calmed also down after a short time. She didn’t like the path the argument took, completely off the original topic and basing more and more on her fears and insecurities.

           ‘Maybe also on his.’

But Kakashi seemed to be the opposite of her. He was a slow starter, but when he was angry, he would stay it for a period; a cold flame, burning anyone who came too close. With sharp movements he searched at the sofa for his flu mask, only to discover it on top of the coffee table beside him. Quickly Kakashi covered his lower face with the mask, another layer to protect himself from her words. Then he looked again at the female and a deep crease appeared between his wrinkled eyebrows. “You expect me to run to another woman the moment something goes wrong, right? Then why I’m still here Hiko? Why I’m still standing here and try to discuss it out?”

 

“I don’t know!” screamed the shorty. “I don’t know anymore! All I know is that you didn’t end it with Anko, that is everything!” She hid her shaking hands behind her body and bit down on her lower lip.

Kakashi stepped behind the couch and put some distance between them. The male gripped firmly into the backrest until the furniture groaned under the force he used, the knuckles white and fingers clenching. “Yeah. Because I forgot about it. Because I’m happy with you. I couldn’t think straight in the past months. But this…” He sighed tiredly and she froze.

           ‘…What? Because of this little fight?’

“What now?” she asked weakly.

“Now… I don’t know.” he admitted, just as faint as her own voice. “This whole fight… It reminds me too much.”

He didn’t need to spell out of whom he was reminded. Of all things he could have said, this was the worst. It felt like someone stabbed her with an old, rusty knife directly into her chest, slashing straight through the ribs and attacking her heart. To be compared to his ex-wife… Hiko suppressed the desperate sob crawling out of her throat, as her fingers automatically flew up to her heart and covered it, trying to protect it from the harm which was already done. She couldn’t look at the man, who had his head hanging low and eyes directed at the ground.

“Out. Please. Get out.”

Hiko flinched at her own shaky words. Quickly she turned away and concentrated at the shelf behind her, not seeing anything through the curtain of blurriness before her eyes. “Before we say something what we would regret later.” she added quietly and hugged herself.

‘You already did. You compared me to _her_ , compared me to someone who hurt you intentionally, someone who cheated on you in the worst, most cruel way. You compared me to someone I never want to be.’

“Fine.” snarled the silver haired cop. “And I’m not going to another woman to fuck her. I will be in my own apartment, alone.”

The shorty waited until she heard the loud ‘clap’ of her door shutting close. Then she gasped painfully out, clutching the fabric of her wide pullover and not knowing where the evening started to go wrong.

 

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Kakashi tossed and turned around, then he sat up. Even in his own bed were reminders of Hiko, was it a single brown hair or alone the smell clinging to the second pillow beside him. Annoyed he ruffled again through his hair, then threw a glance at the clock at his nightstand and huffed. Half an hour past midnight and he still couldn’t sleep.

‘It doesn’t feel right to just go to sleep. Like I don’t even care about our fight. Like nothing relevant happened.’

In only a loose grey pajama-trouser the male climbed out of his bed and unconsciously reached out to a marine blue morning coat, which he liked to wear open. The soft flannel was cold under his fingertips as he slipped into the cloth. A gift from Hiko, who wasn’t able to stop freezing in his apartment and nearly had a heart attack when he lingered around only in the pajama trousers he wore now. One day she came home and threw the coat into his face, a sly grin on her lips. _“That you don’t catch a cold.”_ she had said and rolled her eyes when Kakashi suggested a little roleplay involving a nurse costume if he would ever get sick.

           ‘Damn. Also my thoughts betray me.’

The fight seemed so surreal to him. They had never fought before, only one or two mocking talks which got a bit out of hand. Never like this. With screaming, shouting and snarling at each other. The silver haired cop sighed out loud as he walked through his flat towards the fridge, in the faint illusion something to drink would ease his mind. But as he opened the furniture, an half empty six-pack of her favorite lemonade blocked the access to the beer he had stored and suddenly even his desire to drink faded. His naked feet slapped on the white tiles as he strolled to his three-seater and stretched out on top of it, one arm lying behind his head, the other lifeless on his ripped stomach. Mindless Kakashi stared at the ceiling, not seeing the white background.

‘It’s not like I forgot about Anko on purpose. What I said was right, the last months were such an experience for me I pushed every inconvenient thought aside. But that Hiko would react so harshly… She never showed signs that other women were troubling her.’

He tilted his head to the side and glared now at the backrest of his couch. Absent minded he nestled with the tips of his hair while debating over the various reasons why Hiko would suddenly explode like that and even go as far as throwing him out of her flat.

          

None of the reasons made enough sense to him. Grunting to himself, Kakashi sat up again and slumped down in the cushions. In the process his hand slipped somehow into the gap between the armrest and seat surface. And to his surprise there was something stuffed in the tiny space, usually reserved for pennies, buttons and dust. Something bigger than said things; something made out of cotton.

Slowly the male fished the mysterious object out and held it closely in front of his eyes. Because of the darkness he needed a few moments to recognize it, but as he did, his lungs screamed for air at the surprise and he inhaled deeply.

It was totally his own fault. One day Kakashi had left his boxers in Hiko’s apartment and they miraculously ended up beneath her bed, where she found them after a week. The revenge was a bra, hidden underneath his pillow. Back and forth the two adults left now their respective underwear at the others place whenever they had the chance; a childish play and ending mostly in a round of sex when the trophies were found. But for Kakashi it meant also something else, something he hadn’t dared to spell out for his girlfriend. It meant for him that they weren’t repeating his marriage.

‘Hanare was sexual, but never playful. She was a vixen, always down for a ride, but not for some plays before or after. You could ask for anything, from roleplay to light bondage, but not for a good laugh. I could talk to her and she talked to me, but we never talked with each other. There was always a wall between us, while Hiko… seems to have no walls at all.

Hiko isn’t Hanare.’

Then, finally it hit him. With the black undergarment in his hand, Kakashi jumped out of the seat and walked out of the living room, in the process stuffing the shorty’s underwear into one of the pockets of the morning coat. There was no hesitation when he knocked gently on her door, silent enough not to disturb the sleep of their neighbor’s, but audible for the female. Hopefully.

           ‘If she wants to see me right now.’

The silver haired cop didn’t wait long. The locks rustled behind the wooden barrier (when was the last time she had used them since he slept in her flat on a regular base?), then her small white face appeared in the tight gap between door and wall. Only one of her eyes was visible, squinted due to the absence of her glasses, then the eye widened, if out of surprise or other emotions, he didn’t know.

Kakashi was suddenly overly conscious of the missing mask which laid on top of his nightstand and rubbed awkwardly the back of his neck before he spoke. “Can we talk? Please?” he murmured after a few seconds of awkward silence.

Without a word the shorty opened the door further and let him in. But before he could say anything, Hiko slowly turned around and went into her living room, the entrance door still open and leaving the male confused and sad. That she didn’t even wait to close the door properly… In the pit of his stomach guilt assembled in a tight knot when Kakashi closed the entrance softly, leaving the security untouched. If it went good, he wouldn’t leave tonight.

Hiko sat curled up at the armchair, in a black cotton pants reaching to her ankles, long-sleeved dark-grey sweatshirt, a fluffy blanket thrown over her tiny frame, her fingers barely reaching out and firmly fisted into the hems of the fabric. Her hair rimmed her features and Kakashi wished nothing more than to reach out and cup her cheeks, drawing her into a long hug and sleep with her by his side, but as he stepped into the room, her ice blue eyes flashed to him, only to drop again to the ground, lifeless and dull.

 

The expression hurt him more than the fight earlier. Without a word, but the sadness spreading inside him like a disease, the silver haired cop settled down at the couch he had slept on before the evening went down the drain. Out of the corner of his vision he was able to watch the female, how she swiftly tugged a strand of hair behind her ear, then her slender fingers vanished again under the cover. While he arranged himself on the seat, the hands entangled and elbows resting at his spread thighs, Kakashi thought about the things he wanted to express properly right now, without another misunderstanding between them. “I’m sorry for not ending the thing I had with… before us.” he finally said and winced inwardly at the weak-sounding words. They didn’t express at all what he wanted to say. “I did now, but I also understand what made you upset. Don’t telling Anko I was not longer available seemed really like I left a window for myself open and like I don’t have any faith in our relationship. I’m sorry Hiko, really. I…” Agitated he ruffled through his hair. “I don’t… I really just forgot, I never called her since we confessed. I wouldn’t do this, cheat on you, especially not on you. Never.”

Kakashi dared to look at the brunette. She was nibbling on her lower lip, her hands tightening around the edges of her blanket. Her legs were drawn to her chest, protecting the small woman from everything and it hurt to know that he was the reason for this state. Dully he let his eyes drop again to the ground. Now he could only wait; wait for the judgement, wait for the brunette to accept or reject his apology.

“You were right.”

Shocked Kakashi looked at her. Hiko’s eyes were set on him, not any longer dull, but pained. A light twitch of the corner of her lips, then she shook her head. “I… don’t trust you. Not fully. There is always a spark of doubt in me, whispering about all the insecurities I have, the things which happened in my past, the words which were uttered. I can’t explain it. Maybe it’s because of my loveless childhood, maybe because of what happened later, but I… I don’t trust new people.”

The woman fell silent again. Only after a few moments in which he doubted his own ears she continued, rubbing from time to time over her watering closed eyelids. “I can’t count the times I rejected other humans, no matter if man or woman, no matter if they wanted just to become friends with me or something more. Before you came to the police station, I was harsh. Hiding behind the image of the harpy, I used it as an excuse not to get involved with other people. Only Itachi and Obito knew me and Kisame had to fight to get me to open up to him. But you…” Hiko chuckled dryly. “I trusted you faster than anyone in a whole while. It was so easy, so goddamn easy to trust you. It never crossed my mind before today, that one day you could cheat on me. I wasn’t jealous of the women who chased after you during the patrols or flirted with you whenever we are outside. But now… With the mere realization…”

Hiko didn’t finish the sentence, but Kakashi understood. Somewhere deep in his mind he understood the small woman.

 

He had been jealous. Only quick flashes of said emotion, gracing him in the most inappropriate moments when he saw her talking with another man at work or when someone looked at her longer than necessary when they were out. But it was enough to give him aches when she wasn’t by his side and it had bothered him until now, because Hiko didn’t seem to mind the flirtatious females around him. He hadn’t encouraged them, naturally, but maybe he hadn’t fend them off like he should have. And like that it also slipped from his mind to end his casual relationship with Anko, as pitiful as it sounded.

Hiko let her feet slip out of the warm blanket and stretched her toes. Then she smiled warily at him and sniveled once more. “Until now everything went really smooth and no one was more surprised about this than me. No problems at all, because I trusted you so easily. But maybe that was now the problem, I was too lulled by the achievements I gained and somehow I didn’t expect any other hurdles. I trust you more than anyone I know, Kakashi, please don’t forget that. Don’t you think I would have struggled more if I wouldn’t? You got so easily under my skin, encouraged me with your straightforward attitude, warmed me with your care and made me feel safe in your arms. But there’s still a tiny part of me who’s scared, who’s insecure about myself and doubts my actions and words, who doesn’t know how this will turn out. So please,” her smile widened lightly and the brunette wiped one of the tears away which dared to fall, “bear with me and my attics a bit, okay?”

Kakashi had to swallow to clear his suddenly dry throat. Her smile was the saddest, but at the same time the most hopeful thing he had seen in his life until now, full of love and tears and so beautiful it made his heart race faster at the sight. He coughed and fiddled with the hems of his morning coat, which had warmed up until now. “I was at fault here.” the male managed to bring out. “You were right too, I should have ended the thing between me and Anko the moment we got together. I forgot about it and that isn’t acceptable. I’m sorry.”

“And I’m sorry for screaming at you.”

Kakashi smiled a bit as he listened to the weak admission. “You know why I came over?”

She shook her head, however as he tugged the black panties out of the pocket and held it out to her, a little smirk on his face, Hiko snickered weakly. “Never expected that.” she murmured.

 

“It reminded me of something important.” Slowly the silver haired man stretched and stood up, the blue coat falling loosely around his body. Burying his hands in the deep pockets, he kneeled in front of the armchair and pressed his forehead against the bump where her knees must be, underneath the green and black striped blanket. “That you’re not Hanare. That we’re not repeating my past and we’re not the people we were before. Sorry for forgetting this. Sorry Firefly. I’m so sorry.”

“Kakashi. Don’t.” whispered the female. “We’re both a bit dumb, but it’s okay.” Hiko leaned forward, discarding in the movement the blanket around her body. Gently she placed her lips at his head. He felt the short lingering caress at his skin as she breathed in, inhaled the smell of his hair and natural scent. Her arms snaked their way to his shoulders and embraced him, while she moved farther down and pecked his forehead. “You big dummy.” she whispered gently. “My big, big dummy.” Her voice was trembling, nearly cracking in the emotions she tried to suppress and as she snuggled her face into his hair, the silver haired man felt some wet spurs remaining where her closed eyelids pressed against his skull.

Like they had a mind on their own, his hands encircled her waist and dragged her body closer to his. The brunette was warm and relieved Kakashi sighed out when he felt the familiar heat against his frame, the well-known curves under the clothes and when he pressed his head into her stomach, he couldn’t hinder the little tear dropping from his eyelashes as his shorty dragged him closer and cooed into his ear, all the while stroking tenderly over his back.

He hated to fight. He had hated the fights with Hanare, where his wife screamed and raged and he only stood there and tried to get over with it. But fighting with Hiko felt even worse than just bearing a loud screaming. The sudden pang he felt when she accused him – _yeah,_ it had felt like she was accusing him- was terrifying and hurt much more than Hanares insults had. But they spoke about the matter and the silver haired cop was relieved they managed to clear this subject so easily.

They went only minutes later to bed. Kakashi dropped the morning coat carefully at the side and quickly slipped under the covers of her blanket, while Hiko hauled the sweatshirt over her head and tugged the long sweatpants down, exchanging them only with a dark-red tank top. As the female joined him and snuggled into his embrace, the silver haired man sighed full of content and spooned her, nuzzling his face into her hair and enjoying the slow inhale and exhale of her chest as Hiko went to sleep. The last thing she did before closing her eyes was kissing him, a light caring kiss without the use of teeth and tongue, but somehow Kakashi felt lightheaded when she smiled afterwards at him. Without muttering a word, he slung his arm around her waist and made sure to flush her whole body against his front, while he also closed his eyelids, already feeling the frail depths of sleep claiming him.

           ‘I love you, my little Firefly. I love you so much.’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Proofread by Miss_Fandoms_Shakespeare. Thank you like always. :)


	39. Clues

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fall comes over Konoha and the new season doesn't only bring colorful leaves and stormy winds. Hiko has to face some of her memories as a crime gets known to the police.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know, I know... Again a bit too late. I guess I got lost on the path of life, huh?

It could have been such a good day.

The last bits of October, a rainy grey day and the wind was pressuring everyone who dared to go outside. The temperature dropped under 10 Celsius and every police officer who was on duty carried a thermos with blessed hot coffee or tea with him, just in case the old and worn-out police cars decided to have some time off in the middle of the merciless cold.

Then the call came.

It was Naruto who took it and Kakashi’s whole sympathy was with the blonde boy. It was always a shock to receive the gory details firsthand.

“Th-there…” Naruto shook his head, a bit pale around the nose. “There’s a body in the city park. Lifeless. The one who found it tried to check the pulse, but there was none.”

Immediately the whole main office was silent. If someone would drop a nail, it could’ve been heard all the way up to the gallery.

Then Asuma sighed deeply. “What else?” he asked calmly, but Kakashi noticed that the fingers trembled lightly while he fiddled with the silver lighter the Sarutobi carried around. There was something in the air; a strange premonition that this wouldn’t be a nice, clear case. Naruto started to speak up, but then he shook his head. Flabbergasted the blond again tried to explain, but just exhaled when it came down to it.

It was Sasuke who saved the situation. Gently he shoved Naruto towards the middle of the room and whispered something in his ear, certainly something partly insulting, partly up building in the same manner Itachi tried to build up people.

“Fine teme.” Determined Gais student nodded, before he breathed in and directed his words at the entire office, with the same charisma his father displayed. “The caller also described it more detailed. When he wanted to check the pulse, he had to touch the body and it revealed several wounds. He… he believes it was murder.”

Kiba balanced still in his chair, but the confident grin on his face vanished while listening. “Why does he believe it’s murder? There are no clues for it yet.”

“Because the organs of the body hang from the branches of the tree where the corpse was found.” admitted Naruto silently. His shoulder slumped down in defeat in the dead silence following his words. A strong contrast to the usual bubbly and enthusiastic boy he was.

 

Kakashi watched like through some milk glass how the cops in the office started to whisper, throwing unsecure stares around and surely hoping not they would be sent to investigate the crime scene.

Murder in Konoha. A long time nothing more serious than some vandalism or robbing of little shops happened and now suddenly a dead body? And on top of that such a brutal death. The silver haired male closed his eyes shut and let the sounds around him speak. The door for the bureau of the chief was pushed open and the hasty steps of the redhead in person announced the upcoming decision.

“Okay, everyone heard that. Maito-san and Hatake-san will drive to the scene and investigate, the technical forces and the medical department will join you soon. First only guard the area around it. Then we will see what we can do.”

Kakashi was sure he heard a weak gasp from Naruto, but it also could be his imagination. A kind of weird numbness took over him; the same numbness which let him survive the crime scenes of gang bangers and fights among the mafia. Those were already bloody, but even he hadn’t seen before someone who got his organs ripped out.

The drive to the crime scene was unnervingly silent. Usually Gai would shout something about the youthful light drizzle on the outside or Naruto would blabber about his lively fox pet Kurama, but today the only sounds were the statics in the walkie-talkie and the constant drops on the car roof.

The park had heavy gates, big and metallic. Even during fall and winter the owner would left them open for the public, but now the gates were firmly shut and some security guards discussed with commoners, who wanted to enter the green scenery even in the bad weather. For the officers it was no problem to pass them, one quick flash of their badges and the guards immediately opened the gates. Kakashi noticed two families with little children waiting in the crowd, then looked at Sasuke and Naruto. The young ones were tensed. Especially Naruto was pale like a corpse and seemed to be near to throwing up, but also the icy Uchiha couldn’t stop the little signs of his worry shining through his usual demeanor.

“Naruto, Sasuke.” At his voice both turned their heads to him. “Stay here for a moment and help with the people. Not too many details, just calming them down and getting them to leave until the forensic unit arrives.”

They nodded at him. And Naruto’s blue eyes blinked in thankfulness as Kakashi and Gai strolled into the park, both with thick coats and hands buried in their pockets.

“That was nice.”

“I only pushed the confrontation a few minutes back.” said the silver haired cop to his partner. “They will see it nevertheless.”

 

Gai nodded, unusual silent for his outgoing personality. But a cruel murder had this effect on people. Then the man pointed at a tree in some distance, where already some guards waited, grouped around something that rested at the ground and from time to time gesturing to the branches of the plant beside them. “The victim must be there.”

“Must be.” repeated Kakashi.

It had been some time since his last crime scene. But instantly his trained instincts kicked in when they walked over to the covered body, hidden underneath a blue plastic blanket. With hawk eyes Kakashi mustered the whole scenery while his mind started the work. He registered that Gai started a conversation with the man who found the victim, meanwhile the silver haired cop lifted the plane and dared to throw a glance at the dead.

A male with dull orange hair, maybe colored. A stern face, the mouth slightly parted and the watery-green eyes rolled into his skull. Blood droplets were splayed all over neck and even plastered the sides of the face. Kakashi lifted the blanket completely. He needed to see the scene without any interference, without any disturbance. Wordless he stretched the cover out to one of the guards, then stepped back and let the view talk for itself.

The nameless body was neatly arranged for a corpse. Despite the crooked features and the bloody chest, ribs spread out like the teeth of a carnivore, the man laid almost normal there. The hands were folded over his empty abdomen, legs crossed at the ankles like he only took a nap. The sharp contrast between the laidback position and the abstrusely Christmas-like tree decoration was terrifying.

‘Who does something like this? Who is ill enough to fulfil his perverted fantasies this way?’

“It’s not enough blood.” Kakashi murmured to himself. “He was killed somewhere else.” Shuddering he reached into his pockets of the black coat he wore during the cold seasons and tugged a pair of fingerless also black gloves out. Gai finished talking to the poor guard who found the corpse and stepped beside him, while Kakashi had problems to slip his cold hands into the cloth. “The park is always open, but the last patrol around here was scheduled for midnight. Until 8 a.m. where he was found everything is possible.” informed the green loving male his partner. Then he shook his head. “It’s a shame. To ruin an oasis for families and especially children like that.”

 

“An 8-hour-window, huh?” Sighing the silver haired cop ruffled through his hair. He already wished to crawl back into his bed with a waiting Hiko, but it was his job and he would do it properly. There was a family who had now to mourn over a son, maybe friends who would weep or a girlfriend breaking into desperate tears when she would receive the terrible news. It was now Kakashi’s responsibility to find out who done it and he wouldn’t slack off, for the sake of the persons left behind. “Doesn’t make it easier.”

“No.” answered Gai and tugged the little notepad in a screaming shade of green back into his own jacket. Then he lifted his head to look at a part of the organs which dangled lightly in the wind, spraying leftovers of blood all over the ground. “It never gets easy.”

Behind them they heard a commotion and the silent incoming of a car. Usually vehicles weren’t allowed in the park, but for the forensic of the KPD the city would make an exception.

“So, where’s-! Oh my…” Naruto’s boastful voice echoed over the field just to stop abruptly to the left of the silver haired detective. Then the blond covered quickly his mouth and bend over, obviously in danger to contaminate the crime scene. But he only gagged and Kakashi patted his back. It was always hard at the first murder scene and then such a view… He sighed deeply.

It would be a long day.

 

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Hiko yawned. Then she looked at her already empty mug of coffee. Searching in the depths of the cup for any leftovers, the female dragged the moment out she had to stand up and fix herself a new beverage, but in the end she took the mug and went to the coffee machine in a sideboard in the IT-office.

Itachi watched her with a slightly amused twitch around his lips. “Why are you tired? Is the reason probably a silver scarecrow?”

“I wish it would be like this, but no.” she grumped and started the machine. While the coffee was filtered, Hiko crossed her arms over her chest and yawned again. “No, Ebisu-san ordered me to repair a broken server-tower in the middle of the night. I’m here since,” she glanced at her wrist-clock, “4 in the morning.”

“Was the damage serious?”

“Mhm. Overheat. Wires melted away like butter in the sun. We have to completely switch out the insides of the tower, but for now the temporary diversion should work for a while. What a drag.” The coffee was ready and without caring about the heat erupting from the drink, Hiko sipped at the beverage and shuddered comfortably. “God, someone should bless the person who invented coffee.”

As Itachi wanted to answer, the phone on his desk rang, a long and annoying sound. While the brunette walked back to her own table and continued to write the report about the ruined server-tower, her superior grunted into the speaker various times, before he slammed the phone into the device, ending the call. “We should get into the main office.”

“Why?” Shino looked up from his own work. Hinata wasn’t present due to some family business, so the three tech-geeks had the office for themselves.

The cold Uchiha already assembled some files in his arms and shuffled over his workplace. Hiko noticed that his hands flinched weakly, a sign that Itachi was disturbed to the very core. Something had happened, something really, really bad with a big ‘B’.

“Itachi. What’s going on?”

The raven only shook his head and continued to fumble with his papers. The brunette settled the mug she still held (and had her hands clenched around) at her desk, not caring that the liquid spilled over some reports and stood slowly up, Shino following her example. He must also feel that something fishy was going on. “Itachi!”

“Murder. A brutal one.”

 

When the Uchiha used the word ‘brutal’, it must’ve been really gory. Hiko’s stomach tightened as her imagination ran wild. No, not fantasies came to her mind. Her memories were enough to make her feel sick and weak.

           

_Slowly Hiko blinked. The ceiling seemed to get closer as she did. But the rational part of her mind told her it was only a fantasy; created by the lack of food and cool water._

_She licked her dry and scraped lips. She would kill for a glass of cold simple refreshing water, to get her throat to end the hurting coughs, to drink, just drink, drink, drink, drink…_

_“Stupid girl.” she rasped. “You will die here.”_

_Her wrists and ankles stopped hurting some hours ago, hours or days, she couldn’t tell anymore. A weak glance told her that they were painfully pale, nearly blue when she tilted her head. Hiko giggled weakly as she tried to move them and her hands only twitched at her desperate motion._

_“Bad hand, bad hand. Will you not move anymore? Bad, bad hand.” Hiko giggled again. “Or he comes again and punches us, you know? I don’t want to be punched anymore. I don’t want to be punched anymore, I don’t want to be kicked, I don’t want to be fucked, so please, please stop moving…” The fingers stopped trembling._

_“Thank you.” she said towards the now limp hand and nodded, what earned her a tearing flash of pain trashing through her body. A weak cry tore from her lips, but she stifled it. Tears, the only water in here dropped down her cheeks and vanished inside her greasy hair as she moved, cold against her feverish skin._

_Then the last thing she had expected happened and it felt like a beautiful dream for her. A knock, a bit distant, but directed at the entrance door of Kabuto's apartment. Immediately she filled her lungs with air and screamed, screamed like her life was on the line. And it was._

_“HELP! PLEASE HELP ME!! PLEASE, SOMEONE HELP ME!!” Her voice was cracking, but she struggled in her binds that the bed rustled in addition to her loud yells and knocked against the wall._

_Silence, then the sweet, sweet sound of the door lock being opened. Hiko whimpered in relief, but didn’t stop her antics. Blinded by her tears streaming down her face she laughed wildly, sobbing while a blurry red spot entered her field of vision._

_He couldn’t be Kabuto. He wasn’t._

_“Please… Save me. Let me go.”_

_‘I don’t want to die.’_

_“Oh god…” A male voice, but lighter than Kabuto’s, also sounding like an older man was speaking. Kabuto had a silky voice, made for compliments or crooked commands. “Oh god… Stay calm, I’m freeing you.”_

_And a sound she would never forget. The choking and gasping when Sasori (she would get to know his name only later) stepped to her and was able to make out what damage was done to her up to close._

 

Hiko struggled to clear her head from those dark memories. “Any further information?” she asked and hid her disturbed state behind a mask of professionality. Sometimes you had to push your emotions aside to do your work properly; a principle the shorty could follow if needed. And a murder was definitive such a case.

“A male. Organs were removed from the body and hung in a nearby tree. Nothing else.”

“Okay.”

‘I can do it. I can do it. It’s the third murder case you will be working on, but you can do it.’

Itachi inhaled loudly, while Shino stuffed his hands into the pockets of his wide coat. The young man was obviously shaken up, the small crease between the eyebrows and the constant fiddling with the sunglasses were like screams into a loud-hailer. She squeezed shortly his shoulder and smiled at the youngster, hoping it would make it easier for him. “Don’t worry. We will catch this fucker, alright?”

Shino tensed, then nodded sharply. A quick motion, nothing more than a flinch of his chin, but it was enough. It had to be enough. Another gentle grip into the shoulder, then Hiko let go and turned to her superior, who had used the time to wrap himself again in his armor of icy behavior and stood with a highly raised head at the door, the hand slung around the doorknob.

 

While they were walking down the hallway, Hiko had time to think about the things that had to be done by the IT-department. Mostly they were involved in analyzing things, locations, bringing needed information about the victim and so forth. It was hard work and sometimes it was also emotionally exhausting if you had to dig in someone else’s past and discover all the dirty little secrets that made a human life. Last time Itachi did it and he needed a few free days afterwards. She swore to herself to spare Shino and Hinata from this and take the burden this time, at least that she could do for her colleagues and –yeah- friends. Determined Hiko nodded to herself and ignored the short bewildered glance Itachi gave her.

‘And how bad can it look when organs outside of a body? My gosh, I dissected a frog during High School. It’s in general the same.’

She was so wrong.

The first thing the brunette noticed when the trio entered the main office was the heavy silence there. It was a dull type of silence; the one that is unnerving and wants one to scream out to break it, but won’t because no one dares to do it. It weighed down and like this Hiko let her eyes shift over the present officers.

Asuma and Kurenai stood beside each other, and for once they didn’t fear that their totally-not-secret relationship was exposed. Her slender hand laid in his big one, while he fiddled with his zippo, always a sign that the bearded cop tried to cope with his emotions. Izumo seemed to be relaxed, until the brunette watched the male flinching at a sudden loud sound coming from his partner Kotetsu, who immediately apologized at his friend, when usually he would just shrug it off. Kiba's jaw was clenched and he walked nervously up and down, like a caged wolf would wander around, the arms crossed and from time to time looking at the big clock above all their heads. The female student of Kurenai, Tenten nibbled full of rash energy at her fingers and didn’t care when the first drops of blood tainted her hands.

They all were shocked. Such a bloody crime hadn’t happened in years and surely everybody asked himself who the hell would do such a thing. How was a human being able to do that to another human being?

Orochimaru, his new student Ino and his assistant Sakura were also present. He, a pale haggard man in his fifties with long black hair flowing over his shoulders, was the only one who seemed to be okay with the whole situation. Casually he leaned against a wall, cladded into a white lab coat. The clear white clashed with the unhealthy shade of his pale skin, making him even creepier than he already was. However the girls beside him whispered quietly with each other, glancing warily around and nervousness radiating from them.

 

Hiko spotted Obito in between the crowd of agitated police officers and made her way towards him, Itachi tagging along. Shino separated himself without a word from them, walking over to Kiba, who seemed to calm a bit down at the sight of his cloaked pal.

“Hey.” she greeted her brother. “You know anything?”

He shook his head, the coal eyes fixed at the door of Nagato’s bureau. “Not more than anyone else. Naruto took the call and told everybody.”

A sigh escaped her. “Oh no… The poor kid. Where is he now?”

“Reporting to the boss. Together with Gai, Sasuke and Kakashi.”

She inhaled sharply. Sure, she had noticed her lover wasn’t present, but the shorty wouldn’t have thought he was the one inspecting the crime scene. Hiko glanced again at the closed door and the grey blinds, all of them down and shutting the outside world effectively out. But it was logical. It was so goddamn logical to order Kakashi to the dead body, because he was the one with the extreme record and the SFU-experience. He was at the moment the one who was most capable of solving this crime and only god would know what it would do to him.

Stretching a crumble in the wine red shirt with the widened sleeves out, Hiko tilted her head away from the bureau. Obito was the one catching her attention. Uneasiness was etched into his features; an expression the loudmouthed and energetic Uchiha didn’t wear often. He was just as tensed as the other officers in the room and Hiko sighed inwardly as she recognized the crease between his eyebrows at the sign that it was.

He tried to mask it. Oh boy.

“We will make it. We will turn this fucker into jail and then he will be a goner. You know that most ill killers don’t last long in prison.” She placed her small hand at his upper arm. Obito returned the gesture with a wary grin, shook his head, then nodded determined. “Yeah. I’m going to enjoy the imagination of this fucker being the one who drops the soap. Hey, how about a bet?”

“Really?” mused Hiko. “You lost our last one.”

“Only because you knew what would happen!”

She laughed shortly. “Yip. Been there, done th-!”

Nagato’s bureau opened and Hiko quickly closed her mouth before the words would come out, watching intently behind her thick glasses how the five men, Sasuke and Naruto first and Nagato as the last came out, all of them a serious look in their faces. Instantly her forced good mood dropped again.

 

“You all probably heard what happened today in our town.” Nagato started without any introduction. His intense purple eyes shifted over the crowd, scanning the people up and down before he continued. “A crime, so obscene and unspeakable, tainting one of the spots in Konoha for generations. We will find the one who did this and throw him where he belongs. He disturbed the peace. He erased a life. But no crime goes without any clues, there’s no perfect case. The police will find him. We will find him.”

By Nagato’s side was a white board, the blank side turned to the waiting officers. With a quick glance towards Kakashi, who waited with folded arms behind his back, the chief spun the board around.

The first thing Hiko saw were the photos. Quickly she switched from one to the next, not sure which one was the worst.

Dead eyes, a distorted face, mouth hanging open and showing a dry tongue off, rimmed by blots of dark, red blood. Next.

A tree, the leaves already fallen to the ground in a colorful mix of brown, red, green and yellow. In between the branches were red and pink objects, obviously not belonging to the plant. Next.

The body up to close, in a strange sense of laziness sprawled on the ground. Hands crossed in his stomach like he only napped there, the legs folded and sprawled out. The ribcage was wide open, but due to the angle the photo was taken only the folded skin could be seen, not the empty torso. Next.

The man from above, who was cladded into a fine piece of suit before. Shirt and jacket were unbuttoned by the killer, dress pants ironed and the once blinking shoes only lazily wiped clean. A tie dangled taunting into the empty space, the tip of it soaked in red.

Hiko felt hopeless as she looked at the images. She would at least comprehend the gist’s of it when it would’ve been for organ trading. Then the organs would have been used. But that the one who killed the man hung them into a nearby tree, like he purposely mocked the ones who found the corpse; that was beyond her understanding. It was a terrible waste of resources. Hiko scowled lightly, until she felt the shudder of her brother beside her. It wasn’t Obito. Itachi shuddered; heavily like he was sent out during a fucking snow storm without a jacket.

 

Only a few people knew Itachi couldn’t stand blood. And Hiko was guilty in this case. Since he stepped into the bathroom where she had tried to kill herself, the unemotional Uchiha went still and started to tremble when he caught sight of large amounts of the red stains. And who could blame him? Seeing your little sister in a pool of blood, the forearms cut open and a steady drizzle of said liquid running into the once white tub would scar every man, no matter how icy his demeanor was. She had only heard the brash report about her state from Obito, while Itachi sat beside her at the hospital bed, the deep black eyes set on the lily white bandages around her arms.

The brunette elbowed her brother lightly. “Hey,” she whispered and leaned over, meanwhile Nagato pointed at the different pictures and explained something, “everything is okay. You hear me? Itachi, it’s only tomato juice. Picture it like your little brother spilled some of his precious favorite juice over the scene, like he had a ton of it with him and stumbled. Flat on his face.”

His right eyelid twitched, but then a little smile graced on his lips. Without a word he nodded, his look still casted on the chief and at least partly relieved the jittering stopped Hiko turned again to the front, where the redhead gestured to Kakashi and Gai, Sasuke and Naruto waiting in their back.

“Detective Hatake will be in charge of the case. Everyone will listen to his command and do his best to solve this load of…” He sighed deeply, like Nagato suppressed just in time a nasty word. Then the purple eyes returned again to the waiting officers. “I expect everyone to do their best. This is probably one of the most publicity-drawing crime in the history of Konoha, and I expect results. Favored yesterday. Now excuse me, there’s a crowd of reporters waiting to be filled in.”

He didn’t had to fight with the cops. Nagato spun around to the two doors leading towards the atrium, where the reporters could already be heard, whispering among themselves and the restless shutter of cameras. Without another nervous glance or even sly comments the whole office just accepted the outcome, while Kakashi’s eyes widened slightly in surprise. Hiko flashed a quick smile at him and the silver haired male nodded at her, before he stepped to the whiteboard with the information of the victim. “Alright. The name of the victim was Fuu Yamanaka, 27 years old. He was a secretary at the town hall, but despite that, we have nothing. Itachi, dig everything out what his life can give. You and the rest of the IT maybe have to pull some extra hours for this.”

“Got it.” retorted the Uchiha and fumbled again with the files he carried around.

 

“Orochimaru started already the autopsy, but run every test to determine when exactly he died. We have to rim the point as fast as possible.” continued Kakashi, one eye at the blonde girl, who was currently trying to hold the tears in. To examine a relative who was brutally murdered and the insides ripped out couldn’t be a simple task. “Note every strange thing you encounter down. The bizarre position in which we found him could only be a pose to confuse us. It looks like a madman on the run, however maybe it’s just a cover-up.”

The pale coroner cocked lightly his head, like he was amused about something nobody else knew. “I would say he was murdered around 5 a.m. But it’s only an assumption now and there are more, much safer tests to run.”

“Then do it. Everyone else will work at the daily problems we face, but stay on alert. If another corpse appears, I want to be informed immediately.” stated Kakashi and let his eyes shift over every cop. Hiko looked at him and pride filled her heart, how the man she loved stood in the middle of the whole office and led the people around him without an ounce of hesitation or doubt in his doings. It was like he was born to be a detective; born to hunt criminals down and protect the civilians in his town.

He took every possibility in account. If it was really a crazy serial killer, there was now nothing they could do. Sure, they could analyze every inch about Fuu Yamanaka's life, cut his body even further open to find some clues about the killer, but they couldn’t find a connection to another victim if there was none. So the only thing Kakashi could actually do was letting them search –and hope!- it was only a normal reason which caused the death of the unfortunate soul.

‘Money, sex and revenge. That’s the only things that seem to end in the death of a person.’

Kakashi talked silently with his partner Gai, while Naruto and Sasuke awkwardly stood around, Sasuke at least tried to follow his superiors, but the blond boy had his cerulean eyes set at his own toes, cladded into a pair of heavy boots. The other officers spread again in the room, but from time to time they whispered among themselves, weak and hushed like the brutal death silenced all their talks. Hiko slowly made her way over to the little group and came to a halt beside the young man, who didn’t recognize her. After some of listening to the two older cops, the brunette sighed and nudged Naruto with her elbow in the flank. “Hey.”

He didn’t react. It took Hiko two more approaches to draw even a flinch out of him, but then he raised his head and looked with dull blue eyes at her, what hurt for no apparent reason. He should be vibrating with life, full of energy and trying to find the killer at all costs, not acting like an empty shell, robbed of every ounce of his usual bright grin. Gently Hiko smiled at Naruto and ruffled for a short moment through his bright hair. She had to stretch her whole body to reach his scalp though. “Let’s get something to eat, huh? You two must be hungry as hell. And some sugar, it helps a lot after seeing… Something like that. How about a hot chocolate?” The brunette glanced quickly at Sasuke and noticed the brother of Itachi was even more pale than usual and that a thankful spark glammed in his features.

 

(…)

 

Hiko balanced three cups with hot chocolate to a small table in a booth of the “Sugarbomb”. Sasuke and Naruto accompanied her and sat both at the table, Naruto with defensively crossed arms and Sasuke looking as aloof as possible, what didn’t stop the female visitors from swooning over him. Suigetsu had chuckled at the annoyed young man when they entered and added a bit of extra sweet cream for him, while Hiko rolled her eyes, but joined in the banter of the white haired barista.

“Here, one big chocolate chip cookie and a white hot chocolate for blondie,” Hiko placed the two items in front of Naruto, “one extra dark chocolate with extra cream for the emo boy,” this went to Sasuke, “and one big chocolate for me. Come on, eat and drink to your heart’s content! It’s my treat in the end!”

“Thank you, Kobayashi-san.”

“…Yeah, thanks.”

The two male’s cupped in unison their respective mugs and clawed into them, while Hiko sipped at the hot beverage and waited. She dealt with silent types like Sasuke since her childhood and also the loud kind of guy wasn’t new to her. So she just rested her chin into the palm of her hand, placed her elbow on top of the table and sighed out. “You can drink, I haven’t poisoned it.” she said and watched how Naruto flinched heavily. Some drops were spilled and Hiko laughed at the sheepish expression on his face as he wiped them off the table. But his fingers trembled as he did so and the giggling girls in their back filled the uncomfortable silence between the three people.

Hiko sipped casually at her own hot chocolate and sighed in bliss. Bitter liquid, heavenly sweet in the aftertaste teased her tongue and she was tempted to finish her cup in three big gulps, however restricted herself. There were two youngsters who needed some support and from her point of view, the brunette was the only one who would gift them with some.

“You don’t have to be strong all the time, you know?” Hiko said softly after some minutes.

Again, the two boys acted in unison. Raising their heads and tilting them slightly to the side, they seemed to be the two opposite sides of a medal. One sun, one moon. Light and darkness. They resembled in many ways, but differentiated in others and that would make them in the future good partners. Hiko let her lips perk upwards while shifting in her seat. “Let me tell you. I may be just a boring IT-nerd, but listen to me for once. It will become better. It will still be terrible to arrive at the scene as the first and see all the bloody details, but it will one day not hurt like it did before. It doesn’t mean you became dull. No, it will only mean you can handle those things better than today, that you got stronger in a sense of way. Just don’t lose yourself over that. Visit friends. Talk with them. Spend time with your loved ones. But don’t allow this fucker who destroyed one life to destroy your lives too. Because it would give him the power over your personalities, ruling you with fear and disgust. And please,” Hiko dared to ruffle through Sasuke’s hair and through Naruto’s blond mane too, “become the great cops one day I can see right now in both of you.”

Grabbing her cup and standing up, she winked playfully at the youngsters, before waving shortly at Suigetsu and exiting the shop, directing her steps to the police office. Through the shop window Hiko was able to throw one last look at the two, how they sat still surprised in the booth. Naruto’s eyes were wide, but in comparison to before they shined again, weakly but they did. Sasuke smirked; not his usual cocky ‘I’m-better-than-everyone-else-in-this-room-smirk’, but it was a beginning.

‘When I’m going to continue my charity-work, Santa has to erase my name from the Bad-children-list. Naah, there’s still some time to mess things up.’

Whistling a bit, despite the harsh weather and the pile of work on her desk, Hiko continued to walk towards the KPD, in her hands a cup of the most delicious hot chocolate she had in a whole while.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always my personal thanks go to Miss-Fandoms-Shakespeare, who proofreads and doesn't mind all my grammar mistakes and misspellings of words. >.<


	40. No it's not

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While Hiko discovers something disturbing about the homicide, Kakashi pays the employer of the victim a visit and leaves with two names.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh god, I'm so sorry >.<   
> The only apology I have that my work maybe isn't technically tiring, but nevertheless I was dead tired yesterday and immediately fell asleep after coming home yesterday. I'm sorry! :(

Hiko gnawed at her lower lip. All the while her eyes, hidden behind the thick glasses, darted over the illuminated screen, taking everything in and then scrolling down. But there was something else going on; something that got on her nerves and made her feel nervous for some reason.

“You know, somehow the name Fuu Yamanaka rings a bell.” She spelled it out to the present people, Shino and Itachi. “I think I heard it somewhere before.”

“Coincidence.” remarked the Uchiha without glancing up from his own PC. “Only because another Yamanaka works with us.”

“No, it’s not. It’s something… important.”

“You’re thinking too much.”

“No. I don’t believe I’m thinking too much. But every time I nearly get my hands on it, it slips away like some kind of eel.” Annoyed Hiko switched to the next open tab, the money account of the deceased man. Numerous numbers run over the screen and with eagerly rapping knuckles she continued her work.

However, in the back of her mind the shorty still searched for the one thing that connected her mind with Fuu. The name rang a little bell in the backside of her brain, but the face didn’t at all.

‘I know him. I really know him. It’s just a tiny bit out of my reach, only scraping it with my fingertips, but it slips away from me whenever I’m this near. It’s so fucking frustrating.’

Scanning the bank account thoroughly, Hiko distracted herself from the bad feeling breathing down her neck and soon she forgot nearly about it.

Nearly.

Then her phone rang and without a second thought she took the call. “Hello?” she said into the speaker while typing fastly.

“It’s me.” Kakashi’s warm voice rumbled through the connection. “Has anyone found something unusual?”

“Nope.” The brunette decided to be a bit adventurous, looked around, then docked a USB-stick to the PC and opened a document. Instantly a long, very long list opened, filled with names, numbers and locations. It was the list of her achievements as tRuthseekEr, all the terminals she hacked and all the companies she invaded and controlled. In ten years a big pile build up and nobody could expect from her to remember all the things she did. “Unfortunately not. He’s as clean as white linen. Nothing.”

 

The silver haired man grumbled lowly into the phone. “Dammit.” A deep sigh. “Well, there’s no helping it. Write everything into a report and place it on my desk, then the entire IT-department can go home.”

“Really?” Doubting Hiko looked at the time. “It’s only ten past nine. I can go a bit further.”

“Itachi texted me and said you didn’t even use your break.”

“That traitor…” she murmured and send an evil glare at the raven.

Kakashi snickered. “Don’t kill him, we don’t need a second corpse. All of you worked hard today and tomorrow we will need again your full strength. Go home Hiko, okay?”

“Okay.” Shortly she listened only to the breathing sounds of her boyfriend, then something else came to her mind. “Where are you now?”

“In front of the mayor bureau. Naruto told us his father is currently in a meeting and such, so we just wait until he’s finished. The usual talk with the employee.”

“Alright. Any wishes for today’s food?”

“How about your favorite?” His voice was slightly teasing and Hiko couldn’t suppress the little smile spreading over her face.

“Okay. Good thing for you I already have something in mind.”

“I await your next masterpiece full of anticipation.” he teased. Then his voice grew warmer and more serious. “It was nice of you to take Naruto and Sasuke a bit aside and talk to them. I believe our little blond sunshine is now fully one of your fans.”

“That was nothing,” Hiko started to scroll down the list, “They just seemed a bit disorientated, so I decided to… encourage them.”

“A bit? Naruto threw himself into work and I’ve never seen Sasuke with such a relaxed face over such a long period.”

She felt her cheeks grew warm. Not only the apparently changed behavior of the two young men for the better was great for her self-esteem, no, also the slight admiration swaying in Kakashi’s words was flattering. Embarrassed the shorty rolled her eyes. “I just did my job. If they can’t handle the situation, others would have to carry their load and that would hinder the whole process. So I mowed the problems down before they could appear.”

His snicker was the last thing she expected. “Both of us know you’re a little mother hen on the inside, always worrying for the sake of the young ones. You’re just too proud to admit that you care deeply for them. I even guess you took the heaviest workload to lighten the responsibility on Hinata and Shino.”

“…” The silver haired man knew her too well.

 

Another laugh. “And now I know I’m right. Don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone.”

“You’re a meanie.”

“But you love me.”

Hiko sighed out, her eyes following absent-minded the letters on the screen. The banter with Kakashi took a greater part of her concentration. “Yeah, I love you. But sometimes I wish you didn’t have as much insight as you do. It would be a bit easier to hide my fluffiness…” she lowered her voice below the common volume level, “if you were a tiny bit dumber.”

“Now I’m really hurt.” he pouted, but she could hear the smile through his words. Before Hiko could continue to mock her boyfriend, someone on Kakashi’s end of the connection ruffled loudly, another voice was there too, whispering about something she didn’t understand. “Sorry Firefly, the mayor has time for us now. See you tonight?” For unknown reasons Kakashi asked that, not stated like he would usually do. It was a given thing they would eat dinner in her apartment and afterwards talk about the day and fall asleep beside each other.

“Yes, we see each other tonight.” The brunette shook amused her head. “I cook dinner for you, remember?”

“Yes, my little Firefly. I know. And I’m thankful. See you then.”

“See you then, my love.”

           ‘And I’m thankful too.’

The mechanic ‘clank’ told her he cut the connection, but the smile wouldn’t fade. It wasn’t too bad to have someone care about you, even when he was currently your superior. She scrolled down the list, absent-minded and still thinking about what she needed for the dish she had in mind, then a memory hit her like a wrecking ball from behind, just as her view shifted over a familiar name.

‘ _Fuu Yamanaka. Town Hall. Secretary in the room before the mayor. Responsible for his schedule. I hacked his PC and discovered over his account the conspiracy against Minato Namikaze.’_

Hiko closed abruptly tired her eyes. Dinner suddenly faded into the background, unimportant in comparison to the –again!- surfacing danger her secret identity had to face.

 

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

“Thanks for greeting us.” said Kakashi and sat down in front of the wide desk. To his right was Naruto, who folded correctly his hands in his lap, like he wanted to impress his father with his neat behavior. “I know it was quite sudden.”

Namikaze flicked with a friendly expression his wrist. “No, no, it’s okay. So, what’s all this about?”

The mayor office displayed the character of the man in front of him openly. At the walls were paintings from artists of Konoha, also some clay statures and other little bronze figurines. The walls were painted in a creamy white and only disturbed by single dark planks of wood, giving the room a rich décor. As Kakashi and the young cop entered, his feet made no sound due to the thick carpet in red, yellow and orange; a colorful but strangely comforting piece, despite the screaming bright fabric. A plant with thick and wide leaves stood in one corner behind the dark wooden desk and behind said desk Minato Namikaze sat. He had greeted both with an energy no one could rival, but in his blue eyes laid a serious shadow, like in Naruto’s since the young man came to the brutal crime scene.

‘The whole day we worked like crazy, but we have nothing. Goddammit, I hope this visit will get us somewhere.’

“Do you know this man?” asked Kakashi and held a picture of Fuu Yamanaka out.

The mayor wrinkled his brows. “Unfortunately yes. One of my former secretaries. Surname Yamanaka. But we had to give him some time off, so he isn’t here at the moment.”

“Why?”

The blond man sighed deeply and leaned heavily in his chair. “I have to explain one or two things for that story and it will take a while. Would you like a drink, Detective?”

Kakashi went with water. Minato pressed a button at his desk and ordered the beverages (the water, a black coffee and orange lemonade for “his little boy”, what quitted Naruto with an innerved grump), then they waited for a short time. A redhead entered; the same redhead Kakashi already met at the summer festival and placed a tablet with the three cups in front of her husband. Then her eyes flickered to Kakashi and recognition lit up.

“Aren’t you one of the butlers?”

He cocked his head lightly and smiled underneath his mask. “Yes. Good to see you again, Mrs. Uzumaki. Or is it Mrs. Namikaze?”

She broke into a laughter and steadied herself at her husband’s shoulder. “Oh, Uzumaki is right. I’m a free spirit, if I may say so. And my son isn’t too much trouble?”

Naruto groaned and hid his face behind his hands. “Mom! We’re here because of our jobs, not an evaluation, believe it!”

 

“Job? What happened?” she asked, wearing a concerned look on her features. Minato reached up and catched the small hand of the woman in his own, meanwhile the intense blue eyes were fixed on Kakashi.

Naturally he had informed himself after the encounter at the summer festival about the mayor and his hot blooded wife. She, Kushina Uzumaki, had been an infamous lawyer, successful and ruthless at the court. Minato was also a lawyer, but for the rival company of his later wife. They met again and again at the court and with each meeting they seemed to be more and more attracted to each other, until Kushina forfeit her job and supported the blond man in his attempt to become the mayor. That was now nearly 20 years ago and nobody dared to fight the famous couple, who ruled over Konoha with kindness and at the same time wise decisions.

Kakashi watched them intently and noticed the slight differences to before. Minato became more protective of his wife, covering her hand at his shoulder with his own, while Kushina stood lightly behind his chair and seemed to support him with only her mere presence.

           ‘Are Hiko and me like that too? Hopefully.’

“Fuu Yamanaka is dead. We found him today at the park.”

Silence. Telling someone close to the victim that said person was gone, a lost cause so to speak, was never easy, but Kakashi didn’t expect the worried and also partly _expecting_ exchange between the married people. “You know something.” he stated, even getting surer about his assumption when the two nodded lightly.

“I didn’t expect him dead, but… I guess it was only a matter of time.” said Minato with a tired sigh. He quickly squeezed the hand of Kushina, then took a sip from his coffee, awing in bliss when he gulped the beverage down. “It’s part of the story, so… Where is the best part to start?”

“I favor the beginning.”

“Well, the beginning would be a mysterious e-mail, containing the plans for a conspiracy to overthrow my position and putting up a near-military dictatorship. The sender was a man who called himself ‘tRuthseekEr’.”

Kakashi raised both eyebrows at the revelation. “Who? What?”

“I uttered the same questions.” mused Minato, his free hand raised to his chin and rubbing index finger and thumb deeply in thought over the skin. “The later was answered, the first unfortunately not. One day I would like to thank tRuthseekEr properly, because he saved my life. Yeah,” he nodded at the silver haired cop, “right. He saved my life. Danzo, formerly one of my aides, planned my death by an unfortunate accident. And Fuu should have been the one to get me to an uninhabited area where they could’ve taken me down without to worry about witnesses. He was in charge of organizing the schedule of mine, so it would’ve been easy for him. After I went through the documents in the mail, I was shocked at the changes Danzo wanted to make. Higher taxes to build a police squad only serving the mayor, deconstruction of historical buildings to make place for parking slots and other things, things I don’t even want to speak out. To conclude, unnecessary changes in the landscape of Konoha I would never allow. So he tried to overthrow my position because he would never gather enough votes to get my seat in a legal way. That’s the reason why we ordered Shimura and Yamanaka to take some time off.”

 

Naruto paled visibly. “Dad, you never…” The boy paused when his father chuckled weakly.

“Don’t fret. I didn’t tell you because you were in the middle of your exams. It would’ve caused problems for you, especially because it was taken care off, by the hacker tRuthseekEr.”

“A hacker!” Surprised both cops jerked up, Naruto with the two words at his lips, Kakashi quickly connecting past happenings to the current murder. Could it be a coincidence? Months before Sabaku Savings was attacked, and now the town hall?

“When did you get that mail?” he asked and shuffled through the pockets of his coat, in search for the notepad and pencil. “And what happened then? How reacted Danzo to his degradation?”

The blond mayor rubbed over the back of his neck with closed eyes. “Danzo was… not pleased as he received the news. He cursed everyone present and first and foremost Fuu. At this moment I nearly regretted telling Shimura who had been hacked and so left his plans for discovery. I called the security,” he continued after a short pause, “and let them remove Danzo, his older companions and his subordinates from the town hall without any further uproar. To summarize, ten people, including the heads of the conspiracy, were escorted outside and told to take a time off from work.”

“And the mail?”

“February. Included was a note to do “whatever I needed to be done to get things clear”.

Kakashi scribbled the information hastily down in his usual messy handwriting. Later he would sit down and try to write the single points at least partly clean. “And after that no more messages from the hacker.”

Minato nodded. “Not a single one. At least I wanted to thank him and send a text to the sender, but the only thing I got was an error-warning. The address didn’t exist anymore.”

“And you started an investigation on the enigma.” the detective stated, at which Minato nodded again. “Yes. But he stayed what you said: an enigma. Apparently he’s since ten years around and many other participants in that scene admire him for his doings and skills.”

“And his doings would be?”

“It would be funny if it wouldn’t involve such a plan, however no one knew about the other things tRuthseekEr hacked or they knew and didn’t want to spill anything. I guess it’s the former.” Shaking his head, the mayor finished his coffee. Then the cerulean eyes again set at Kakashi. “That’s as far as my investigation went, detective. Maybe you discover more than me.”

Kakashi dared to utter a dry snicker. “Oh, it will not be me who will investigate this mysterious hacker. The KPD has his own specialists in finding such cyber terrorists and she’s maybe the best around.” He rose from his chair and closed with calm hands the buttons of his coat, all the while nodding at the blond man, his redheaded wife and the student of Gai, who snickered when he got the innuendo about Hiko. “Thank you for the beverage and the information. We will message you when there’s any development or matters that need to be solved. If anything comes to your mind regarding the crime, please don’t hesitate to call the police office.”

 

For once the man called Danzo would be in the focus of his investigation. The silver haired man would’ve loved to throw the conspiring aide into prison, however Namikaze didn’t file any charges, so there was nothing he could do. Other than finding the murderer of Fuu Yamanaka and cuff him full of smug satisfaction up. And then this hacker…

“tRuthseekEr… What a strange name.” he said to himself as he exited the building. The light drizzle from this morning still continued to soak his dark coat and with a grunt he turned the collar upwards, fumbling through the enormous pockets and searching for the key of the police car. While walking to the white and blue vehicle, Kakashi let his thoughts wander aimlessly around to avoid to think about the bloody scenery he encountered today.

‘I’ll have to return the car to the police station, then I hop on my motorcycle and drive home. It gets again too cold to drive it, so soon it needs to be checked and stowed away for the winter. Then I have to take the bus again or beg Nagato to let me use the police car all day. Sometimes Hiko will lend me hers, sure, but I don’t want to trouble her too much. So, what did she made for dinner? I said her favorite and that would include tempura, however I don’t believe it’s her real all-time favorite food.’

Kakashi grinned whole-heartedly and climbed in the slightly chilly inside of the vehicle. He would enjoy everything Hiko would cook for him, especially today. Then his brain wandered to the crime scene and the smile vanished from one second to the other.

 

(…)

 

“You’re late.”

“Sorry, Firefly. I had to drive carefully. The rain made the road extremely slippery.”

Hiko smiled gently while she watched him undress. Hanging the thick winter coat to its destined place, Kakashi bend down to place a short loving kiss at her scalp. “Where were you this morning? The only thing I noticed was the empty space beside me.”

The brunette tugged one brown strand behind her ear and shuffled on her feet. “You and your silver tongue, huh? Ebisu called me. He said there was a problem in the server room. One whole tower was destroyed.” Hiko rolled her eyes and Kakashi grinned weakly at the familiar motion. “I don’t know how this happened, but we need to order a new one.”

“That’s unfortunate.”

“Yip. I had to fix the current one with lots and lots of duct tape. It’s currently more tape than actual wires holding the construct together.”

She avoided the one topic which should be on her mind, the only thing which should be interesting. Kakashi was a bit thankful for her hesitation. He didn’t want to think now about the empty corpse. He didn’t want to think about intestines dangling from a tree, swinging lightly in a breeze. The only thing he actually wanted, no, craved for was Hiko’s warmth. Kakashi wanted to bury himself inside the woman, wanted to feel her body against his and forget totally about today.

But first she only grabbed his hand and dragged him into her living room. A delicious smell was in the air and unconsciously Kakashi breathed in, taking as much of the scent and only recognizing it as he sat down at the table.

He grinned underneath his mask at the sight of the simple dish. “You like noodles with tomato sauce that much?” While Kakashi removed the flu mask and stuffed the rough fabric into the pockets of his jeans, the shorty sat down to his side and ruffled with lightly pink cheeks over the back of her neck.

“I don’t know why. It’s comforting for me in a way, also a bit relaxing and easy to make.” she murmured and dispersed cheese all over the mass of noodles. “And a special ingredience is in there, so god luck in trying to find it out.”

“Really?” He winked at Hiko and watched with satisfaction how the flush on her face deepened. “I bet I can name it with only three bites.”

“Well, then try.”

 

Carefully Kakashi tasted the first fork, surrounded by the delicious smelling food. Like he needed some time to think about his first answer, the man raised his index finger, the cheeks filled with noodles and the red sauce taunting his tongue. “Oregano?” he asked after swallowing.

Hiko shook her head, one eyebrow raised in annoyed satisfaction. “Everyone uses Oregano. Try again.”

The male shrugged, inwardly feeling relaxed by the familiar situation. It was like every other evening, eating dinner with his girlfriend, teasing around and just enjoying her presence near him. It helped to forget. Quickly he bit into the next mouthful of noodles, trying to shove away the memories of the crime scene. “Uhm… well, maybe cayenne pepper?”

“Used it once, but I didn’t like it. Come on Kakashi, don’t leave me hanging.” Hiko slid beside him and smiled. Her thighs, cladded into a skintight yoga pants, touched his legs and pressed through the fabric into his skin. Warmth seeped over and unconsciously he inhaled. Her scent was soothing; the sweet raspberries and innocent vanilla calming his mind. Chuckling he took the third bite, his eyes locked with hers as he chewed.

“So?” Hiko leaned back, one arm resting on top of the table, the other brushing slightly against Kakashi’s, leaving him more and more yearning for the comforting hugs they shared. “Is your tongue useful for something else than uttering sweet nothings?”

“Mhm. Sometimes.” he mumbled around the food. Then the cop swallowed and threw his special ‘I’m-complimenting-you-and-you-can’t-do-nothing-about-it-smile’ at the female plus the closed curved eyes (he knew she was weak against them). “Ok, my last guess is cinnamon.”

For a second Hiko’s happy expression wavered, then it wrenched into a cute pout. The tip of her nose wrinkled that the glasses nearly dropped lower, but the brunette quickly shoved them into the right place. “Dammit. I thought you wouldn’t get it right.” she mumbled, still pouting.

It was no use. Kakashi had to laugh at her disappointed expression, like she was a child planning the best prank of her live, only to be found out beforehand. Lowering the fork to the plate, he turned fully to Hiko and embraced her, cradling the small frame and burying his bare face in the nape of her neck. In the same instant her own arms flew up and circled his waist, pressing her curves against his chest. A realization hit him.

Hiko also waited full of anxiety. She was good in masking her feelings, but the day also disturbed her to the very core. Sure, it wasn’t the same only seeing the pictures and not smelling the coppery scent of blood lingering all over a place, but especially for the shorty it must’ve brought up some things of her past.

 

They finished their food quietly, only quick, but longing gazes were exchanged throughout the meal. He noticed the woman shuffled nervously on her seat and he knew from that little motion something bothered her deeply. So Kakashi made his move after he placed the dishes in the dishwasher.

“Wanna dance?”

It was random. But seeing the light in Hiko’s eyes again was worth the uttered question and it was also a cheap excuse to get close to the shorty. The silver haired male waited until she selected a slow song from her stereo, then he stepped into the empty space behind the couch and before the beginning of the kitchen tiles, offering his open arms for the female. Only as Hiko rested her temple at his sternum, her right hand entangled with his left and the other placed at his shoulder, they started to move, carefully and according to the melody.

What they did wasn’t dancing at all. They only swayed to the music, dragging their feet over the ground and slowly pivoting, but the intimacy born out of the tender movements let Kakashi shudder in relief. He felt her head pressing harder into his chest, felt how her fingers caressed the back of his hand while they were entangled and felt the delicious rise and fall of her body, telling him she was alive and warm. Out of instinct he pushed her suddenly away from him, but only to let Hiko do a pirouette. She understood and when she was in his arms again, her eyes locked with his, gentle and worried at the same time.

“Just a bit of training before Itachi’s and Kisame’s wedding. We will not make fools out of us.” he said and the brunette chuckled at his casual tone.

“Great to know you can dance.”

“My mother said dancing is an art nearly forgotten by society and always said in the ninth grade I should attend the dancing lessons. She died beforehand, but I didn’t forget about that.”

“And you went.”

“And I went.” repeated Kakashi, moving his right hand to tug a rebellious strand of brown hair behind her ear. The strand felt like silk beneath his finger pads, telling him she washed her hair recently. “It was boring and extremely troublesome, but I went.”

Hiko giggled full of glee at the thought. “A bored Kakashi Hatake. God, save us from all the murmured comments muttered underneath your breath.”

 

He spun her again around, watching how the circular motion claimed her openly flowing hair and the wide sleeves of her shirt. The music changed slightly, from a song about love and happiness to a noticeable sadder melody and slowly the bright smile on her face faded. Kakashi felt the vibrations rummaging through her chest as she hummed with the singer, an unreadable expression on her face. It was like she had something to say, but didn’t dare to spill it, because…

Yeah, because of what?

“What’s going on inside your head?” The silver haired man didn’t expect an answer from the female, knowing it was just as hard to get an answer out of her like making a rock weep, but when she released his hand and shoulder to cup his face with so much tenderness, Kakashi was near to gasp out.

Hiko tried to smile, but the corners of her lips twitched only upwards in a pitiful manner, making it hard to look away from the woman. In the end she settled for a silly shake of her head and pressed again her face into the crook of his arm. Her warm fingers fell to his shoulders, following the soft lines of his neck, collarbones, dipping lower to his upper arms and forearms, until she came to a stop and slung her arms around his waist.

“I’m thinking about today, my love.” she said finally. “I’ve only seen the pictures, but you were _there_. You saw it before anyone else. And I’m asking myself if you are okay with it.”

“I’m okay.” he retorted automatically, but obviously it was the wrong answer in this situation. Hiko snorted into his shirt, a marine blue, long sleeved tee with a small V-cut.

“Are you really okay?” she asked and raised her head, in her eyes clearly written her incredulity. “You forget that you don’t have to put on a front with me Kakashi. You’re not in the SFU anymore and Obito, Itachi or Kisame also aren’t here. I won’t judge you, never.”

“But I’m really alright.” he remarked. “I’m always okay when I’m with you.”

“Kakashi…”

The male sighed. Her warning tone was telling him her well-known patience was coming fastly to an end, but it was true. Kakashi was alright because Hiko was in his arms. It felt right to be right here, right now and the terrible pictures of the day faded away and lost their fright. So the only thing which came to his mind to show his feelings was releasing the female out of his arms, sit down with her and logically explain his feelings to the woman. But his trained limbs betrayed him. Instead of sliding down to her hands, they went upwards, over her hips and waist, trailing further and briefly brushing over her breasts only to stop at her cheeks, lifting her head until her vivid blue eyes stared into his.

 

“Listen to me,” he whispered, knowing that loud words would destroy the fragile bubble around them, “I’m really, _really_ alright. The first years in the SFU were bad, but now it’s just another crime scene for me. Even when it was an especially brutal one, it’s _just a crime scene._ I don’t let this get to my head anymore, nor do I let the ones who staged that into my life. I can separate my work from my thoughts now and with you I feel even better than ever before. I can forget about today completely when you’re in my arms, so it’s no front when I say I’m always okay when I’m with you. Because it’s the truth, my little Firefly.”

Hiko gasped out at his words. “Kakashi, I’m not…” She shook her head, unable to complete her sentence.

“Yes, you are.” he said and watched with pride how the shorty hid her reddened face in his chest. “You totally are.”

“You’re placing me on a podium, my love. I’m far from perfect. If you knew how many mistakes I made in my life… What I did…”

“I’m sure you will burn in hell, but right now it doesn’t matter to me.” answered the silver haired cop with a mocking grin. “Because of your mistakes you are now here, with me and I don’t care. Because you’re the best what ever happened to me and I want to- uhmpf!”

Kakashi was silenced by her lips crashing into his. Desperate Hiko moved her mouth, trying to dominate him, but the man fastly recovered and fought back. Swaying back and forth they kissed, the shorty standing on her toes and her arms snaked around his neck and his arms slung around her waist and pulling her closer, while their tongues met, leaving the man lightheaded at the intensity Hiko displayed. Her kiss was full of yearning and Kakashi groaned as her tongue swept over his bottom lip, over and over again until he opened up and let her invade. Over the last months she got so skillful. His heart raced and automatically he tightened his hold around her figure, roaming closely over her hips and behind, squeezing, teasing and just as longing as the female in his attempt to let her feel what he felt right now.

Then the shorty slowed down, making the kiss more loving and careful. It wasn’t desperate anymore, but tenderly and when they separated, both heavily panting, she got a hold of his wrist and dragged him into her bedroom.

Again, not one word was exchanged. Their eyes met many times while Kakashi and Hiko undressed and caressed each other, telling the other quietly what they felt. As he listened to her moaning and moved inside her and saw how her face wrenched in the delicious peak, he followed straight after, her name on his lips, not at all thinking about the horrible scene he saw today.

In his mind was only the shorty.

 

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

Hiko listened to the soft breathing sounds of Kakashi. He was asleep, exhausted from the day and surely also drained from their talk an hour ago, but she couldn’t go to sleep so easily. Carefully and endeavored not to wake the male up, she fiddled out of his embrace. The floor underneath her feet was cold as she wrapped herself in his morning coat, covering her naked body from the chilly air. The cloth smelled like Kakashi and thus Hiko felt instantly better when she closed the coat and tied a knot.

But the slightly good emotion vanished fastly. The brunette closed the door to the bedroom behind her, not without throwing a quick glance at the sleeping form hidden underneath the blankets, then strolled into the living room. The stereo was still on and immediately her throat grew tight while listening to the depressed song.

_I do not want to be afraid                                                                                 “Cut” - Plumb_

_I do not want to die inside just to breathe in_

_I'm tired of feeling so numb_

_Relief exists I find it when_

_I am cut_

_I may seem crazy_

_Or painfully shy_

_And these scars wouldn't be so hidden_

_If you would just look me in the eye_

_I feel alone here and cold here_

_Though I don't want to die_

_But the only anesthetic that makes me feel anything kills inside_

 

“God.” Pained she choked out. “What have I done…” she added, whispering it into the quiet room after she shut the music off. The silence was thick, leaving Hiko with her head down and cuddled into the soft fabric of the morning coat, sitting in the armchair and knees drawn to her chest.

She had used sex to shut Kakashi up. It was unbearable to listen to his words, because it was painfully clear he didn’t really know her. And it wasn’t even his fault, it was hers. All this time, the shorty simply ignored a part of her life; the biggest part of her life since the torture she had been put through. Hacking. She was a criminal and nothing would ever change that.

Hiko buried her face in the fabric of Kakashi’s coat and inhaled the musky scent of her love, but even the familiar smell couldn’t calm her down anymore. Instead the first tears burned in her eyes; accompanying her dark thoughts.

Hacking had been her way of dealing with the rape. It was her only anchor to a normal life, it had steadied her to the point of being her only reason to get out of the bed some days. That behavior died down over the years, but the fact didn’t change. Hacking had been her life, straight through the years at the policy academy and now…

The brunette choked again. A dry sob crawled out of her mouth, muffled in the cloth and thankfully couldn’t be heard in the bedroom. Now it was something entirely else. Her former guilty pleasure became a massive wall between her and Kakashi; a wall which wouldn’t be torn down if she didn’t confess to him. It was _so_ clear to the woman now.

The man trusted her deeply, but she didn’t trust him with the one thing which was important to her; which was the reason for her stark change.

‘How much I wish that all that happened hadn’t happened. Not the move to Sunagakure, not the time at the school, the meeting with Kabuto, the months spend with him, the rape, the torture, the pain, everything…’

_“What?”_

_The loud shout woke Hiko out of her daze. Dully she tilted her head around, ignoring the tearing pain in her neck and listened to the enraged voice of her torturer, who managed to break her arm only minutes ago. The limb was split; the bones however not peeking out of her skin, but rubbing with every of his thrusts against the two compartments and the sound and feeling would’ve made Hiko puking if there would be any food in her stomach. So she only managed a weak whimper out of her dry and scraped lips, as she turned slightly to the open door._

_“I can’t just stop here, she may be knowing… No, not until now. Yeah._ Yeah. _Her parents haven’t noticed anything, they aren’t even in the country. Nobody will miss her. Wait, I should-! No! She’s mine! You promised! YOU PROMISED! You promised that she will be mine at the end! … No, she isn’t dead yet. We have a contract and I stick to it until now.”_

_Kabuto came back into the room, still naked and spotting an erection. Quickly Hiko closed her eyes, faking unconscious and hoping he would leave her alone, but like the whole week he instantly snuggled to her side. She had to stop herself from flinching away from the sweaty skin pressing against hers._

_His sweet voice was too near. “She’s fine. Nothing serious… Not yet. I know, I know. Okay, that’s it. I have some things to do.”_

_Kabuto cut the connection and let his hand slip to the previously broken arm. The cold fingers brushed over the small gap of the bones, then suddenly pressed with devilish force into it. Hiko screamed out, her vocal cords raw and broken from all the screaming she already gone through. “I knew it.” he whispered into her ear. “You’re awake, you naughty, naughty girl.”_

_“Please, please Kabuto…”_

_“Oh baby, it’s too late for begging.” Again he slapped the bruise and again she cried out. “You lied to me and I’m really hurt by that.”_

_“No… Please, I can’t… I will do anything, but just stop. Let me go, please…”_

_“But there has to be a punishment, you understand baby, right?”_

_Thankfully before he could again rape her, Hiko slipped into the blissful unconsciousness, a real one this time._

 

At the end of the memory another sob rippled through her chest. Desperately she tried to hold it in, but the high whimper wouldn’t be obedient. Biting down on her bottom lip, Hiko shook her head, her chest heaving and her fingers clawing into the sleeves of the coat.

She never told the police that the whole week filled with beatings, sick sex and starving was _ordered_. She never told anyone. No therapist, no policemen, not her friends and family. And telling Kakashi was totally out of the question. The shorty couldn’t. Hiko had the feeling it would rip her soul apart if she would tell someone and the trusted person would try to fix this. It was her task, hers alone. Only she and Kabuto should be involved, it was a thing between them and no one else would be able to understand the rotten connection they had through this… order. Like that she turned to hacking to find out what the hell had been going on and why she was targeted by one of the sickest mercenaries’ on the whole wide world.

And it turned her in the person she was now. One day she found out about an abusive CEO who loved to beat up his wife and daughter and send the pictures of the whining woman to the police, together with the address and the little note to check up one them once in a while. The man was stupid enough to save the images on his office PC and she discovered them while following a hint about Kabutos whereabouts. Instead of finding her own abuser, she found another and it let her fell so enraged and furious, that she acted on impulse.

And it felt so motherfucking good. Hiko watched the news the next days and inwardly cheered at the high sentence the CEO got. Then it had hit her. Why not helping other people with the skills she developed over the years? Why not trying to make the world a little bit better in the technological era in which they lived? Since then, ‘tRuthseekEr’ was born.

“Fucking fate is trying to fuck me again.” the brunette whispered into the marine fabric. Then she snickered dryly. “Hopefully not literally this time.”

 

“Hiko? Where are you?”

The sleepy voice trailed nearer than expected over to her. Hiko flinched, her head jerked up and looked with wide eyes at the shadowy figure of Kakashi, who stood in the doorway, one hand just covering him yawning. Quickly she wiped her running nose at her own forearm, carefully not to stain the morning coat, and raised her lips into a tiny smile. It felt forced, but she hoped in the darkness he wouldn’t notice. “Here, on the couch.” she answered.

“Why are you on the couch in the middle of the night?”

“I woke up.”

“And why you woke up?”

The shorty paused, then decided it would be for the best to stick to the truth as close as possible. With a shaky sigh Hiko shoved her brown mane back and watched the silver haired male coming closer. “I had a nightmare.”

Kakashi sat down beside her, in his grey pajama trousers and one hand scrubbing over the back of his neck. The noticeable dip in the cushions made it easier for Hiko to just let herself fall towards his body and wrapping her arms around him. His upper body moved with his breathing and the female leaned to the warmth he radiated. Pressing her head to his heart, Hiko hid her face, hoping he wouldn’t notice anything off.

Kakashi sighed almost inaudible out and she noticed only because she was so close to him. “You have them a lot lately. Didn’t you say that they only occur around May?”

“Usually they do.” she mumbled. “I don’t know why they come now more recently. Before we got one thing they decreased and got less threatening, but lately they are even more vivid.”

His hand started to slowly stroke over her flank, not implicating any sexual intention, instead Kakashi was comforting her with the small tender caress and she gratefully accepted it. “I believe,” Hiko sniveled a bit, “my mind is… kind of healing, I guess? It has to get worse before it gets better, that’s what I’m thinking. Naturally I’m not an expert, but… it feels for me like this.”

“On one hand I’m relieved you’re healing, but at the other I worry. Are you alright? Do you need anything?”

“I’m fine, my love. But I’m too lazy to drag my sorry ass back into bed. Go ahead, I’m right behind you.” joked Hiko, released the grip around his waist and chuckled at the questioningly raised eyebrow and lightly annoyed stare Kakashi gave her.

 

With such a single motion the male managed to chase the dark clouds in her head at least temporarily away. Hiko was amazed and also partly scared at the power he had over her person.

‘Kakashi, you’re giving me so much and I have the feeling I’m giving you nothing at all. Not my complete story, not my trust.’

“Like hell I will wait for you to get your cute little butt off the couch.” Without an ounce of hesitation the silver haired cop picked her bridal-style up, snaking his strong arms around her lower back and at the back of her knees. Hiko squealed weakly and surprised her own limbs wrapped themselves around Kakashi’s neck, flushing her upper body to his until not a sheet of paper would get in between them.

“Didn’t expect that, huh?” Smugly grinning he made his way towards the bedroom. “You always forget that I’m highly capable of dragging you around.”

“Tardy me.” retorted Hiko and nuzzled her nose once more in the delicious smelling nape of his neck. She loved Kakashi and once more the pang in her heart raised his ugly face to the bitter-sweet feeling.

She had to find a solution to this mess and fast on top of that. But how? How could she tell him that she was a criminal and involved on top of that in the current murder case (minimal, but involved).

           ‘Not yet. He has enough to worry about.’

Hiko turned carefully in Kakashi’s arms, only to stare in the charcoal eyes, wide open and watching her with worried interest.

“Still can’t sleep?” he whispered. His warm breath ghosted over her face, twirling the thin strands falling over her neck in the exhale. The brunette slowly shook her head.

“The nightmare?”

“No… Not it’s not. I’m just thinking.”

Suddenly Kakashi poked her forehead, a mocking twinkle in his eyes. “You’re always thinking.” The male settled his heavy arm on her hip and she smiled tiredly at him while he did that. Then the amused spark on his face faded. “What’s wrong today?”

“Do I have to point it out to you?”

“No, guess not.”

“Great, otherwise I would seriously doubt your eyes, ears and brain.”

“Hiko…”

 

She sighed. “Sorry. It was out of habit. Making jokes about fucked-up things, I mean.”

“Did it remind you of… back then?” he asked, sliding closer and pressing her form against his. His right arm served as his pillow and like that he looked down at her, concerned like no other person she knew. Not like her brothers, not like Rin or Kurenai –they became friends over the months Obito’s relationship lasted and Hiko acted docile at work-, which both knew something happened, but not what exactly, however worried nevertheless.

“A bit.” the shorty admitted silently. “An empty torso… Who does this?”

“Psychopath. Mafia. Someone who has a serious grudge against Yamanaka.” said Kakashi instantly.

Hiko nodded and snuggled into his familiar warmth. Until now her own hands had been laying curled in front of her chest, but now she placed her right above his heart, feeling the slow and steady beat of the organ through the layers of skin, flesh and bones. Strong and peaceful Kakashi’s heart followed the same task it had every second in his life while her palm rested at his pectoral muscle, the tips of her fingers slightly colder than the rest of her limb.

“Listen, my love,” she murmured and didn’t dare to meet his eye, fixing them on the broad chest in front of her, “no matter what happens, I will love you, believe me. No matter what.”

“And I love you, no matter what.” he answered, leaned down and kissed her forehead, just where his fingers had poked her. Then the silver haired man must thought the talk was over, because shortly after he found the most comfortable position (his chin resting on top of her head and her body so close that with every exhale his bare chest touched her now clothed one), he started to snore softly, while Hiko inwardly sighed and also closed her eyes.

But sleep didn’t come easily to her that night, fought off by the worries and fears in her head.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And the Kudos go to Miss-Fandoms-Shakespeare for proofreading and correcting every week the chapters I send her. You're the best! :)


	41. Creeping closer

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A not so typical morning in Hiko's and Kakashi's shared life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I guess I should just make the Thursday my upload-day, huh?

The morning was like any other morning since Kakashi slept on a regular base in her flat. Hiko woke up to the soft buzz of her cellphone, silenced to the minimal level. Not to avoid waking the man up, but to ensure _she_ wouldn’t get annoyed by blaring speakers right beside her head. Nevertheless he squirmed under the covers and tightened unconsciously his grip around her frame as Hiko wanted to get out.

“Five more minutes…” he mumbled sleepily and nuzzled his nose into her flank. His lips on her skin (her tank top rode up during the mostly sleepless night) let Hiko shudder, but she resisted the temptation called her boyfriend and ruffled shortly through his mane.

“I have to get up. You too, when I think about it.”

Kakashi grumped weakly and didn’t move one inch, arms slung around her waist and eyes tightly shut.

“And it’s your breakfast-day.”

Still no reaction. Only his limbs tightened a bit, a slight firmer hold on her body.

The brunette sighed in amused exhaustion and carefully moved her fingers to his laced hands. Gently she loosened them, even when Kakashi protested with faint mumbles and a disappointed groan and kissed his knuckles, before she got up and grimaced at the cold floor meeting her bare feet. In her behind the silver haired male shuffled in the blankets. Surely he just buried his face again in the pillows, now that Hiko wasn’t in his reach anymore. A quick glance confirmed her hunch and again a sigh escaped her, accompanied by an eyeroll. “Get. Up. You lazy-ass.” she said and tugged at the black and white colored blankets. “We have work to do.”

Hiko realized her mistake the moment the words left her mouth. Worry started to pile up as he tensed, his shoulders slightly raised and face turned away from her. Naturally the first thing you don’t want to think about in the morning was the utterly bloody murder scene of a psychopath you just visited yesterday. She forced her fingers to let go of the rims of the fabric and with a soft sound it fell back onto the bed. “I’m in the bathroom.” The words were hollow and Kakashi noticed too, because he rolled around that he laid on her side of the bed, the naked upper body only badly covered by the warmed-up covers.

His warm eyes brimmed in emotions as he gave her the same crooked smile which melted everytime her heart into a puddle, even when it seemed right now a bit forced. “What would you like?”

“Am I lying when I say you?”

 

His smile turned more sincere. “My, flirting this early in the morning. Slowly I start to believe you want get a whole different treat than I have planned.”

“Oh, my love… If you only knew.” Teasing Hiko stuck her tongue out, relieved the little joke lightened the mood again. She didn’t want to make things worse for Kakashi than they already were, with tRuthseekEr again entangled in a police investigation.

The cop grunted, what the brunette found strangely adorable, then moved his unresponsive body into a sitting position. Suddenly his arms snapped forward and Hiko squealed as she was dragged to Kakashi, who laughed when he had caged her in his embrace. “Got you.” he whispered, a gentle slur swaying in his voice. The charcoal eyes blinked amused when her lips turned into a pout. “You should know after months I will do anything to stay longer in bed.”

“I hoped it would get better over time.”

Kakashi chuckled into her cleavage. His position, nose buried between her breasts and not allowing Hiko to move away would look for an outsider like he harassed her. Who wouldn’t? But the woman felt how the male snuggled into her bosom, not in a sexual way, instead acting like a child searching for comfort.

‘For once I don’t mind the extra layer of unnecessary fat. He couldn’t do that if I had a lower size.’

Automatically her right hand moved to softly ruffle through the feathery mane, while her left arm was cradled around his shoulders, the index finger drawing little circles on the pale skin. Lately there was no more intimate gesture than that; playing with his hair while he clung to her like his life depended on it. Being Kakashi’s anchor, being someone where he could let his defenses down was one of her favorite things in their relationship; and she wouldn’t destroy this. It was a gift.

“Come on,” she murmured into his ear, her cheek pressed to his temple and unconsciously nuzzling into the silver tresses, “get up. Or otherwise I will think about this evening again.”

Kakashi had wished for a day where they would play out some of their sexual fantasies and until now it had proven to be a very successful bait for the male whenever he did something (or to be more precisely: refused to do something), that was against the thoughts of the female. In that point he really resembled a dog. Show him a hint of fresh meat and he would be an obedient, happily tail-wagging mutt with the tongue hanging out of his muzzle and thick threads of saliva splashing on the ground.

Suddenly the silver haired cop whined and looked with teary eyes up. “No! You can’t do that! Hiko!”

“What?”

“You promised me to wear the cat ears this time!”

“Really? Must’ve slipped from my mind.”

“Okay, okay!” He nearly jumped out of the bed and Hiko snickered when Kakashi hastily made his way into the living room, throwing his hands weakly into the air and looking over his shoulder to make sure she watched his efforts.

 

The morning was like any other morning they shared. While Hiko got dressed and ready to face the day, Kakashi made breakfast, not at all fazed by the fact they were in danger to get late to work. She had to make him hurry and the man laughed at the thrown pillow directed at his head when he vanished inside her bathroom, where already a second toothbrush and various articles from him rested at one half of the sink. The only thing which was missing… Yeah, there was nothing.

Hiko watched intently while the male rummaged through the wardrobe, searching for one of his longsleeved black shirts. Kakashi _nearly_ lived in her flat, no. Not nearly. She was living with him. The only thing he didn’t own was a key to her apartment and in retro perspective, the brunette had one to his flat.

Hiko nibbled on her bottom lip. Should it be like that? Was it natural for a relationship only a few months old to be so advanced? Kisame moved in with Itachi only after two years and both had problems to adapt to the sudden change, but managed nevertheless because they loved each other dearly.

She was insecure. Insecure and nervous, her doubts about her secret identity only adding to the bad premonition dawning upon her. And all the way from getting clothed as well alongside the sneaky male (he tried more than once to attach himself to her back, exclaiming in the beginning fall they just had to share some body warmth) she asked herself if it was really okay to be so close after such a short time.

‘I met him… in April. Is it still because we were friends before our feelings grew? And should I talk about my insecurities with him? Should I tell him I feel a bit pressured by the realization he nearly moved into my home? It’s not really uncomfortable, but there’s still some… I don’t know, maybe nervousness? I’m nervous, but also somehow happy.’

“You’re thinking again.”

“Huh? Uhm, yeah.”

They sat in her car (she let Kakashi drive her small beetle! Hell, how hadn’t she noticed before?) and Hiko just pulled out of the parking space onto the street when he asked her the same question from yesterday night. She threw a quick look at the man, then concentrated again on the road in front of her.

The rain continued throughout the last hours and it was damn cold outside, so the shorty was carefully while driving. Even when her parents had been assholes, since their car crash Hiko always tried to get safely everywhere under the constrictions of the law. To avoid another question to her dazed state, the brunette tried to lead the conversation into another direction, hoping Kakashi wouldn’t notice her insecurities. “How was yesterday’s meeting? We didn’t speak about it, sorry.”

His fingers were tapping on his knee while he spoke. “We have at least now a hint. Yamanaka had enemies and the one with the biggest reason would be Danzo Shimura.”

She tried to sound slightly surprised. “How’s that?” Inwardly her insides curled into a tight ball of guilt, from the need to lie and act in front of her boyfriend. “How are they connected?”

“I guess I can tell you,” he said, “Shimura was planning to kill Minato Namikaze, to become the mayor and press some laws for his own good. Yamanaka was responsible for distracting Namikaze, but a hacker prevented that.”

 

“I can’t believe it! A conspiracy against Namikaze?” Hiko felt the old anger resurfacing at the mentioning of Danzo. Automatically her lips lifted into an irritated scowl and she shook wildly her head. Even back then she needed to sit for a few minutes completely still and stiff in front of her computer, before a stream of colorful curses flew out of her mouth. “He’s the best what has happened to Konohagakure for a long time! His reforms regarding schools and helping the homeless people to get stable jobs, not to talk about the things he did for the police and such, were always done with the inhabitants of the city in his mind! I can’t fucking believe it!” she hissed and abruptly pulled the breaks at the red light, fingers tightly clenched around the wheel.

Kakashi nodded. “Yeah, I had the same impression yesterday. You vote for him?”

“Hell yeah. You?”

“Last time I was out of the country, doing some work for the SFU, but the times before that too. Anyway, now we have two persons to talk to.”

Confused the brunette glanced at the silver haired detective. “Two?”

He nodded again, slowly and steadying himself. “Danzo and the hacker. First as a suspect, latter as a witness. tRuthseekEr,” he mumbled to himself and looked out of the window, “what a fitting name.”

Immediately Hiko’s heart skid to her feet. So he found her online identity. Why had the woman be so stupid to leave her name on the last line of the message she had written to the mayor? Simple, her rational mind whispered, you never expected to be part of a murder case.

“What?” she choked out after making sure her facial structures weren’t contorting or showing any of her unease. “What was the name?”

“tRuthseekEr. That’s the alias of the hacker. Do you know him maybe?”

“Y-yeah.”

Immediately Hiko had Kakashi’s undivided attention. The man nearly turned his whole body towards her, the eyes lightly widened in surprise. “From where?”

She stopped again at a red light and watched the rain running down the front window before the shorty scratched embarrassed her cheek. Her stomach tightened into a knot, twisting and curling. Not a pleasant feeling. “Investigations I did. The hacker you speak about… tRuthseekEr is a coryphaei. For years around. He doesn’t hijack companies or such, he doesn’t steal money or information, he tries to be a good guy. Like warning Namikaze about a complot against him. That’s what I heard.”

“That doesn’t make hacking legal. When we find him, we have to arrest the hacker, no matter how many people he saved. The only thing that counts is that he broke the law, nothing else.”

“Not even mitigating circumstances?”

 

Kakashi snorted amused and caught her right hand. “Nope. He’s nevertheless a criminal, so he has to be judged by a fair court. Even when the only thing he was doing was breaching and trying to save people, there are laws. Otherwise anarchy would rule the streets if everyone would just do whatever they wanted in the name of good. Self-justice brings only chaos and confusion.”

Hiko swallowed the harsh comment she wanted to make. Instead of growling at her boyfriend, the woman returned the soft embrace of her free hand and squeezed his. “That’s pretty… fair.” But couldn’t stop herself from saying: “However… I believe he does the right thing.”

Deep down the shorty knew Kakashi couldn’t accept a criminal. He was too righteous, believed too much into the veracity of the law to be all happy and hobbling up and down like a sugar-flashed little kid at the vision of a hacker who was unfortunately at the same time his girlfriend. In that point they differentiated. She knew better than him that twilight zones existed, in which not even the wide arm of the police could grasp anything. Only the ones who were willing to also go into the darkness and dirty themselves could hope for results; to lure the criminal out and give them their righteous punishment.

But why wasn’t the usually assuring thought helping her troubled state?

Kakashi chuckled again. “Really? You like the Robin-Hood-style that much?”

She sighed at the amused tone. “No. I don’t like it. I just believe sometimes there are measures that need to be taken to prevent crimes before they happen. Just think about Namikaze. If the hacker hadn’t warned the mayor, we had now a blond corpse, a dictator and probably the darkest possible future laying ahead of us.”

Another future. Maybe they wouldn’t even have met, maybe Kakashi would still stay with the SFU, still married and betrayed, maybe Hiko would be still secured in her self-build fortress of isolation and would continue to check onto innocent ones and bear distrust for everyone else except for her brothers.

Maybe.

Uneasiness creeped into the back of her brain and started to get comfortable. Her lungs grew tighter, too tight to breathe properly. Nevertheless Hiko forced the necessary air in and out, trying to push the quickly rising panic back, but she was powerless.

 

The woman parked her beetle at her usual parking slot. In the distance her eyes scanned the structure of the KPD building and for the first time in years, an uncomfortable sickness settled down in the pit of her belly. A premonition dawned on the shorty, creeping closer like one of the monsters in horror movies she detested so much. Cold shivers wandered over her spine and goose bumps appeared at her forearms, thankfully covered by the sleeves of her coat. And her burning lungs. Oh, how hard it became to stop the desperate heaving and panting.

Unconsciously she tightened her hold around Kakashi’s hand, until the male spoke up, earnest interest swaying in his voice. “But should everyone just try to make his own laws apply to the rest of the society, when there are already laws which work fine for all of us and establish his own raster to make his actions less threatening or criminal?”

“I-I don’t want to say it’s okay.” stuttered Hiko and cursed herself for feeling a blush creeping over her neck. “There’s apparently someone who thinks there are people who need to be checked upon, because those others are too mighty or too invisible to get recognized by the system. That’s what I think.”

“So you root for him.” stated Kakashi calmly and hit a nerve.

“No! I mean, yes, kinda, but not really!” Confused Hiko dropped her head at the wheel and glanced sneakily at him. He was a bit upset, she could see it in the way how his jaw tensed and he turned his head away from her. Maybe jealous the brunette was admiring someone else?

“Look, as an IT-expert I admire the way he does things. His technical expertise is incredible, from what I heard,” she added, “the handling, the techniques… He’s a goddamn genius! At the other hand, he’s naturally a criminal-!”

She was the criminal.

“And naturally when he’s ever found by the police,”

If she was ever found by the police, oh god, by _Kakashi_.

“-he needs to be judged. By a court or otherwise.”

And thrown into prison. Cladded into the stiff grey suit. Living with murderers and psychopaths in the same space. Never seeing the sunlight again. Knowing one day she would kill herself, because there was no way she would survive the living hell called high security prison, with no privacy or rights.

Without her family. Without Kakashi.

 

Suddenly she found herself gagging and gasping outside of her car, slumped against the side of her red tin can and trying to hold her breakfast in. Her mind resembled a roller coaster, up and down, loops and rattles followed straight after another, skyrocketing and leaving her with the thoughts of a possible future she absolutely feared. Hiko tried to repress everything, but it was useless. Without mercy the thoughts flashed through her brain, torturing, hurting, trashing, ripping at anything they could find.

It was cold. The world was cold. Hiko was.

Something in her behind shuffled, dangerously close. Automatically the female got ready to defend from the attacker despite the heaves which shook her body, but there was only Kakashi when she spun around with her hands raised to defend herself, eyes shining in worry and his own hands outstretched like he wanted to prove there was nothing to fear from him. He was maybe three feet away, but for her it seemed like oceans parted them and unable to speak up, Hiko knew she must look like the madness in person, pale and desperately trying to catch some air. And she hated it.

The first tear was quick, so the second. Then the gates opened and she slumped down on the ground, not caring about the icy wetness soaking into her jeans, not caring about the awkward angle her legs were bend in, her hands covering the glasses and mouth opened in a silent scream. The lungs refused to work, refused the fresh and needed air. Her body trembled under the force of her emotions, her nose was snotty from her crying and her throat hurt from the raw sobs rippling inside, but her mind was in utmost panic and didn’t want to be calmed down.

“Shhh.” Kakashi’s voice slipped past the curtains of her self-induced angst. “Hiko. Breathe. Come on, breathe.”

“I. Can’t!”

“You can.”

“N-no!”

“Firefly, you can. Come.” She heard him stepping closer, before he crouched down and forced her hands apart. Through the blurry mess the shorty only could see a white mass where his face was, thus she blinked hectically to see at least the outlines. His warm fingers dipped gently into the skin of her wrists, not strong but strong enough to hold them apart. “What’s going on with you lately, huh? Nightmares and now a panic attack.”

“K-!”

“It was a rhetorical question. I don’t need to know what you thought of.” Kakashi said and cocked his head to the side. Slowly Hiko was able to make out more of the fine lines of the features, the little wrinkles and signs of his age, the shadows created by the spiky hair on his forehead, the little twitch of a muscle underneath his scarred eye. “Just breathe for now. Do you need a paper bag or something?”

Hiko shook her head, all the while new tears rolled down her face. Kakashi freed her wrists and cupped instead her cheeks, his thumbs trailing her cheekbones underneath the warmed up skin with every ounce of tenderness he was able to muster. He smiled, but the woman couldn’t say if it was sad or worried. “My little Firefly. What are you doing to me? Look, I nearly panicked when you jumped out of the car. At least tell me when you feel an incoming. Everything’s okay Hiko. Listen to me, will you?”

This time she nodded slowly, not panting out of fear anymore, but her chest still heaved from the earlier adrenaline running through her system. Enthralled by his intense gaze the shorty stared into the charcoal pools, while Kakashi continued to murmur sweet nothings, not caring about the coldness creeping into his bones or the light drizzle that started during her panic attack.

 

Sometime, Hiko lost count of the minutes she only stared into his eyes, she saw how the worry in his face faded and got replaced by the weakest of possible smiles. She never saw him like this, a bit lost in… Hiko didn’t know.

“You don’t cry anymore.” he said silently. “Better now?”

For some moments she listened to the signs of her body. It was true, the flood had stopped and the last tears dried under his warm fingertips, still trailing her soft skin. Air made his destined way in and out of her throat and the tightness which had a hold of her heart subsided over the time. The brunette nodded meekly. “Yeah. I think so.”

“Good.” There was no other word for his further actions. Kakashi launched himself at the smaller female, encircled her body with his arms and pressed her into his chest, all the while a slight tremble flared through his own form. First, Hiko was surprised at how much he actually cared, but then she just melted into the embrace and squeezed back, her own appendages slung around the narrow waist of the cop. Her former dark thoughts she banished into a dark corner of her mind, where all the other painful memories waited to break out.

But not today anymore. Hiko had her fair share of the fun already.

“You fucking scared me.” Huskily Kakashi whispered into her ear. “One second you sit there, next you’re gone. I thought you were upset, but when I heard you heave, I just…” His hug tightened, but the man was careful enough to know it didn’t hurt her.

“Sorry,” she mumbled into the nape of his neck, covered by a thick green scarf, “Sorry for worrying you. I don’t know what’s going on with me lately.”

“No need to feel sorry. It’s only the crime case, I’ve seen it a lot when I was in the SFU. Delayed reaction and such.” Kakashi snuggled his face deeper into her mane, only breathing her scent in (he once told her he absolutely loved the combination of the two prominent ingredients of her body lotion). “Maa, my little Firefly… Maybe you should take the day off.”

“Kakashi!” Scandalized Hiko freed herself from the hug and stared with furrowed eyebrows at her silver haired boyfriend. “Everyone is taking nearly double-shifts and work their asses off, I can’t just spend the day in my flat and do nothing! That would come near betrayal or leaving them in a deep pinch, like a commander running away from his troop in the middle of a battle or abandoning a comrade during a fucking crime investigation which is all over the news because of the insanity that ruled the murder!” she shouted out, however Kakashi grinned so relieved the shorty stopped everything and only marveled in the glorious sight.

“Thank god, you’re okay,” the detective dragged her into a standing position, “when you can blabber like that, you’re not scared anymore.”

“Then the day off was just a joke?”

“Nope.”

“But-!”

“I’m sure,” he interrupted, “you can also work from home today. Hiko, maybe you don’t feel it right now, but a panic attack causes even after the actual attack is over several issues inside. Focusing will be impossible, just like working properly. Don’t worry, I’m sure Nagato and your brothers will understand.”

She wanted to intercept, but Kakashi acted like a little child. Placing his hands over his ears, he squeezed his eyes shut and ignored every advance of the brunette, who got more and more amused by his attics, especially when he started to sing a song to drown her voice out when she got louder. “Fine!” she finally laughed and shook her head in fake annoyance, “I’m going home and work there. Are you satisfied?”

 

On alert Kakashi opened first one eye, then both, until he saw Hiko smiling. Instantly he dropped his hands and removed his mask to kiss her on the forehead. Shortly he lingered there, his lips lightly pressing onto the skin and hovering over her, caring, thinking and worrying for Hiko’s sake. When he retreated, his fingers curled around the edges of the mask and rearranging it to his liking, the silver haired man seemed to be more relaxed than before. “I’m glad,” he murmured and kissed her this time through the mask, “Don’t overdo it, drink a lot of chamomile tea and think about me.”

“Yeah, while beating my pillow into a pulp, imagining your face instead.”

Kakashi chuckled. “That’s my Firefly. Ferocious until the end. I love you.”

Grumping Hiko settled again into her car, not without a final greeting to her love. She waved at the cop, who watched how she pulled out of the parking lot, hands buried in the pockets of his coat and leaning against another car, not caring about the wet spots at the height of the knees or the drizzle which turned by now into light rain.

Truth was, she still felt the rests of the panic attack lurking around, spreading adrenaline and anxiety in her mind. When Kakashi wouldn’t insist on this matter, Hiko would’ve worked like nothing happened, but he was right. There was no way she could deliver her usual quality today, not uphold her usual concentration level, not work like she usually would. For the rest of the day the shorty would do just as her boyfriend suggested it, stay safe in her home, cuddle into a blanket and try to at least get something done.

Her mind hadn’t calmed down. The moment he wasn’t in her field of vision anymore, the smile dropped from her lips like the rain fastly ran down the front window, only one second present, then gone forever.

Being home today wouldn’t be relaxing. It would be another round of questioning, doubting and overthinking about her past and the choices she had to make.

 

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

Absent-minded Kakashi nestled with his cellphone. From time to time he checked if there was a new message, but since the occasional “I’m home” text from the small brunette nothing came.

Seeing Hiko breaking down suddenly, without even a warning or a little sign scared the shit out of the silver haired male. He had reacted on autopilot, had reached out to the shorty, tried to stay calm for both of them when all he wanted to do was drawing Hiko into his arms and never letting her go again, but the logical part of his brain told him to do that only when the woman came down from the adrenaline rush.

‘I didn’t even know she gets panic attacks. And over such a trivial topic… But everything, no matter how trivial it seems can cause one, and someone with some traumatic experiences like Hiko…’

Kakashi suppressed the heavy sigh in his chest and again checked the screen of his phone.

Still nothing.

“Is listening to my report that boring Hatake?”

Quickly the silver haired cop looked up from his cellphone to Orochimaru, who stood with his usual lab-coat beside the opened corpse of Fuu Yamanaka, well, what was left from it to inspect. The taken out organs were neatly ordered and placed in formaldehyde to prevent them from drying too much. “No, no. Sorry. Go on, I’m concentrated.”

The pale man only raised an eyebrow, but then seemed to decide it wasn’t worth talking about. Gesturing at the corpse, Orochimaru continued to explain how exactly Fuu died and Kakashi forced his unresponsive mind to listen to the cruel descriptions.

“As I just said, no fingerprints, also no traces of other blood or sperm, so no sexual contact. The time of death is just as I estimated first, around 4.30 a.m. to 5 a.m. But the real problem, where I have problems to determine the exact time is the time span of his torment. I don’t know how long he was tortured, that makes it difficult to estimate the time of kidnapping.”

“So he was really tortured?” asked Kakashi and gritted his teeth as Orochimaru nodded.

“Not only that,” the raven lifted the merciful covers over the empty torso to point at the cut lines, “but I’ve seen such a special case not in a long time. He was vivisected.”

“And it gets better and better…”

Cut open while being alive and awake to witness everything. The hands cutting your chest open, the fingers pulling your skin apart, breaking your ribs to get better access to the lungs, the stomach, the heart… Unconsciously his hand flew upwards to grip into the fabric of his pullover, just right above his own beating organ.

Orochimaru revealed now the whole corpse with an elegant flick of his wrist, making the white cover flutter like the wings of a swan. While folding the fabric neatly, he watched over the dead body, how the young man laid spread open under the cold light of the autopsy room. “Your murderer is someone with at least a basic medical education. The cuts are halfway precise, but aren’t that skillful. Edges and inaccurate lines. No abnormalities with the medics used to drug him either. Also,” Orochimaru slipped a pair of gloves on and inspected the edges of the skin with the pads of his fingers, “the tools which were used are unusual. Clean cuts, rough endings. I’ve seen those kind of cuts only at animals which were hunted and skinned with hunting knives. But the organs were removed with a scalpel. To switch the tools in the middle of the procedure is not correct, seen from a medical point of view.”

 

“Anything else?”

“The information I get from the cuts and the fact that someone kept Yamanaka alive while cutting him open is contradictory. The cuts are sloppy, but keeping a human on the brink of death needs skill. Skill someone with such an inaccurate hand cannot have.”

“So, to conclude,” Kakashi stepped closer and tried not to think about the last minutes of the unfortunate soul on the steel table, “we search someone with basic medical knowledge, at least enough to keep a person during a vivisection alive, maybe access to a secluded area, preferable not in the proximity of other houses or people or something similar and probably involved with Fuu Yamanaka on an emotional business.”

“Don’t jump to conclusions Hatake.”

Kakashi looked up at the rather harsh scolding. “Huh?”

Orochimaru raised both of his eyebrows, a clear sign of his annoyance. The detective hadn’t had time until now to work with the medical head of the KPD, so he only knew the stories Hiko and her brothers told him and was especially on edge around the pale examiner. So he wasn’t surprised the black haired male clicked his tongue before returning to face the corpse, arms crossed over his chest. “Something like that isn’t done by someone who was emotionally involved. You need calm hands and massive experience to cut a squirming body open, to retract a working lung efficiently and without killing your victim the same instant your knife destroys an important blood vessel. Anger isn’t a wise leader by killing somebody this way, neither are sadness or betrayed love. I’m telling you, the murderer was completely shut off of the emotional world when he did it. Except…”

Orochimaru paused, then shook his head. “No. It’s nothing.”

If Kakashi had learned something in all the years he spent with the SFU, then it was to listen to the instincts of the medical examiner. Old veterans were sometimes able to only look at a corpse and estimate the exact point of death, not to talk about the way how the victim was killed. So he gestured Orochimaru to continue. “Please, spill it. Seriously, everything can help in the early state of our investigation.”

“There’s… maybe I should just show it.”

 

The man pointed at the flank of the victim. “It’s nearly invisible underneath all the cut open flesh, but right _here_ ,” he drew the vertical line and only now Kakashi was able to see the wound properly, “is a non-lethal cut. Not near to any important arteria, no organs, not even the depth of the wound is deep enough to explain its very existence. Only one centimeter in depth, five centimeters in length. Enough to draw blood, but not at all enough to be harming.”

“That’s indeed strange.” said Kakashi. And it was. Such an almost innocent wound on a body brutally vivisected was contradicting to the very core. The gap between them was too great. His instincts tingled almost uncomfortable. The detective glanced for a second at the medical examiner, then returned to stare ominously at the enigma. “Maybe two different people involved?”

“No. Highly impossible,” answered Orochimaru. “The handwriting is the same as the one who opened the ribcage. Same hand, same precision. Same person.”

“So, what is this then?”

“That’s your job to find out,” retorted the examiner calmly, removed the blue plastic gloves and stuffed them into a near bin. “I’m just doing the gory stuff. But, from my point of view, it could be a marking.”

Kakashi was thankful when Fuu was covered again under the white fabric. He checked quickly his phone, grumped inwardly that there was still no message and hid it in a flash before Orochimaru could complain again about his concentration level. “And why a marking?”

“Come on Hatake,” he snarled, “use your brain. I’m pretty sure we have a psychopath on the loose here, and what do psychopaths? They leave a special calling card on the victims. That cut is our business card, because it has a special meaning to him. Something that reminds him maybe, or it’s only an obsession. At least we have a chance to identify more corpses that way when there’s the next.”

For the first time down in the autopsy room, Kakashi smiled a bit. “Oh, I think so too. I just wanted to make sure I wasn’t the only one. The head examiner backing me up sure will be a sufficient proof of my theory.”

“You play a dangerous game, youngster.”

“I like to live dangerous.”

 

Orochimaru gave a strange sound between a hiss and snort and shook his head, before walking to a desk with a clean white PC on it. While typing the report, he glanced from time to time at Kakashi, and as the silver haired detective made no move to get out of the sacred area of the raven, he sighed heavily and stopped the writing. “Is there anything else what needs my attention? My report is finished by now.”

Orochimaru was the closest to a doctor Kakashi knew. Maybe he had an idea how to help Hiko, even when the detective struggled to actually ask the fated question, which would reveal much more of his inner state to the creepy examiner than he ever wanted. But thankfully Orochimaru took the matter in his own hands, unaware of the breath Kakashi let out when he heard the question.

“By the way, where would be the harpy today? Haruno nagged about a problem with her work space,” he gestured without looking up from his own PC to a similar white device to the right, “and originally I wanted her to take a look at it.”

Kakashi perked slightly up. There was something tinging the calm voice of the examiner, something the silver haired man wished he didn’t notice. The overbearing casual tone, the almost friendly question about the condition of Hiko, not fitting the man who was infamous for bossing his assistants merciless around and not at all caring about their well-being, bringing them more than once to the verge of breaking into tears.

“She’s at home.” Kakashi answered, suspicion rising on the inside. And it grew even further.

“Oh. What happened? Lover’s quarrel?” Orochimaru sounded honestly concerned and maybe it was a bit of paranoia, but the silver haired cop swore on his life that there was a sliver of mischievous amusement underlining the innocent question.

So Kakashi cocked his head and forced a just as friendly expression on his face, even when all he wanted to do was either interrogate the examiner to the depths of his dark mind or run home and ask his shorty if Orochimaru ever made any advances towards her. “No. Nothing like that.” And, out of a sudden flash of anger, added: “She had a panic attack.”

That caught Orochimaru's attention. The man actually looked up from the monitor and scanned Kakashi thoroughly, the snake-like eyes squinted as if to check if he actually told the truth.

 

“Panic attack?” the black haired male echoed, leaned back into his seat and folded his arms over the chest. “Kobayashi-san. Had a panic attack.”

“Yes.”

“I didn’t know.”

“And I would like to keep it that way, if you don’t mind.”

The examiner nodded in understanding. “I’m not one to gossip around. Do you have experience with treating panic attacks?”

Kakashi ruffled through his mane, shortly debating if he should accept or decline the offer hidden underneath the words, but then shook his head. “Unfortunately not as much as I wanted.”

“There’s no ultimate recipe,” he said, “but there are some things you can do to make it bearable. Create a calm environment, avoid alcohol, nicotine and caffeine, exercise is a good stress and anxiety reliever, sleep for a decent time.” The doctor scribbled something down on a yellow notepad by his side, glanced shortly at Kakashi, then continued to scribble fastly. Resolute Orochimaru ripped his notes off the block and handed it to him. “There are also a few relaxation techniques listed.”

The detective quickly analyzed the list. All of the things were actually pretty easy to do, simple steps to prevent and handle panic attacks. No medics involved. “Thank you.” Kakashi said and nodded one time sharply at Orochimaru, who took the thanks with a shrug and a turn to the monitor. Assuming he was dismissed, the silver haired man went to exit the autopsy room, in one hand the list, in the other already his cellphone, which he felt vibrate during the conversation with the creepy male.

_Hiko: I’ve got something done and send it to Itachi. A list of everything I got on Shimura and everything I could gather on tRuthseekEr. Aaaand I was rebellious and drank instead of chamomile tea Darjeeling. (`.`)/_

He snickered at the proud smiley at the end of the text and quickly typed back, feeling how a smile tugged at the corner of his lips.

           _Kakashi: Good job. In both, writing the reports and defying the norms of society, you rebel._

_Hiko: that’s me. Punk-spirit flows in my veins and controls my whole being. Tomorrow I’m going to spray some obscene words at the walls of the KPD_

_Kakashi: Now I have a confession from you._

_Hiko: now I’m scared_

His smile widened lightly. Hiko made jokes again. At least she wasn’t scared anymore. His heart fluttered when she send a selfie, how she cuddled into the fabric of his morning coat and grinned sheepishly into the camera, the sleeves too long for her short appendages and her chocolate brown hair curling around her heart-shaped face.

           ‘Yeah. For now she’s okay again. And next time I will be there to help.’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And once again, all the thanks go to Miss_Fandoms_Shakespeare, who oversees the mess I writeand corrects it :)


	42. The next step could be your last

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Despite her secret identity on the line, Hiko continues to work on the case and worries about tRuthseekEr's future. All the while Kakashi is concerned and takes the advice from his loud and youthful partner.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just adjust my posting schedule and make Thursday the day of my week. Like this I won't feel bad about letting you guys hang there. Sorry for the again late chapter, my work is really taxing lately and yadda yadda yadda.  
> Hopefully you will enjoy this chapter! :)

‘Maybe my list was too exact…’

Hiko nibbled on her right middle finger while her eyes followed the chat in the KPD chat-room, analyzing every word which was written into oblivion.

_ChatRoom of the KPD_

_SPECIAL CASE: all police officers able to access the conversation_

 

_CHIEF: How’s the progress? I need an update for the press._

_KakashiH. : One main suspect for now. Name is Danzo Shimura, former aide of the mayor Namikaze. Was suspended due to conspiracy, but no charges filed against him. We’re currently searching for him. Second would be a witness/possible second suspect: a hacker. We have only a nickname “tRuthseekEr”, but Kobayashi-san put anything she found on him into a document._

_ItachiU. : Also to Shimura. Both reports are uploaded on the server._

_CHIEF: Anything else I can actually give out to the journalists?_

_GaiM. : The official time of death is around 4.30 to 5 a.m. So maybe we have some early youthful joggers who’ve seen something suspicious around that time._

_SakuraH. : Orochimaru-sensei said he was captured for some time. He estimates the time span for at least 5 hours and found the rests of alcohol and food in his stomach. So maybe he was at a bar or restaurant when he was captured._

_CHIEF: So we have a possible start and a possible end. Good. Sarutobi-san, was the daily business also cleared without problems?_

_AsumaS. : Yes. Nothing out of our range._

_CHIEF: Good. But no slacking off, we need to put all our efforts into capturing the murderer. The papers already gave him a name: The butcher._

_SasukeU. : not very creative._

_NarutoU. : wasn’t there a movie where a murderer called “the butcher” ran around?_

_CHIEF: It doesn’t matter if there was a movie or not. All we need to know that he’s probably aware of our investigations by now, so we have to keep put up constant pressure._

_CHIEF: Good work from everyone. I want to be updated throughout the whole day about anything you find out._

_KakashiH. : Alright chief._

 

“Thank god…” she sighed out as she watched all the members signing out of the chat. “Nobody looked too much into it.”

It took her more time to assemble the right information for her own list then copy and paste the list of “achievements” of Danzo Shimura into one document. Over every successful hack she sat and asked herself if it was possibly too much to also include the hacking of the big companies, like _Hyuuga &Co KG _or even the company of the deceased parents of Itachi and Sasuke _SharinganSupplies_ _GmbH_. Yeah, she even hacked her own friends, but excused it with the usual things: the heads could be corrupt, there was no security in life for anything, etc etc etc…

Only now, nearly ten years later, Hiko realized how paranoid she had been, even doubting the especially selected managers _from her brother's hands_ and controlling on them like a mother hen on her chickens. She groaned and buried her face in her palms, feeling how her cheeks warmed up at the ridiculous teenager she had been and the actions she thought were necessary in the past and found now extremely unneeded.

Unwanted.

Then there was again some activity in the KPD, but not in the special cases-chat, but in the room only for the newly appointed officers. Through her VPN-client and administrator-rights Hiko could see what the youngsters wrote there and her emotions quickly switched between proud and scared, making her hot and cold at an unnerving pace.

_ChatRoom of the KPD_

_Puppy-Alert: ShinoA.; HinataH.; SasukeU.; NarutoU.; KibaI.; InoY.; TentenF.; SakuraH.; ShikamaruN._

 

_NarutoU. : did you read the report about the hacker?_

_ShikamaruN. : yeah_

_ShinoA. : yes_

_HinataH. : I hadn’t had the time until now, I apologize._

_KibaI. : there was some awesome stuff in there!_

_TentenF. : I’m currently on patrol, what did I miss?_

_SasukeU. : the admiring of a dobe towards a criminal._

_NarutoU. : but what a criminal, believe it! He hacked nearly every big company in the country, but nothing was ever stolen! Only tips about abuse of power, stolen money or mistreating of workers were ever issued! That’s so freaking cool!_

_KibaI. : YEAH, for once we agree. tRuthseekEr is some kind of modern robin hood_

_ShikamaruN. : you shouldn’t forget Robin hood was a thief who stole from the rich. Only because the hacker uses the information for the good doesn’t mean we should spare him_

_NarutoU. : man, shika! Just admire the handiwork of a true prank-genius!_

_SasukeU. : Breaching isn’t a prank. It’s a crime. There’s a reason why there are laws against hacking._

_NarutoU. : you’re only pissed because he investigated the company of yours._

_SasukeU. : hn_

_HinataH. : I also believe that tRuthseekEr has some kind of gift. In a technical way, the things he accomplished are amazing, but from the stand of a police officer there’s no way we can let him get away with this. The list is endless._

_ShikamaruN. : worth maybe a decade of prison_

_ShinoA. : Exactly._

_NarutoU. : He made things better for hundreds of people! The supermarkets where they abused the workers and paid them almost nothing is restored because of him!_

_SakuraH. : there were two on the list. The other went down the drain Naruto. There are other examples, companies who went bankrupt after he checked them and reported influential managers to the authorities. Thousands of people lost their jobs because of him._

_KibaI. : All of them were provided with help and new jobs, that’s what you forgot to mention._

_SakuraH. : it doesn’t change the fact that some of them are still without employment_

_NarutoU. : he saved lives! He saved my father's life!_

_SakuraH. : and that’s a good thing, really. But you have to admit, no matter how many lives he affected for good or bad, he committed crimes by hacking and stealing intern-information, something he shouldn’t have done._

 

Hiko couldn’t take it anymore. Hastily she closed the tab, despite the heated discussion going on and on how her alter ego was a hero or not, but without a doubt a criminal. For years she had pushed aside the results of her doings. For years the brunette told herself all she did was helping the people. From the sidelines she knew that there were companies which closed because of her, because of the information she provided the law with, but she never actually realized she was at fault here. Pride and misplaced arrogance had dulled the negative feelings which would have shown how bad her actions could be for others. tRuthseekEr caused pain just as happiness, just as hurt and betrayal and sadness.

The shorty had to admit her alter ego caused more bad than good in the end.

“I’m a job-wrecker.” she whispered and the words seemed to echo in the empty room. In the marine blue morning coat falling loosely around her figure, wine red sweatpants and a simple white t-shirt she fell out of her chair and strolled into the kitchen area. The tiles were cold underneath her naked feet, but Hiko didn’t care about it while waiting for the water to boil.

Absent minded she nibbled on the spoon she used to get some honey into the Darjeeling, licking the absolute last remains of the sweet stickiness of the metal. Then, while preparing her tea, the shorty made a decision.

Until the end of this investigation, she would keep her secret identity a secret. But when that was over, she needed to get clean with her family and foremost Kakashi. They deserved the truth. And it was time to grow out of her old structures to start something new, something more worthwhile than hacking and checking on others. Hiko needed a real life, not the shady lurking around firewalls and waiting for a chance to strike.

The life she had now. The life where she shared her apartment unwillingly with the silver haired cop who made her laugh all the time, where she joked with her colleagues who weren’t jerking away anymore from her, where her brothers found happiness and the brunette new friends, _female friends_.

 

Slowly Hiko nodded at her resolution, threw unerringly a tea bag into the waiting hot water and dumped a spoon of honey into the spreading flavor. Surely it wasn’t perfect, hell, far from perfect actually and a huge part of her mind doubted her sanity, but the woman knew it was the right thing to do. Somehow a weight disappeared; a weight she didn’t notice which lasted until now on her soul.

Hiko nestled with the strap of the teabag and watched how the water turned into a nice warm brown color. “Good. Now to the cleaning-up. And maybe…”

Her mind wandered off.

           ‘I haven’t written down anything in awhile. Maybe… Yeah. Absolutely.’

She ignored the freshly brewed tea and let the cup wait at the counter, while she strolled over to her desk. The PC she was proud of silently hummed, but the woman didn’t care about the device right now. Instead she hastily scrambled through the cupboards connected to the workplace, grumbled as she didn’t find the needed tool and opened another drawer.

Pencils, tape, more pencils, some other rubbish she forgot about, notepads…

“Aha!” Triumphantly Hiko closed her hand around the small case she searched for and freed it from the mass of pencils (honestly, she needed to throw some of them away) and together with the black plastic case, the woman targeted her TV.

Her PC was on top of the standards. However, Hiko had a reason to keep the slightly thicker TV for a few more years than she actually would in a normal situation. Whistling Hiko turned the device until she could reach the back. There was a small trap to reach inside the housing and wire the TV to the stereo and such, but Hiko used it also for something else. Only few people would hide something in there, but she wasn’t without a reason interested in everything which could be useful some day.

“Well, here I go.” She opened practiced the black casing and tugged a slender screwdriver out. The handle was bright red and the silver of the important part shimmered lightly in the light of the sun coming through the window in her behind. Faster than anyone would think, the brunette had removed the screws and reached inside the darkness. Quickly her fingers brushed over a package.

It was a notebook. Old, only the size of a postcard and one centimeter thick. Hiko waved the specks of dusts away that came from the booklet, then just left the TV open. She would stuff it back into place anyway.

 

Nostalgia washed over her mind as she brushed through the pages. From the very first page the book was full of memories, of good days and happy things, but the sadness and misery was overweighing the good parts. Her handwriting hadn’t changed much over the last three years, but Hiko knew that in her other earlier notebooks loops reigned the letters, silly drawings were all over the empty spaces and once she just scribbled all over a page until the white turned blackish-blue. An idea from her last therapist, something that actually helped Hiko to work out some of her problems.

           _“A diary.”_

_“Yes. I believe it’s a good idea.”_

_Hiko snorted and crossed her arms. “Whatever.”_

_The therapist was a beautiful woman and the brunette had hated her at first. But Ryuzetsu was gentle to the core, kept the discretion of a doctor as her highest mentality and also was very creative and concerned in order to help her patients. So despite the wonderful whitish mane falling like silk over her shoulders, the exotic mocha-colored skin, the glassy blue eyes which lured surely hundreds of men in and the figure and height Hiko would kill for, the brunette learned to accept the other female as a therapist and foremost as her psychiatrist._

_“Don’t shut yourself off.” said Ryuzetsu with a light scolding in her voice. She sat across from Hiko in a similar chair to her own, an armchair cladded into brown leather. The material squeaked every time someone moved, so Hiko tried to stay still as much as she could._

_“It wouldn’t be a diary. Think of it as more of a logbook of your emotional climate.”_

_“But I have to write down my “emotional climate”,” she made quote marks, “daily. Or am I missing something?”_

_“No.”_

_“Then it’s a diary.” she exclaimed loudly and drew her knees closer._

_Ryuzetsu scribbled something on her clipboard, a little smile playing around her lips. “Today’s state: cheeky and stubborn, doesn’t want to admit when someone else has a point…”_

_“Hey!”_

_“…with a hint of insomnia mixed into it…”_

_“Are the shadows under my eyes that obvious?”_

_“And panic attacks.”_

_Silence. Hiko stared at the ground, a rich carpet in red and gold. Her glassed eyes followed the trails of the golden threads looping over the blood red ground, slinging around and forming complicated musters. On her seat Ryuzetsu shuffled, then sighed out._

_“It isn’t something to be ashamed of. Panic attacks or disorder are pretty common, even among people who never experienced serious traumata.”_

_“It’s annoying,” Hiko hissed. “It interrupts my daily life. Last time in the office I nearly broke into tears just because someone joked about cuffing me up. I don’t need them and I don’t want them. Just give me some medicine to make them stop.”_

_The white haired lady shook (Hiko thought so) disappointed her head. “There’s no such thing as medicine against panic attacks. Hiko, you have to accept that part of yours to some point, only then you have a chance to decrease those.”_

_“Will they ever end? Will they ever stop completely?”_

_Again Ryuzetsu scribbled on the clipboard. The scratching of the pen over the paper filled the room between the two women and Hiko pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose, until her psychotherapist finished whatever she wrote and looked again at her, deep sympathy standing in the light eyes. “I’m afraid they won’t. But maybe sometime you will have a person which you can trust and rely on, so they will decrease or lessen in impact.”_

_Hiko groaned annoyed and threw her frame into the cushions. “Great,” she said to the ceiling, “so I will live forever with them.”_

 

Since that day, the shorty had written more or less diligent into the small notebooks. Easy to carry around, easy to hide. Some days her hands shook that heavily that she couldn’t read her own handwriting afterwards, on some days the letters radiated in happiness and joy of life. Smiling slightly Hiko brushed over her last entry before only empty pages awaited a pen to write something down.

For some seconds she thought about what she really wanted, no, needed to write, then Hiko settled at the comfy couch, a pen spiraling between her fingers and the booklet laying on her knees, all the while her features changed between a smile and a clench.

_Hey. It’s been a while…_

 

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

Kakashi rubbed tiredly over his burning eyes, then watched again the road in front of him.

“How was your impression of Shimura?” he asked his partner Gai, who drove the police car, a concentrated look on his face.

“Not youthful.”

“He’s an old man.”

“My dear rival, some can age and still stand in their spring of youth. Shimura isn’t one of these lucky people.”

With a sigh Kakashi dropped his head against the rest in the back. “Right. So I write that into the file. “Not youthful” it is.”

Danzo was as slippery as an eel. They managed to find the old man in the outskirts of Konoha, where he had a second mansion to his main house. While questioning him, Kakashi noticed the way the former aide analyzed the officers with his small cold eyes. Like he was the hunter and they were the prey. He dodged uncomfortable questions, wiggled his ass out of clear statements and denied to ever have said something until you brought him double-checked proof of said sentences. An exhausting task.

The whole time a part of his mind had been with Hiko. Over the day she wrote some more messages, assuring him the shorty was comfortable yet, but there was still a tiny voice whispering about his insecurities. Yes, insecurities. He didn’t doubt Hiko, no. It was his own personality which Kakashi suspected to do the job of fucking maybe the best relationship up he ever had. What when the shorty saw how scarred he really was on the inside, how socially awkward he could be, formed by the years in the SFU and a failed marriage? Maybe Hanare was right about his unemotional behavior, maybe he really cared too much about his job than about other humans. He should’ve stayed with his little Firefly, he should have pushed the formalities onto Gai. The green-loving man could’ve handled the questioning and the overlooking of the corpse on his own.

“What’s wrong my eternal rival?” asked said man and turned the blinker on. Properly he checked all three rear mirrors and did the shoulder look, before turning the wheel and glancing at Kakashi. “Your sighing tells me that there’s something weighing you down.”

“Maa… It’s nothing.”

 

Since he was transferred to the KPD, Gai was his partner. Nearly a year by now. But even when they spent all work time together in a cramped space, even when they trained together at the trainings room, hell, even when Kakashi already saw the other naked under the showers and also the other way around, he didn’t really thought of Gai as a friend. Not that kind of friend like Obito, Itachi and Kisame.

Inwardly he sighed. And like Hiko.

But wasn’t it time to get some friends on his own? And wouldn’t be the loud bowl-cut a good start to be a bit more open to the people around him? It didn’t mean Kakashi should become a social butterfly, just a little bit less secretive.

But it took him a few more turns and the streetlights of the city to actually make him act according to his new-found resolve.

“It’s… about my relationship with Hiko.” he mumbled weakly.

“With Kobayashi-san? What’s wrong?” Concern swayed in Gai’s voice, honest and without a doubt not faked, like Orochimaru had.

“Not exactly wrong, it’s just… Should I have stayed home today?” Kakashi didn’t mention the panic attack. He already spilled it in front of the examiner, so there was no need to also involve Gai. “I worry if I could have done more for her or that she could be angry with me.”

“I don’t think so.”

“And why?” he asked instantly back.

Gai chuckled, then slapped with lots of his inhumanly power Kakashi’s shoulder. He winced under the force, but controlled himself.

Meanwhile Gai boomed with his typical loud voice. “Kobayashi-san is too devoted to you to be angry over not staying at home with her. She knows how important both of your jobs are! Besides, she’s a free spirit. She can handle her own business and likes to do it alone. She will ask for help if there’s something, I’m sure!”

“So she won’t believe the work is more important than her for me?”

At that Gai broke into a laughing fit. His low rumble filled the car and Kakashi found the expression of his partner quite comfortable, knowing it was him who awoke this. After some time, they were near the apartment complex Kakashi called his home, Gai wiped the laughing tears away. “The whole main office believes you would instantly cancel an assignment to run straight to Kobayashi-san if she would ever face a problem,” he giggled weakly and placed his big hands again at the wheel. “You two replaced Asuma and Kurenai as our Number One couple, you know?”

 

Kakashi felt how his cheeks flared up and thankful for the early nightfall, he muffled his positive grumping in his palm. But Gai wasn’t finished.

“We have some serious bets going on the in the main office! Kurenai says you two get married around summer next year, while Obito said it will happen even before that. Izumo betted on a girl as the first child, Kotetsu said it will be a boy, what Naruto also guessed, so they teamed up! Even the chief joined and placed a youthful amount of chewing gum that Kobayashi-san would take your name instead of hers, becoming rightfully Hiko Hatake when you two get married, but everyone else –except for me!- went against it, so Nagato-san and my humble personality will get lots and lots of free treats if we win.” he exclaimed and grinned brightly.

Kakashi stared flabbergasted at his partner. “Wait, for you guys it’s already a sure thing we become husband and wife?”

And when Gai nodded, Kakashi felt how some of his worries fade away. He didn’t know why, it probably should scare the shit out of him to think of another marriage again, but somehow, it wasn’t frightening. Not anymore. A picture came to his brain, sudden and maybe too hasty, but not like other times he shoved it wildly away, but let the image sink in and relished in the warm bubbles erupting in his stomach.

‘Hiko in a white dress, coming down the aisle, smiling gently at me. Maybe she has her hair up, maybe not. I’m pretty sure she would tease me about the smoking and probably blush when I compliment her, in the same pink she always does, but that special day would make it only lovelier. Her voice would not waver when we make our vows, but from time to time she and I would sneak little glances at the other and smile full of content that it would finally happen.’

Finally. The word struck Kakashi’s inside like the famous lightning did with the kite of Benjamin Franklin. Hell, he knew that the faint idea of settling down was in the back of his mind since the first night spend with the shorty, but not that it was still there, waiting for a chance to get outside and scream about the crazy thought loud. The outside world was dark and only illuminated by the occasional street lights, thus Kakashi stared at the road, totally lost in the sheer possibilities Gai opened up with his words.

He liked it. He liked the thought of being married to Hiko. His mouth curled into a small smile when he thought about calling her Mrs. Hatake or moving in with her or simply knowing she was his.

 

“Assured enough?” asked Gai with a blinding smile and Kakashi nodded slowly, his head producing more and more scenarios of the brunette and him as married people. And he got more and more accustomed to the thought. So he didn’t really listen to his partner anymore, who started to talk about this and that going on in the main office, only nodded when it was according to the context. All the while his hand was placed over his flu mask, creating a second layer to hide the small grin on his face from the rest of the world.

Home. It was more Hiko’s flat as his own, he realized, more comfortable to stay at her place than at his apartment. A home. He felt safe there, secure enough to let even his mask down the instant he set a foot over the doorframe. And over the time it felt also natural to just let his clothes there, to occupy some space in the bathroom, to go grocery shopping with and for the shorty, shower there, sleep there, live there…

           ‘Oh my god, we’re living together.’

Was Hiko aware of that fact? Suddenly he felt nervous all over again and his fingers started a fast rhythm, tapping on his knee, while the other still hid his now grimacing lower face from Gai. Maybe she wasn’t. Everything indicated that. She didn’t say anything when he stuffed some of his clothes into her wardrobe, with the explanation it was far more comfortable than walking in his own flat to get new clothing after a night he spend in the brunettes apartment. She didn’t tell him to stop when Kakashi occupied half of the sink for his toothbrush and toothpaste and also some space in the shower, where now his shampoo rested, just beside the three bottles of conditioner she used. Unconsciously the silver haired man more and more moved some of his belongings into her home and Hiko didn’t stop him. Instead the shorty mostly laughed or grinned when he found another excuse, then nudged and teased him that he owned more things than her. But she never declined or outline refused.

Did it mean she accepted? So easily?

Kakashi sighed out when Gai drove down the room to his apartment complex. Just when he solved one problem in his mind, he noticed another and had to fight it. But he couldn’t bother anyone else with his insecurities, he had to work them out with Hiko, because she would be affected by them.

“Thanks for driving.” He loosened the belt and Gai showed him the thumbs-up he was famous for, together with the toothy grin Kakashi knew all too well.

“No problem my rival! And don’t worry, everyone roots for you and Kobayashi-san! You two are too youthful to get separated again!”

 

The detective sweatdropped inwardly at the strange description, but decided it wasn’t worth discussing. “Yeah,” he said and waved lazily at his partner, “thanks for that too.” Getting out of the police car, Kakashi ignored the loud yells following him, closed the door with a resolute gesture and waved one more time after Gai, when he finally stopped his tirade and turned the vehicle around.

Automatically his eyes drifted to the window of Hiko’s flat and smiled warily as he noticed the flicked on lights. She was home. Good. Very good.

Internally debating if he should start the delicate topic or not, Kakashi climbed the stairs upwards, hands buried in the pockets of his coat, nose and cheeks hidden by the flu mask and the thick green scarf, a present of his father to his last birthday.

She greeted him with a cheeky smile and a short nuzzle into his chest. “Hi.” Hiko loosened the embrace around him and watched how Kakashi got out of his shoes and coat, while he still came to no resolution. “And? Was Shimura such a little sunshine like the documents said?”

“Worse.” he retorted and dropped the flu mask at the little drawer beside the entrance. “Slippery like a toad and venomous like a viper. Indirectly he told us to watch our asses if the KPD should dare to make him a possible suspect in the case.”

Hiko pushed her glasses up. “And directly?”

“Innocent, like everyone says in front of the police. He saw Yamanaka the last time at the fated day he was thrown out, but I don’t really believe him. Shimura has those cold eyes,” Kakashi grimaced at the memory of the icy eyes, “and they make him look like he kills little puppies just for fun.”

The brunette just wanted to retort something, then the stereo system in the living room played the next song and she only smiled full of helpless sincerity at him, then grabbed his wrist and dragged Kakashi into the biggest room. There she winked at him, before her legs started to move to the beat, drawn in by the fast rhythm and Kakashi could only watch, how Hiko twirled and swayed around, the loose fabric of his morning coat following her movements. While she danced to the song, he shook amused his head, then dropped with a low grunt on the couch, feeling rather relaxed now that she was again by his side and unfazed by the panic attack she had earlier. Every other mood was better than the panicked expression his shorty wore this morning, everything was better than listening to the dry gagging and sobbing or her contorted cries.

 

The smell of freshly cooked food laid in the air and unconsciously, the detective breathed in to analyze the different components. Onions were prominent, so were meat and cheese. He cocked his head and smiled, hearing the steps of the woman behind him, who walked now over to the stereo system and turned the volume down.

“Anything else I need to know beside the viper Shimura?” she asked. Hiko swiveled around to him, arms crossed on her small back and looked full of curiosity at him.

Kakashi chuckled as she rolled back on forth on her heels, never standing still and full of energy. “No. Anything else I should know about the hacker?”

“tRuthseekEr,” she corrected him instantly, “is really hard to find. I tried to talk with some of his colleagues, but no one had any information.”

He expected a little more from the female, but she fell silent. For a split second dullness laid over her features, like she thought hard about something, then the cheerful smile returned. “So it’s the same as Namikaze-san’s investigation. Almost nothing.”

“I wouldn’t say nothing.” He gestured her to come over and she followed his wish with a smooth swing in her step. “You got a list of previous targets of his hacking. How did you know it was him?”

Hiko settled beside him down, near enough that her soft thighs touched his muscular ones. Kakashi scanned her frame once more, this time more concentrating at the finer parts and assets she had. There was no way he would ever get enough from the brunette.

She huffed and leaned into the backrest. “Don’t praise me just now, those are only vague suggestions. I had an idea when he started to hack companies and searched with some help of colleagues all over the country for strange situations. I called in quite some favors this time to get a halfway thoroughly research on unusual hackings and compared them to anonymous reports to the authorities, but I believe,” Hiko pushed her glasses upwards, “at least some of them should be his doing.”

Wisps of her chocolate colored locks curled around her shoulders as she spoke, longer than Kakashi ever saw on her. Right to the neckline of the milky white cleavage they fell and he couldn’t turn away from the delicious sight beside him. Hiko rolled her right arm and the edges of his morning coat slipped downwards, revealing the straps of the thin white shirt and the curve of her body to him. Somehow she looked younger like this, sitting in a too big coat, the knees huddled onto the cushions and her hands resting on her thighs, her face looking up to him in a curious expression. “Why are you staring at me?”

 

The silver haired man didn’t answer, only continued to rake slowly her body with his eyes. He didn’t feel like answering, to let her know what went through his head, the previously found solution still too fresh to share with the small woman. He had time, he thought to himself. There was no one rushing him.

“Kakashi?”

Finally he noticed her approach. “Hm?” Absent minded his lips curled into a smile at the sight of Hiko, a bit agitated, but overall just as amused as himself.

She poked his ribs. “You’re a bit strange today.” But her fingers lingered on his ribcage, softly tracing the outlines of the bones underneath the fabric and his skin. His concentration faded fastly, now that Kakashi pushed his worries into a faraway corner of his mind. Sighing in the gentle touches, he moved to bury his nose in the nape of her shoulder, crouching his whole figure until she skid closer to him, hand still staying at his chest.

He was tired. Today had been exhausting to the very core and everything he wanted to do was staying like this, hugging Hiko until they would go to sleep in their bed, not caring about the problems rising on the horizon and not thinking about marriage or living together. The week felt already like decades went by, all the years pressed into two days. Homicide investigations had this special effect on cops and Kakashi doubted he was the only one in the main office who felt like ages dawned upon him. Luckily he had Hiko.

“So bad?” she whispered into his ear, ruffling the smallest tresses in the back of his neck with her warm breath. “Are you tired?”

Kakashi nodded without moving much. His lips were pressed to her skin, her smell teased his nose and her body form laying in his arms was more than enough for the male to energize again. Slowly, like she would do from time to time when the shorty noticed something troubled him, her other free hand came to a rest on his back and rubbed in big circles, soothing and luring him to just close his eyes and sleep.

And then, the best thing in the situation happened. Hiko started to hum. Kakashi didn’t know why, but the low melody, vibrating through her figure and resonating in his own was an absolute killer for his awareness and he nearly drowsed off, only at the rims of his consciousness he noticed the slight changes in his environment.

Over the last months, Hiko became his refuge. Whenever the silver haired man felt too tired to face the world, whenever he felt like the surroundings got too loud to listen to them any longer, Hiko was there with open arms and a smile, not asking too much and only concerned for his well-being.

 

Wrong, he corrected himself, Hiko became his heaven, as cheesy as it sounded, however… It was true. He wanted to make this relationship work, more than anything in a long time, more than he had wanted to improve his marriage with Hanare. He never felt so secure and safe with another human being, never had he dropped his mask so easily around someone else. Even his ex-wife had needed a lot of persuasion and patience to get the ex-SFU to open up, but Hiko only waited, never asked for anything, only made sure Kakashi felt accepted, not caring about what he did in the past. Truth was, deep in the night, there were still ghosts of his past lurking in the depth of his mind and sometimes he would awake from a nightmare. Before the shorty, Kakashi would’ve gotten out of the bed and start to read or get some training done, but now he just drew her small frame closer to his own and went back to sleep. Because she was with him he could do it so easily.

Without her notice, Hiko had done so much for him. And Kakashi didn’t want to ever let go of her, despite the trust issues she still held. The pang in his heart at the mere possibility of being separated from his little Firefly only underlined his sappy feelings.

Hiko still rubbed his back when Kakashi forcefully tore his eyelids open, but her humming faded over the minutes he was out. Worried her glassed eyes raked over his figure, measured him from head to toe, smiled lightly at the swapped socks (one was red, the other was white), then she breathed a light kiss on his mouth. “Good now?”

Kakashi nodded slowly, still feeling the need to cradle her in his arms, but his stomach demanded some attention. Growling he screamed for food and the delicious scent in the living room wasn’t made to be ignored for long.

Another peck at his lips. “Great.” Again Hiko leaned to him, this time aiming for Kakashi’s beauty mark and she hit it, not caring about the weak blush forcing its way on his cheeks. “The food should still be hot, I left it in the oven.”

The shorty loved so unconditionally. Kakashi watched how she jumped to her feet, the thick glasses blinking in the light of the lamps, but unconsciously he reached out and grabbed her wrist just in time to stop her.

Hiko spun around, the locks swinging in the sharp motion. “Still not?” Worry flashed over her features, but he shook his head.

“Just wanted to say I love you.” he rasped, coughed and then tried again to make sure his words made sense for her. “I mean…”

“I understand.”

Her expression softened. Hiko was far from smiling, but the hint of a little upward movement was tugging at her lips as she removed his hand to squeeze it, her palm warm and comforting. “I understand, my love,” she repeated, “Maybe more than you think. I love you too Kakashi, please always remember that.”

“How could I forget?” he asked back.

The short lightning of guilt spreading in her eyes should have been a warning for Kakashi, however he chose to ignore it. He got too excited about the cat ears which Hiko really dragged out of a faraway corner and started to wear after dinner, meaning for him to latch himself on the little cat with the same enthusiasm he showed earlier while emptying his plate.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All the kudos and admiration to Miss-Fandoms-Shakespeare. I'm running out of praises, but I think my thankfulness for your corrections is still conveyed. :)


	43. Death is just around the corner

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The morning seems like every other morning, but the darkness brewing inside Konoha reaches out. Hiko gets a message, delivered with an unusual method.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just... sorry. I'm truly, deeply sorry.  
> Hopefully the chapter will make up for the lateness -.-'

Another morning. Another fight for Hiko to get Kakashi to wake up, but today she was softer in her attempts. Instead of nagging, she made coffee while the male still laid, face hidden in the pillows, in between the covers. Wordless, but with a grin when she noticed he watched out of the corner of his narrowed vision, Hiko placed it at the nightstand.

“Here, you lazy-ass.” she said and sipped at her own mug filled with hot chocolate (Kakashi gave her yesterday evening the list with Orochimaru's tips and she deeply appreciated them, even when it meant to swear off of coffee).

The darkness was still present outside, but she knew soon the short lived sun would illuminate the streets. While looking out of the bedside window, in her back Kakashi propped himself up and grumped in bliss when he sipped at the beverage.

“Thanks.”

“No problem.”

Comfortable silence. The woman didn’t feel like talking and he was still in the frail dizziness of sleep, so both suited the pause of conversation, only interrupted by the occasional slurp of liquid by one of them.

‘Since my resolution is made, I have to organize some things. There are safes I need to empty out, hiding spots to close, data to erase. But I can manage that much. Yesterday I already cleared some of the not so important stuff, but from now on I can fully embrace that chance to start a new life. A life without tRuthseekEr.’

“Hiko.”

“Yes?” The brunette turned to her boyfriend, her hands cupping the warm porcelain.

Kakashi scratched the back of his neck, then finished the coffee in one determined swoop. “Come back here for a moment.”

Lately, she noticed, the silver haired cop craved even more than before for physical contact. Not in the office, while they worked he was the perfect example of professional distance and Hiko wasn’t repelled by that. But in the moment he stepped over the doormat of her flat, Kakashi became a constantly seeking-for-body-heat addict, and she wasn’t repelled by that either. It was a welcomed change on her side and he didn’t seem to notice, so Hiko just shrugged and enjoyed.

Stepping closer, the shorty placed full of care her own mug beside the previously emptied at the nightstand and squealed as Kakashi suddenly yanked her forward into his waiting embrace.

“Got you.” His voice was utterly smug, almost smirking and Hiko snickered when his warm breath ghosted over her skin.

“Really?” She craned her neck to look into the face of the silver haired man and rolled her eyes. “Was that necessary?”

Kakashi creased his eyebrows in deep thinking, then he lightened up, obviously happy about the skinship they shared. “Yes. Yes it was.”

“Unbelievable.”

 

Nevertheless Hiko got soft and snuggled closer to the warmth he provided, until Kakashi gently lifted her chin up and pecked small butterfly-kisses on her lips, then every lingering touch lasted longer than the one before, until they properly mouthed each other. Slowly and like she had all the time in the world, Hiko roamed his mouth, trailing the outlines of his cavern just as well as his upper body, dragging her fingers over the wide chest and snickering whenever the male heaved unconsciously into their exchange. Deliciously crucially slow, only kissing because they could, because they were able to and forgetting about the time.

As Hiko withdrew, dazed and on cloud nine, she didn’t just left him. No, instead she kissed Kakashi once more, slinging her arms around his neck and ruffling through his messy hair. “Can we start every day like this?” she whispered after letting go, what he answered with a hoarse laugh and another tight hug.

“If you like.” he retorted, then climbed out of the bed. “I’m in the bathroom, okay?”

“Okay.”

The routine was like every other morning. But it changed drastically.

Like always Hiko was a bit earlier done with being clothed and rolled her eyes at Kakashi, who still fought with his pullover and coat. His legs were naked, despite the jeans in his hands and again on his feet were differently colored socks (black and green, for some reason). “You’re so neat, but clothing yourself becomes such a chaos.” She clicked her tongue, nestling all the while with her backpack and keys for her beetle and apartment.

Finally Kakashi stuck his head out of the belonging hole and grinned wholeheartedly at her, a bit ashamed, but with the curled eyes and the brunette melted at the cute sight. “Sorry,” he said, “but clothing seems to hate me when I try to get in…”

“Fine. I will go ahead and preheat the car.” She threw the flat keys toward him and didn’t need to see to know he caught it without breaking into a sweat. “See you in a few minutes!”

Closing the door and listening to the muffled curses of Kakashi, Hiko energetically made her way out of the apartment complex. It was still dark and the spot where she had to park yesterday was also badly illuminated, so she turned with a sigh her cellphone on and lit her way. In her engineer boots, the black coat and her trademark beanie, on her back the black bag, she strapped her headphones over her ears and selected a song. Walking became much more fun with a bit of music accompanying you on your way.

 

_Well, what is this, that I can't see?                                                  “Oh Death” – Amy Van Roekel_

_Both ice-cold hands taken hold of me_

_Well, I am death none can excel_

_I'll open the door to heaven or hell_

_Oh, Death, well, someone would pray_

_Could you wait to call me another day?_

_The children prayed, the preacher preached_

_Time and mercy is out of your reach_

 

Rather dark, but Hiko’s step was full of energy and life as she walked towards her beloved beetle, already thinking about work and planning how to cover up her tracks as tRuthseekEr. “Oh death… Won’t you spare me another year…”

Just as she murmured the line, Hiko was able to see her car fully. From this side it was alright, but when she got to the door leading to the driver's seat, she spotted a slouched figure leaning against her vehicle, legs outstretched on the ground.

            ‘Strange… It’s rather cold during the night…’

“Hello?” Slowly the shorty made her way over, preparing to perform some kind of medical treatment or something else. “Hello? Do you need help? Some food or-!”

The figure wasn’t sleeping.

It was a beautiful girl, slumped down on the ground. Her hair was in a lovely shade of green, slightly ruffled by the breeze of a harsh wind. Also her skin was flawless, almost the color of snow. Only her eyes, dull and lifeless weren’t fitting the body. But that wasn’t what Hiko let take a few steps back, then tumble to the ground and giving out pitiful attempts of high snapping gasps, eyes always set on the other female and scrambling backwards, crawling on her hands on knees.

Blood. Blood on the ground, blood on the car, blood on the body of the naked girl. Teasingly the red liquid dribbled down, pooling around the hands of the unknown girl, which were resting with the palms firmly set on the street and became stained in red. Hiko tried to force air into her lungs, but they didn’t want to. Just quit their work.

She could only stare at the corpse. There was no way she would be alive by now, with all the blood splayed around. Heaving Hiko pushed with heavily trembling fingers her glasses up, forcing herself to analyze the situation calm and without any interruption.

Why was a fucking corpse leaning against her car? Was it the same killer who placed his victim on purpose here or was it just a big fat coincidence? Why? Why? Why? Why?

Shaking her head, the shorty continued her crawl backwards, away from the dead body, but there were still details catching her attention, just like the time she saw the photos of Fuu Yamanaka. But this time it was real. No protection by the merciful illusion of knowing it was only an image.

The coppery scent of blood, lying over everything else. Next.

Organs, neatly stapled in the lap. Next.

Head hanging to the side like the one of a puppet, cut of all strings. Next.

The worst. Because Hiko knew what it was.

It was a sign. Only for her, only meant to be understood by her.

And she understood.

The scream finally tearing out of her mouth was loud enough to startle the homeless cats around here. “AAAAAAAH! HELP! HELP, PLEASE, SOMEONE!”

 

Then Kakashi was by her side, clutching firmly into her shoulders. “Hiko! What’s wrong!?” He needed to shout a few times more before he got through the curtain of sheer panic reigning inside and a powerful turn around, facing the worried male.

“What’s wrong!?”

Hiko shook her head, unable to say anything. He was in Konoha. He was back. And he knew where she was.

He knew. He knew. He knew, he knew, he _knew_.

Kakashi was out of his mind. Nothing was left of the previous gentleness he displayed in bed. With force he cupped her cheeks, making the shorty look up and into his eyes, the flu mask in place and scarf wrapped around his neck. “Tell me! Is it another panic attack? What is wrong?”

Her jaw was blocked. She couldn’t say anything. Her mind blank, stomach ice cold, legs numb and heart beating in horror fast like the hooves of a horse. Mindless she shook her head. This can’t be happening. This can’t be happening. This reality, this situation, it wasn’t real. Everything was just a bad dream, every moment she would wake up and lay in her warm cozy bed, in the arms of Kakashi, not here on the ground, screamed at by said man who’s voice broke now by the volume he used.

“This can’t be…”

“Hiko, please, god, tell me what’s wrong now! I can’t help you if you don’t tell me what disturbs you!”

“This isn’t real, this isn’t real, it’s just a bad dream…”

“Hiko! For heaven’s sake, talk to me!”

“I just want to wake up. I want to wake up from this. I only want-!”

 _Slap._ Her head flew to the side. First the brunette didn’t even register what happened, but then the pain started to burn on her cheek and mindless she raised her hand to her face. Touching the spot where Kakashi just slapped her.

He already apologized deeply. “Sorry Firefly, I’m so sorry for hitting you. Please, say something, just one word from you and I will not come near you again, but I had no other idea how to break you out of your frenzy, I’m sorry, _just please_ , say something…” Kakashi was also on his knees, his right hand carrying like he wanted to dispose it, the other entangled in her open hair.

Hiko swallowed the ball of bail in her throat. Right. Right. She wasn’t weak anymore. Fought long and hard to get rid of some of her countless flaws, to open her mouth and speak for herself.

Kabuto couldn’t command her anymore. Hiko wouldn’t take any commands from him.

“Th-there.” Struggling with her cramped up muscles, the shorty pointed at the corpse, averting the dead eyes by all possible means. Until now Kakashi didn’t seem to have concentrated on another thing beside her, so only now he got the full sight of the bloodied body leaning against her car. For some seconds he was silent. His body tensed up, then he cursed strongly.

She drowned the spits and insults out. In her mind fought two forces against each other. On one side, there were her instincts telling her to run away, to a faraway place and never come back to Konoha, to hide and sit out the danger she was in. On the other side were her responsibilities to her family, to her friends and Kakashi, her feelings binding Hiko to the town and the precious memories she made over the years. It was clear which side won, but it was close.

So fucking close.

“Please, Kakashi,” Hiko took her phone into her hands and raised it weakly to her boyfriend. Her fingers trembled and clutched around the device until he loosened her firm grip around it. “Call the KPD. We need the medical enforcements here. We have to encircle the area, search for traces or clues, you have to investigate her.” She gestured to the girl. “And I need to find out who she is.”

 

She was dead because of her. She died to deliver a message to Hiko, a pointless death just to execute a simple thought towards the brunette, who feared now for her live.

Kabuto knew where she was. He knew where she worked. He set his eyes on his prey, but gave her time to suffer in her own produced fear.

_1, 2, 3… I’m coming for you, baby~! You can’t hide from me!_

All of it converted into a single line, vertical and just lying above the hipbone. Five centimeter long, deep enough to draw blood. This poor girl was marked, maybe even forced to marked herself, just like Hiko did years ago. The almost invisible line started to burn and the woman unconsciously reached out and traced the spot where she inflicted harm on her hip, with shaky fingers and eyes set on the boy who she thought she would love forever.

Kakashi still was focused on the corpse. Nevertheless he answered, the voice steely. “Hiko, you don’t have to do this. You’re clearly in a turmoil, finding a corpse without the proper training to deal with it-!”

“But I want to.” she answered and dragged her unresponsive body into a standing position. It took a bit of effort to force her shaking knees to do their work, but somehow Hiko stood in the end. Once more she pushed her glasses upwards and turned her head to the silver haired man. “I need to do it. She’s my responsibility.”

And Kakashi didn’t protest anymore.

 

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

“Hey, was it really in front of her house?”

“Woah, creepy!”

“Kobayashi-san broke down? I feel sorry for her…”

“Again totally emptied, organs piled up in her lap-!”

Kakashi gritted his teeth. Naturally the young ones would gossip after such a spectacular discovery, but weren’t they able to do it outside of his hearing range? He shoot glares at Naruto, Kiba and Tenten, who somehow ended near his desk and blabbered about the incident, wildly gesturing on the blond and brunet boys part and weak glooming on the girl’s.

Kakashi felt a low growl rummaging through his chest when Kiba started another excited whisper about Hiko breaking down. “You know, I heard she even screamed loudly! Can you believe it, the harpy screaming like a girl?”

Just when he wanted to beat some manners into the dog-lover, Tenten stepped in. “Are you fucking serious?” she hissed and jabbed the ribcage of the boy. “You are talking about Kobayashi-san! Didn’t she help you with your PC-problem when you got some strange virus on your private laptop and you were so panicked you nearly cried? And now you’re making fun of her because she was acting like a woman, what she is by the way!?”

Kiba raised defensively his arms. “Oy, that wasn’t what I-!”

“And you,” Tenten turned to Naruto, who until now snickered at the tight spot his friend was in, “For one second think about your own reaction at your first crime scene! You nearly contaminated it with your puke and afterwards Kobayashi-san even build you up again, because she noticed the state you were in! That behavior is a shame for a comrade! You both should think about the things you said and apologize to her! Hell, she’s working right now, while you were useless after that!”

Calmed down a bit, Kakashi again went to examine the images of the dead body. But his mind was elsewhere.      

‘It was worse than yesterday. Yesterday she was still there with me, present in body and mind, but today… She wasn’t really with me. It was like she was totally out of her mind, gone to the wolves, snapped out. Her eyes were so… dull. Dead. Hiko didn’t even respond to my words, I had to hit her to make her come back to her senses!’

Guilt tightened his stomach into a tight ball and he curled around the clutching organ. Like an afterimage he still could feel the short stinging touch in his palm and see the moment he meet with more force than anyone should use her cheek. The terrible second where she only stared at him, not really processing what just happened. Still standing clear before his inner eye, the image tortured Kakashi with the slow realization dawning that he actually raised his hand and used it, even when it was meant to snap the shorty out of her daze. There surely had been another solution for the pinch, he just had to use his brain for once and think! But no, instead he went for the easiest way and hit his girlfriend!

 

Quickly Kakashi concentrated again on the crime scene. There was no point in running in circles. He went through the whole regret-loop yet for the fifth time since he entered the main office, accompanied by the next corpse and a silent Hiko, her eyes casted to the ground and not acknowledging any advance towards her. Nonetheless he caught himself watching his cellphone and PC for any message from her, waiting in anxiety and nervousness for a small sign she was mad or hated him now, but nothing came.

Somehow the silence was worse than screamed words directed at him.

“Hey.”

Kakashi looked up from the gory pictures and turned to Obito, who stood with two pots of coffee beside his desk. A forced grin was on the raven’s face as he raised one of them lightly, indicating it was especially brewed for him. “Seems like you need it bad.”

He took the beverage wordless and nodded only. His mood was fucking bad, not his crave for a coffee.

“Do you know how Hiko deals with this shitload?”

A shrug. Kakashi tried to focus on a picture of the whole scenery, but the only thing coming to his mind was how the blood contrasted against the red of Hiko’s beetle. Unnerved he slammed the picture down, making the mug jump and the coffee spill.

“So no idea.” said Obito and sipped at his own drink. “Or you just don’t care, what I don’t believe. So I deduce she doesn’t want to talk.”

“She… just sits at her desk and blindly stares at the monitor.” snarled Kakashi. “Itachi told me.”

“You’re worried.”

“Naturally. It’s my goddamn right.”

“And you’re angry she won’t tell you her problems.”

“She’s just stubborn.”

“Maybe that, but maybe there are also other things playing a role there.”

“What other things? I…” Harshly Kakashi returned to the reports and documents. “I hit her, okay? That’s why I’m worried.”

“You want to say…?”

“She panicked and was totally out of it. You weren’t present, Obito. Her body was there, but her mind was gone. She didn’t even realize it was me talking to her, she just blabbered things about that she wanted to wake up and such and I… panicked, I guess. The only thing that came to my mind was giving her a physical stimulus to set her again straight. Obviously it wasn’t my wisest decision.” he added in a grumble and angrily ordered the pictures anew.

Meanwhile Obito sipped at his cup, deeply entangled in his thoughts.

“I don’t believe it was entirely wrong what you did.” he said after a little while and startled the silver haired detective.

“What?”

The Uchiha shrugged. “You know, it was out of good intentions. You didn’t hit her because you were taking your anger out on her or another stupid reason. It was because you worried so much you panicked, right? So,” he pointed with a bright grin upwards, “if you explain it to her like this, I’m sure she will understand!”

From Kakashi’s point of view it seemed a bit too easy. Hiko could be extremely unforgiving if she wanted and hitting her was surely one of the things which would agitate her to the point of not talking to him for days. But it wasn’t only that. Kakashi had sworn to never raise his hand against someone else (except for criminals or in a sparring fight), so the other thing troubling him was his shaken up promise to himself. His father had taught him, his mother had taught him and that was how he failed them. By hitting the woman he loved with all of his heart.

 

However he just nodded at Obito’s optimistic comment. “Yeah. Sure.”

The Uchiha wasn’t convinced by his answer. But just when he wanted to continue his lecture, their phones vibrated almost simultaneously. Kakashi was faster than Obito and read the message before him. But the content stopped his breath for a moment as he read it again and again, just to make sure his eyes weren’t betraying him.

_Itachi: Both of you. Come down. Hiko scares the shit out of our youngsters with her behavior and I can’t reach her. I need help._

“Fuck. Itachi never asks for help when there’s no reason.” whispered Obito in his back. “The shit must burn down there.”

“Time to find out how much.” murmured the silver haired detective and pushed his body out of the chair. On the way down the entire office seemed to watch them. Stares followed the two males, Kakashi clutching his phone so hard the edges buried themselves deeply into his palms, nearly running out of the room, the loud raven on his heels. Not a word was needed when they started to sprint after leaving the main office and they only stopped as they reached the door leading to the IT-office. Silence reigned behind the barrier and hesitating Kakashi opened the door, not knowing what would await him.

The first thing springing into his vision was the clenched face of Itachi. Worry was an understatement to describe the expression the icy Uchiha wore, not even anxiety met the point. That he could wear such a fearful mask was a surprise for Kakashi. Then the two young officers entered his field of vision. Shino sat at his desk, but somehow his whole body was full of tension, unusual from the composed young man he was. Strangely Hinata wasn’t to be spotted, but her gentle voice flew over, coming from behind Hiko’s desk, which was also empty except for the running PC.

“C-calm down, please Hiko.” she just stuttered, raised her head shortly to see who entered and her lavender eyes blinked in hope as she realized it were two higher-ranked cops. Weakly, like she didn’t want the shorty to hear, she added: “Th-thank g-god you’re h-here, Hatake-san. I-I don’t know w-what to do anymore.”

The stutter was back. Hiko had told Kakashi (not without a hinge of pride swelling in her words) Hinata was more confident since she entered the IT and her stutter minimized over the time, but now she jammed the single syllables again, due to the anxiety connected to her brunette superior.

Kakashi pointed asking at the desk and Hinata nodded slowly. Behind him Obito started to talk to Itachi, fast and running through questions, but the silver haired man’s concentration was now set on the space below the work place, where Hiko must be. The girl made place for him and with a silent nod he thanked her, before he kneeled down and tried to break through the dimmer light under the desk.

The sight hurt him. Another panic attack, the heavy pants of his shorty telling him how deep the pinch was she was in again. Hurdled into the farthest corner of the hiding spot, her knees drawn to her chest like a little child seeking for security, the glasses settled beside her on the ground and face hidden in her palms. The small brunette rocked herself back and forth, mumbling incoherently into her clothes and Kakashi noticed there were small spots of dark liquid at the height of her knees. Blood from the crime scene.

 

Was that the reason she freaked out, seeing the signs of the death of another person on her clothes? Carefully Kakashi moved further under the desk, while his ears peaked up the ruffles and shuffling of feet dragged over carpet, then the office door closed silently. Obito and Itachi lead the present people outside, he assumed, then he concentrated on his girlfriend again.

He was now near enough to catch some of the whispered phrases and the words made goose bumps appear at his arms.

“…don’t know anymore… A reason? No, no… There was no reason, not random… She was _selected_. Just for that. A message, a message…”

He remembered the evening when Hiko was drunk and spilled her secret into his face clearly. It seemed now like ages ago, but the hasty way how the shorty spoke and mumbled was just like back then, no context and absolutely confusing. He couldn’t follow her and he felt helpless in the face of such… breaking.

Kakashi didn’t dare to touch her yet. Instead he announced his presence with a weak cough, his heart clenching when Hiko tried to scramble closer into the corner, away from him.

“Firefly? It’s me.”

No reaction. Encouraged by the nearly deafening silence, he continued to murmur, hoping he could do where the others failed. “I know it’s difficult right now. I know. Seeing a corpse like that, propped up against your own car, in your safe territory must be scary. I understand. I understand that very well. I also want to hurdle myself into solitude to forget the countless crime scenes I inspected, but I can’t do that. I have to keep going, I have to keep adding pressure to catch the one who did this. I have to make sure the streets become safe again. And I need your help. God, I can’t describe how much you helped me in the past days. I had no person I could go to in the SFU, even when I tried to open myself for Hanare, but she couldn’t steady me like you do. Hiko, my little Firefly, please. Let me help. Let me hold you, let me steady you, let me in. Let me see which ghosts haunt you.”

A crooked laugh, short and bitter. Then Hiko raised her head. “You say you understand?” she asked and sent a cold glare towards him, “You want to say you can understand me?”

Her icy tone was nothing he ever experienced from the brunette. Hiko wasn’t rude on purpose, she didn’t spit on a whim out in disgust nor refused comfort he offered. Kakashi paused, hand outstretched and maybe a few inches parting his fingers from touching the snarling _harpy_ , who had no intention of backing down from her high position.

“You understand nothing,” Hiko added with a hiss, poison dripping from her words, “No one can understand. None of you was ever a victim, none of you ever felt how true hopelessness swallows your mind. No one can understand how I feel right now, so stop telling pretentious lies and that everything is going to be fine! Nothing will be fine again, nothing will ever become right! This whole shitload of-!”

She stopped herself, wiped aggressively over her face. “This whole mess. My past just keeps getting in my way, tries to bite my ankles and drag me down to erase me from this world. No one will understand. No one.”

 

“I try to understand. I want to try, you just have to tell me what’s wrong with you.”

“Fine. Fine. Try to understand. Were you ever tied down, rendered motionless and muffled by a dirty cloth you used just yesterday to clean the sink? Were your arms broken just for the fun of it and were you beaten, just to see you cry? Do you ever felt so hopeless that you wished to just die, that the pain, the humiliation, the suffering was over, finally over? Did you ever had the wish to end your own life so much you tried to kill yourself because you couldn’t live with your own personality anymore? Were you raped countless times, taken into every hole and insulted in every second he was inside, told so many times how worthless you are and that you would always belong to him? Because only then,” she buried her face again in her knees, “only then you will be able to understand.”

The problem wasn’t the corpse she discovered. The problem was something more elementary, deeply chained to her consciousness and the homicide was only the trigger to pull everything back into the daylight. Kakashi felt how sickness grew in his stomach at the description of her torture and how hateful her words became under the influence of her dark memories of that time.

Kakashi slid closer. Thankfully she didn’t try to escape and as he placed carefully his hand on her shoulder, she didn’t even flinch under his touch. “You’re right, I haven’t experienced something similar.”

She snorted.

“However, I don’t want to see you suffer. Hiko, there are people who want to help you and who want to understand your problems. I really want to try and ease your mind, but you…” He sighed out. “Just… talk to me.”

“Oh, yeah. Talking about the rape. Sure thing.” Her tone was so annoyed, like his advance and offer to be there for her was only a joke. Agitated Kakashi growled loudly, unable to control the pent up stress any longer.

“Yeah. Talk about the rape with me, whenever you feel like it. I don’t force you, but you’re making it hard for me not to just grab and shake you.”

“Then just do it, I don’t care!” she hissed, eyes burning in suppressed rage. “I’m fucking done with all the shitload going on! Whenever something good happens to me, when did I suffer enough, when can I forget about all those years and start anew!?”

The moment the words left her mouth her eyes already grew wide, realizing what she just said. Kakashi masked his pain with nonchalance, but on the inside he struggled to actually believe Hiko just said what he thought she said. Slowly he nodded, nibbling on his lower lip and trying to find anything that wasn’t consisting of a snarl, hiss or growl.

 

“Sorry. Oh god, I’m sorry,” mumbled the brunette. “Kakashi, I didn’t mean to…”

“I got it.” he interrupted.

“No, you don’t! I’m sorry, I didn’t mean you. You’re… I’m just not myself… That’s not a good apology.”

“No, it isn’t.”

“Listen.” Unfolding her arms, the short female first attempted to say something, then clicked her tongue before she tried again. “I didn’t mean our relationship. This whole thing… You’re right, I… felt safe until now and realizing death is just around the corner… I-I don’t know. I just felt betrayed by life, I guess. Nothing of this is your fault and sorry, my god. I’m so sorry Kakashi.”

“I accept a lot of things, but I won’t let you trample over myself,” he said, “I’m done with such people.”

“I know. Really, please, believe me. Our… bond is the best thing I ever experienced in my life.” she murmured and moved closer. Kakashi didn’t say anything against her fingers, searching for contact and coming to a rest at his own hand. “I didn’t think about my words. My nerves are recently a wreck and I shouldn’t take my mood swings out on you, but I did. I don’t want to lose you. Please.”

A sob crawled out of her chest. Desperately her hand clawed into his own appendage, nearly hurting him in her attempt to seek comfort or salvation. “I-I can’t think straight lately. I thought by now everything was clear, that I was healed, but the resurfacing nightmares, the panic attacks, the whole mess with the murderer running on the loose… They took a toll on me. To be taught otherwise scares me. It scares me so much.” Hiko whispered. Now tears freely rolled down her cheeks and she sobbed more than clearly speaking. “I lo-love you. I’m sorry, Kakashi, p-please, do-don’t leave me. I’m a little b-bitch for letting i-it out on you. Please… I’m sorry, s-so sorry…”

“Don’t cry.” Kakashi returned the grip around his hand and entangled their fingers properly, then he wiped some of her tears away. Slight guilt came over his mind, but seeing and hearing Hiko apologizing was cooling the injuries her earlier careless words ripped. Her cheeks were hot underneath his fingertips and knuckles as he brushed them again and again over her face. “I forgive you. And I wouldn’t leave you over something like that, promise.”

“Really?”

“Really,” he assured her, “because you’re also the best person I encountered in my life until now. You only have some rough edges, like everyone. You are scared and troubled by your past, but it’s okay. You were able to oversee my many mistakes, so I should be able to do the same in return, huh?”

Her breath by now got stable again. Hiko didn’t heave or pant heavily nor she cried, but the wet droplets still ran down her features. Around her bare eyes were red circles and her nose was also tainted in red, a sight Kakashi didn’t wish to see. The shorty should be laughing and instead her mind held her emotions hostage, torturing her with every psychological trick possible.

“Can you forgive me for hitting you this morning?” he asked as Hiko kept silent for far too long his mind could bear.

Snuggling into the crook of his arm, the woman nodded. “There’s nothing to forgive. I was completely screwed and it wasn’t a pleasant sight, I know. The others had their fair share of the fun already. You know,” she actually chuckled, “Kisame was so panicked when I broke down he filled a bucket with water and emptied it above my head. So I appreciate the fact you didn’t went in search for a water supply and a bucket.”

 

Kakashi felt how the weight was lifted of his soul by hearing that. Cradling Hiko in his arms, he dared to bury his nose in her deep brown mane and tried to convert his feelings through his touch. He had the distant hunch it worked as she relaxed noticeable under his hands. “A bucket?” he echoed.

“A bucket.” she retorted quietly.

“And I thought I was uncouth.”

“Yeah. In comparison to him your method was far more pleasant.”

Kakashi shifted uncomfortable. “Could we… not talk about me hitting you?”

Hiko nodded while snuggling closer to his heat. “Sure. When you can forgive me for being such a bitch, then I will not mention your bitchslap.”

“Hiko.”

“Your manhandling?”

“Hiko…”

She sighed. “Fine. Just wanted to make a joke.”

“I’m not laughing.” murmured Kakashi back, then he groaned at the cramped position he was in. Due to his high position he had to bend his spine to almost impossible levels and now his bones started to protest against the treatment. Immediately the shorty glanced full of worry at him. “Are you alright?”

“Maa,” he wiggled slightly to find a better position, “it’s only my spine. Nothing to worry about.”

He felt the tension in her body even before she started to fuss over him, when it should be him fussing over the woman and nudging her like a mother hen. So the silver haired male decided to shut her up by pressing his masked mouth to hers, until she stopped her attempts to fight him off and even responded weakly to the advance, by melting even closer to his chest.

“Look, I would come down here every time ,” said Kakashi as they retreated from the kiss, “to ease your mind. Some pain is nothing compared to the knowledge you’re alright.”

Nevertheless he inwardly cried out in happiness as she scrambled out of the dark space, dragging him with her into the empty office. Only the PCs were running in silence, even Hiko’s. Interested Kakashi scanned the monitor and was surprised to see a fully grown file to the dead girl. The brunette must had stopped shortly before completing the task. He pointed at the generic picture of the green haired female, while Hiko wiped once more with the long sleeve of her tight sweatshirt over her eyes. “You found something? What was her name?”

“Kagero Fuma. 23 years old. Due to her earlier crimes, shoplifting and other shit I had no problems in finding her.”

A name. At least they had something. It was a pain in the ass to try to find the family or any relatives when there was not even a name to work with.

“Anything else?” Kakashi asked, eyes already trailing the letters and taking the collected intel faster in than Naruto could gobble down ramen.

Hiko sniveled one final time, then sat down at her desk and scrolled over the document, concentration reeking out of her small body. “Parents are deceased, but she has a younger cousin, living in Otogakure. A really small town near the borders of Yugakure. Not much contact, if I read the signs right. Nothing else. Maybe she has friends here, maybe even a lover somewhere around, but…” Clicking around in a maniac-like speed, Hiko opened another tab and zoomed into the social media life of the former alive girl. “It doesn’t seem like this either. No photos, no significant posts, nothing. Only the typical stuff.”

 

Kakashi leaned forward, placing his palms on top of the desk and inspecting the happy Kagero on a photo she had uploaded. In a white dress she had posed in front of a mirror, making a peace sign in a slightly messy room. He couldn’t tell if it was her last moment captured by a camera, but as his girlfriend didn’t scroll further down, it answered all his suspicions. “So that’s her last post.”

She nodded. “Two days ago. Then she vanished apparently. Seems like the murderer got her in the timespan in between.” Typing fastly, Hiko called another page into the spotlight.

It was a video of one of the countless security cameras hanging around in Konoha. This one showed the worn-down south of the city and the woman beside him circled a tiny person at the left corner on the bottom. “Hinata discovered this. There is our victim, walking down the alley. Then this happens…”

Resolutely Hiko tapped the spacebar.

The video started playing. Kagero walked down the dark street (seriously, does nobody cares about security issues anymore), checking something on her phone. Then everything happened really fast. As she reached nearly the end of the field of vision, a black van speed over, stopped so that Kakashi couldn’t see the girl and then again drove away. Kagero was nowhere to be seen.

“Is that the only camera angle we have? I can’t even make out the features of the man sitting at the wheel.” he asked.

“Unfortunately yes.” Grumpily Hiko typed an order and instantly the video rewind until the van was again in sight. Then she zoomed into the small window, where the blurry features of a human could be spotted, but not more. “No shot of the car plate, no details which would frame the search, nothing. Shino already tried to improve the quality to get at least a glimpse, but…”

Another photo of the same scene, this time noticeable sharper. Nonetheless the driver was too deep in the shadows to recognize anything and Kakashi lowered shortly his head, then nodded weakly. “Okay. But we have a clue. We know when she was caught and where. That’s a good start.”

“Don’t fucking kid me,” snorted Hiko, “We have almost nothing.”

He shrugged, then stretched until his joints popped. “More than I had sometimes with the SFU. Try to identify a body without a head which rested for a few years in the depths of the lake. We had only rotten flesh to work with.” Satisfied the stiffness inside his body was eased, Kakashi turned his attention again to Hiko. The shorty stared a bit baffled at him, a fact that let his shaken-up pride swell a bit at the impressed light shining out of her glassed eyes. “And did you solve the crime? Catched the murderer and threw him into prison?”

“That, my little Firefly,” Kakashi drew her out of her chair into another hug, carefully cradling her frame until he felt how she slung her own short arms around his waist and returned the embrace, “I can’t tell you. In the end SFU-members should keep their mouths shut about the cases they worked on.”

“A Yes or No is enough for me.”

“…” Kakashi grunted. “Yes.”

Hiko snickered dryly. “See, wasn’t too hard. You damn handsome super-detective.” Suddenly her fingers were on his cheek, while her other hand was still resting at his smaller back. She removed the white mask, let the straps snap loudly in the silence, then her hand returned to the side of his face, gingerly spreading and handling his features like a delicate treasure. The index finger moved lightly, stroking over the ends of the scar crossing his eye, then trailing the bone underneath his skin just as light as a feather. All the while Hiko spotted a tiny smile, nothing more than a tug at her lips. Her ice blue pools raked over his facial features, intently taking every little detail in, so it seemed to Kakashi.

 

No one said anything for a while. They filled the silence with gentle ministrations, Hiko letting her fingers wander over his face and the silver haired cop playing with some brown tresses in the back of her neck, twirling them around his fingers and tugging tenderly at the locks. He knew there was an extremely sensitive spot of skin there, hidden and only known to him, so Kakashi brushed over the area and felt better when she let out a little sweet moan at the touch.

But all good things had to come to an end. This bubble was destroyed by Obito, who just plunged into the bureau without knocking, so the silver haired cop had to fastly cover up his face before his friend would caught a gist of it. While he nestled awkwardly with the white rough fabric, the loud Uchiha already started to bury the brunette in worried questions and numerous bear-hugs, what she bore with a stoic expression.

            ‘Goddamn. You have the worst timing of all people I know, Obito.

“I’m fine.” said Hiko just now and averted the outstretched arms. “Thanks for coming for me by the way, I appreciate it.”

Obito laughed out loud. “My god, you’re acting like I’m a stranger! It’s me, your brother and best friend, Obito Orange from the Power Rangers Squad! Not to forget about Itachi Red and Kisame Blue and your perverted boyfriend Kakashi…” Slightly confused the Uchiha cocked his head, “Uhm… Which color do you prefer?”

“Black.”

“Well, and Kakashi Black -what sounds when I think about it like a lame super villain- are one family, you harpy! Naturally I would come running if there’s a problem!”

Kakashi watched Hiko closely the next minutes, how she gave tired smiles to everyone present, apologized to the youngsters that she scared them with her outbreak, watched how Hinata and Shino accepted the bow with just as much relief as Itachi, who had crossed his arms and leaned against the doorframe, the low ponytail falling over his shoulder.

However, as Hiko excused herself and started to collect her things, worry already started to pile up. He also saw the tremble of her bottom lip, the little twitch around her eyes, the tiny tremor shaking her hands while she fiddled with her backpack and Kakashi stepped towards her when she shouldered her bag.

“You will go home?” he murmured, making sure nobody else catched the words.

“Yeah.” Still the tired smile was plastered on her face. “I don’t think I’m able to work anymore today. I already can feel the exhaustion creeping through me like a disease. Nevertheless I will try to get some things done while I’m at home.”

“Don’t overwork yourself. Your health is more important than this.”

Hiko chuckled dryly and shook her head. “Ooh, Kakashi,” she leaned upwards and kissed him again through the mask, “I know. But if I don’t give my best for the sake of the KPD, what kind of person makes that out of me? Don’t worry, I will rest properly, even while I’m doing my tasks.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for Miss-Fandoms-Shakespeare for proofreading. You're a savior, at least for me ;)


	44. Communication would solve a lot of problems

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> All in all, Kakashi would never dare to harbor any distrust in Hiko, but when she shows a few small unusual habits, he can't help himself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I didn't realize, but "Find the Right One" became last week one year old! Oh my god, I never would've thought the chapters would last for a year.  
> I want to thank everyone who follows this story, who commented or left a kudo, even the ones who did neither of this and just wait patiently in front of their PCs for a new chapter (if there are people like that, after all I can't believe some can like Find the Right One that much). Without you, dear readers, I surely would've lost some of my passion for this story, but I'm still kicking the bucket and write on my "little baby" whenever I have time.  
> One year! Sorry, I'm still a bit surprised that much time passed... o.O
> 
> And foremost a very big thank you to Miss-Fandoms-Shakespeare. You're an incredible person to proofread the chapters and you can't know how thankful and baffled I still am someone wanted to proofread over my story. Seriously, thank you very much. :)

The moment Hiko stepped through her door, she collapsed. Not out of exhaustion or due to her earlier panic attack. No, she simply had no more strength in her entire body left. Her breath rolled like thunder through the entrance area, while her hands shook with the same force of Naruto, who ran in his lunch break towards Ichiraku’s. The night she hadn’t slept at all, even when Kakashi was lying next to her and had closed his eyes so peacefully. Sometime, when the coast was safe, she stood up and did research.

On Fuu.

On Danzo.

On the incident in the town hall.

On the various companies she hacked.

Something irked Hiko to the point of becoming an irritating itching spot in the back of her mind, and no matter how she stretched and bend to scratch the point, she couldn’t reach it. There was something brewing in Konoha. To quote one of her favorite movies: There’s a storm coming, Mister Wayne. And Hiko knew it wouldn’t be an ordinary storm, easy to find cover for. It would be like a hurricane, erasing whole landscapes and human lives like it was nothing.

And now, when the first dark clouds drifted upon the sky, Hiko had no proof to show to her colleagues. She had nothing, except for her own blurry memory and the knowledge they hunted someone who was able at the age of 17 to vanish from every map like a ghost.

“Come on…” Hiko bumped her head back into the wood of the door. “Get yourself together. It’s just like Kakashi said. You have a clue what is going on here. Didn’t you want it like this in all those years of hacking, a chance to find Kabuto and make him pay what he has done to you? Now you got what you asked for. Use it wisely. Come on. Come on, stand up. You have things to do.”

Breathing in, breathing out. Concentrated Hiko blew the cold air out and inhaled the oxygen through her nose, then nodded, assuring herself and steadying her mind at the same time. Her efforts to become one of the best hackers around would be destroyed when she would let her fears and anxiety take over. That was her whole reason of being tRuthseekEr. That was all she ever hoped for. A clue, the tiniest of possible traces to sniff on and trail after Kabuto. The panic attacks and waves of fear crashing into her unstable mind were nothing but pebbles in her way and she would crush them with every step she followed the murderer.

 

“Yeah, you stupid asshole,” she growled out and forced herself up, “you send me your challenge. And I will fucking accept it. Bring it on, you bitch.”

Hiko wasn’t the weak girl from eleven years ago anymore. She changed radically. And Kabuto hadn’t seen the last of her. Sure, he caught her cold with the corpse and his unusual style of converting his sick intention, but Kakashi helped her overcome the shock. Not only the silver haired cop, but also Obito, Itachi, Kisame, Hinata, Shino… The whole office. She wasn’t alone in this. She had her friends at her side, the ones who loved her unconditionally and without a second thought, the ones who knew her like the back of their hands and the ones who wouldn’t abandon her even in the midst of the storm brewing on the horizon.

The wound on the hip… Hiko was sure, Kabuto forced Kagero to do it herself. There was no way he would’ve done it, when she considered the birth of his fascination…

 

_Confused Hiko covered her naked body with the blanket. “You want me to cut myself?”_

_Kabuto nodded. In his right hand blinked a dull knife, but unconsciously she shifted backwards, away from the silver blade. “Not threatening, baby. Just a shallow cut at your hip. Nothing more.”_

_“Are you sure? I don’t think I’m-!”_

_“Listen.”_

_The command whistled in her ears. He wanted her to shut up, so Hiko stopped protesting. Kabuto was the one. He loved her. So she had to listen to him._

_The younger male crawled like an animal over her, so Hiko made space for him. Then they were face to face and his breath ghosted over her nose and wet lips as he spoke again. “Baby, it’s just another thing to make sex interesting. I wouldn’t do this with another girl, you’re the one I want to try this with. I… I would be too scared to trust another one so much to ask for handling the knife, but you…” The hand with the knife between the fingers moved and his knuckles stroked over her cheekbone. Hiko felt the tip of the tool scratching oh so lightly over her temple, reminding her of the sharpness. “You’re mine. Remember? You’re mine, I told you the moment we got together. I told you so many times that you belong to me. Now prove your love. Prove it to me that I can believe you.”_

_He never proclaimed his love for the shorty. He never once said “I love you”. Hiko said it so many times Kabuto was surely sick of it, but she kept pressing the words upon him. The only thing she had to do was cutting herself, right? It wasn’t much in comparison to her feelings. Just a little blood, so he could lick it away._

_It was a simple wish and how cruel would it be to decline his question?_

_“Yes. I will do it.” whispered Hiko and grabbed the knife. Staring into his eyes, she leaded the blade to her soft flesh, winced when the pain started to flash through her body, but she kept going, knowing it was a proof of her love. “I love you, Kabuto.”_

_“I know.” Smiling he crawled downwards and started to suck at the freshly drawn wound, while Hiko closed her eyes and tried to enjoy the short flicks of his tongue, sweeping over her hip and the slightly puckering wound._

 

Unconsciously her hand wandered to the place where she had cut herself for the very first time, not to feel something else than the numbing panic and fear, but to pleasure someone else and not receiving anything in return. She should have noticed he was a psychopath. But the short brunette had learned now it wasn’t about only making the other satisfied while having sex. It was about gifting the other and receiving the same in return. A play between two equal forces, standing at the same level. Kakashi had shown her much more than Kabuto ever did and she was grateful that there was someone who had understood and cared.

Still cared.

“I have things to do.” Hiko ordered. Her voice echoed in the empty flat. With enough anger to hurt, she hit her shaking legs until the unnerving tremble stopped, thus she didn’t feel the pain coming from her hits. The only thing counting was the target she chased after. Triumphantly Hiko grinned, a wild feral kind of grin. “See? You can do it. Now get your ass off the couch, there’s a fucker to catch.”

She shouldered her backpack and exited the apartment again, still sometimes searching for support on the walls, but step by step, the shorty gained more of her mobility back, until she was able to raise her head again.

 

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

Two corpses by now. Sighing inwardly Kakashi watched how the pink haired student of Orochimaru uncovered the body of Kagero Fuma, resting in faked peace on the metallic table of the medical apartment. While being alive, she was a real beauty, he admitted to himself. Slender, soft curves and with delicate face features, Kagero easily could have worked as a model. But according to Hiko’s research, she took a whole different road. Shoplifting, cannabis misuse, underage smoking. Little things, slowly piling up until they reached the summit and ended in a short imprisonment of the girl. Explained the file in the criminal records.

“So, Sakura… What can you tell me about her?” Kakashi gestured towards the second corpse, ignoring the silent raven head in his back. Sasuke insisted on coming along with him, if now out of the need to learn more or the desire to be near Sakura, his girlfriend (Kakashi was mildly surprised the pink woman was able to get through the thick demeanor of the little ice prince, but shrugged it off).

She jumped on the chance to show off in front of her crush. “The victim is a female in her early twenties. She was found at exactly 7:34 a.m., the estimated time of death is right now around 3 in the morning. There are parallels to the first homicide of Fuu Yamanaka and Orochimaru-san officially connected the two cases to each other. The same person has killed those two people.”

“Anything found at Hi- Kobayashis car?”

The happy glint in the sea green eyes faded. “No. Only the blood of Fuma. No fingerprints, neither on the car or the corpse, but…”

“The cut at the hip.” said Kakashi before Sakura could point it out for him. “The card of the killer.”

But to his surprise Sakura waved her finger dismissively at him. “Not only that. First, she cut herself and Fuu did too. Together with Orochimaru-san I checked the injury further and we came to the conclusion the victims hurt themselves. The angle of the depth and line management indicate that. And underneath all those layers of blood was something else hidden. At her shoulder, to be precise.” She stepped closer to the empty corpse and forced the other officers to take also a closer look. Her gloved hands pointed at a blueish mark, placed directly at the juncture of the shoulder, surrounded by a deep bite mark. No blood oozed out of the breaks of skin, but it must have happened while the victim was still alive, otherwise no hematoma would have surfaced.

“A hickey.” stated Sasuke emotionless.

“Right. But that makes the case not easier, only if the bite marks are filed somewhere. Are they?”

“Unfortunately not.” With a heavy sigh Sakura covered Kagero and turned afterwards her attention again to the detective and his protégé. “But you’re right, it’s a hickey. Which indicates a sexual part of the crimes, but no sperm was found on her, only the hickey.”

Kakashi ruffled the back of his neck. Since he crawled under the table and held Hiko, a nasty sting resided there and wouldn’t fade, no matter how much he massaged it. “When I think about the killer, it can mean he left another hint for us. But he didn’t became careless and left DNA.”

“He has experience. He didn’t kill for the first time.” Sasuke looked first at Sakura, then at his teacher. “Maybe there are other cases where he left the same kind of marks on corpses.”

 

“Exactly. Take Naruto and call the police departments all over the country. Ask for any file that involves strange homicides spotting the exact same criteria. They have to send it to us. Afterwards we will go through our own archives. Maybe the killer was active before.” With a wary sigh and the urge to drink a whole can of coffee, Kakashi nodded his thanks at the medical examiner in training, then exited the laboratory, Sasuke quickly following on his heels.

The last thing he expected from the youngest Uchiha was to start a conversation, so it was a shock to suddenly hear a hesitantly concerned question.

“Is Kobayashi-san alright? I mean, after she found the corpse and all that.”

He blinked confused. “More or less. She went home after… some difficulties.”

“Her reports are a big help.”

“Yeah.”

“Do you know why she entered the KPD and not some other force?”

That startled the detective. “She once said to be near her brothers, your cousin and Itachi. Why you’re asking?”

Sasuke shrugged. “My brother mentioned once she was quite popular after she finished her exams on top of the students. Someone with top abilities, with marks exceeding everyone’s expectations and her drive all villages around including the Special Forces gave her job offers. I was just wondering why she would come to Konohagakure when she could have went to Kiri to the special forces.”

Kakashi was near to choking. Kirigakure? The Special Forces Unit of Kirigakure was the best on the continent, only Konohagakure had a similar one. But nevertheless Kiri topped the scores of his own previous employer with a rate of 90% solved crimes. Kakashi in his younger years had been already euphoric about the offer from his hometown, but an offer from Kiri probably would have broken his usual behavior and left him jumping and screaming in happiness. It was unspeakable to decline a job offer from such a famous troop.

However, Hiko did.

The prominent question in his mind was: Why?

Sasuke watched his superior with the familiar emotionless eyes. “I assume you didn’t know about her success.”

“…No.” he managed to bring out. “We don’t talk much about our education.”

Probably they should. At one hand Kakashi was flabbergasted at the possibility that his girlfriend, who always seemed like she didn’t care at all about reputation or status had been so glorious in her exams that she easily overtook the silver haired detective, at the other hand he was a bit miffed by the same fact. And didn’t Hiko play the fact even down? There were countless occasions she praised him and he complimented her in return, where she waved the compliment away with a casual: “Naah, I’m not great.” Or “It’s nothing special.”

 

“You can start.” he said to his student when they reached the main office again. Shortly Kakashi let his eyes wander over the whiteboard with the second image of another emptied corpse. “I have something else to do beforehand.”

Thankfully Sasuke only nodded and threw himself into the work and didn’t ask about the detective’s self-given task. Kakashi needed to know more about Hiko; his old SFU mentality breaking through. And he needed to know now.

He rapped eagerly at the chief’s door, waited until the grumped “Come in.” resounded through the wood and stepped in.

Nagato stood, the arms crossed above his chest and with a serious expression on his stern face behind his desk. He was concentrated at the monitor of his PC, while he fiddled with a pencil he held, but as Kakashi closed the door behind him, the intense purple eyes shifted over. “Yes Hatake? What’s the matter today?”

The chief sounded stressed. No surprise, with all the conferences regarding the killer running around in Konoha and the second corpse, found in the close proximity of the flat of two police officers. Still Nagato managed thanks to his right-hand Ebisu as many interviews, conferences and journalists as he could and for that inhumanly act Kakashi payed him deep respect. So he quickly uttered his selfish request. “Could I take a look into the personal files of Kobayashi-san?”

His superior raised both eyebrows in mild interest. “What?”

The detective sighed out and explained his reasoning, but before he reached the end of his stammered explanation, Nagato raised one hand to stop the rambling. “I understood well enough the first time. But I’m not sure if you understand yourself what are you going to do.”

Kakashi wanted to interrupt, but the redhead clicked his tongue. A short warning. “The problem is they aren’t here. Kobayashi-san persuaded me to give them to her. You’re not the first one who asked to take a look inside, so she begged me to give all her personal information into her own hands as soon as she knew about that fact. And I agree with her that such sensitive information shouldn’t be accessed by everyone around, when I consider her past. So I agreed to her request.”

The personal file of a police officer contained almost everything, from the exams of their academy times, the annual physical tests and partly, if there was a good reason, reports about anything that could hinder the officer from performing his job properly. And in Hiko’s case, it would be definitely the rape and week of torture, the suicide-attempt and the long recovery time. No wonder she wanted to be sure nobody could read it without her consent.

Immediately a huge spark of guilt spread in Kakashi. He wouldn’t like Hiko to sniff around in his past. To see her watching his thick file of missions he had to do in the SFU… It weren’t only the usual police tasks in there, also bodyguard missions, seduction, information gathering through spy activity and exactly seven assassinations. He had killed people, not only in the heat of a fight, but cold blooded and without mercy. The knowledge that his targets had been criminals of the highest level and were extremely dangerous only eased a small part of his mind, whenever Kakashi remembered the deaths of the men he caused.

 

He lowered his head to Nagato. “I believe now I understand. Thanks for hearing me out chief.”

The redhead nodded slowly. “May I ask how her condition is? I heard from Uchiha she went home for today too.”

Kakashi answered evasive, not knowing if he should reveal what he knew to his superior. “Today has been a rough day for her, but she finished her work and promised me to get some other things done while working at home.”

            ‘Even when I said not to overwork herself. Stubborn mule.’

“And the second corpse? Kagero Fuma was the name, if I recall correctly.”

“We have footage she was kidnapped two days ago, meaning at the same day where the first corpse appeared. The killer works incredible fast and seems to have some help from some underlings. The same signs as on the first body, the cut at the hip was apparently self-inflicted and no fingerprints. I’m sorry for not having any other results. Currently we are still searching for a main culprit and the witness tRuthseekEr, but he vanished into thin air, so it seems.”

“That aren’t really good news.” sighed Nagato. Kakashi felt guilty for not being really into his job lately, with all the things Hiko went through, so he swore to be more serious from now on. Even when the brunette occupied most of his thoughts, he had to catch a criminal and she would surely understand his predicament. Nevertheless he wanted nothing more than the end of her emotional rollercoaster, not for him and his state, but for Hiko’s sake. So one of the things he actually could do was making sure no one else was killed anymore.

“I’m sorry.” he repeated and lowered his head once again.

Nagato grunted only and gestured him to leave the bureau. Kakashi followed the suggestion more than willingly and retreated, feeling how his brain concentrated now fully on the clues, traces and reports he had to go through, ready to make connections and draw lines between the victims.

He entered the familiar SFU-mode: sharp, logical and not to be stopped until the criminal was in prison. Only sometimes his mind drifted to the brunette and how she would deal with the happenings around her, but Kakashi forced himself to focus.

He did this for Hiko.

 

(…)

 

“Hiko?”

Kakashi knocked again, waited and cursed inwardly when the flat stayed silent. Why wasn’t she in her apartment? Like a lovesick fool he stood now since five minutes right in front of her door and rapped his knuckles against the solid barrier, provided by her door, but apparently she wasn’t in her flat.

Why?

The question flew through his head like an annoying fly, buzzing and making an unnerving low sound. Kakashi gritted his teeth, before he counted to ten and turned to his own home. He tried to remember the last time he was in his own flat. A few days? A week? Two weeks? He couldn’t recap the timespan. It almost didn’t feel like his territory anymore as he stepped into the cold room, hastily discarding shoes and coat and after a second thought also his flu mask. If Hiko had been home, the silver haired man hadn’t hesitated. He just had dropped the layer on the drawer right beside the door and that would be it.

Kakashi tugged his phone out, ripping at the fabric of his coat due to his irritation at the whole situation. No message.

Why?

Hiko wasn’t like that. She left handwritten notes whenever she went out and Kakashi was asleep in her flat, or texted him to let him know where she was and where she would go. The shorty was in this regard always on the safe side and would never break that resolution. Her past taught her never to keep a secret where she would go and her job only doubled the precaution and awareness of the female. So why didn’t she do this today too?

“Fuck.” It felt good to curse loud. His stern voice echoed around in the living room, was thrown back by the plain white walls (hers were far more colorful and made her place comforting his nerves) and resounded almost in a mocking way in his ears.

He didn’t want to be the overly jealous boyfriend. He didn’t want to bury her in worried text messages nor call her thousands of times, just because he wouldn’t like such a behavior in return at all. But Kakashi was tempted, so very tempted to just press the green button while he stared intently at Hiko’s saved number, swaying between the two options he had. A crazy mix consisting of the need to know where she went, the stress piled up during his work and the irritation of not knowing where his girlfriend up was drove him nearly up the walls (not literally).

To call or not to call. Unsecure Kakashi laid his thumb on the key which would connect his phone to hers, then retreated, again intimidated by the possibilities probably awaiting him. He went through such a scenario once and though the silver haired man didn’t believe Hiko out of all people would cheat on him, the shadows of his past raised their heads, howling and cheering at the newfound insecurity.

 

_Kakashi glanced again at his phone and sighed aspirated. Hanare should have been out of the building an hour ago, but here he was: on the cold parking lot of the official SFU building, leaning against a street lamp and shivering in his thin jacket, while the sky opened his gates and send a drizzle upon him, soaking his clothes effectively._

_For once he wanted to make things better than usual and dropped off early from work, but now it was his wife who was missing from their married life. The silver haired man looked once more at the bright screen, groaned inwardly at the late hour and shook with an angry motion the water out of his hair. More and more the irritation build up and he felt a bitter slump of bile choking him to the point where he had to literally spit out to get the disgusting taste out of his mouth._

_A warning bell rang in his head and it wouldn’t shut up, no matter what he did. Unconsciously he understood what was going on, but his consciousness declined to accept the truth. So he made his way inside the SFU-building, brushed past the lonely reception desk, waited full of nervousness in the elevator to reach the right level and exited the metallic trap silently, making no noise or whatever to approach the bureau of the cold beauty. But a muffled groan stopped the male on his track, a sound he knew all too well. Kakashi had drawn the same sound out. Hanare gasped like that, but only when she was near to reach an orgasm. Another gasp, then:_

_“Yes. Yes, right there, don’t stop…” Hanare. That was Hanare’s voice, pleading and at the same time commanding. To Kakashi’s shock it didn’t came from her compartment, instead he followed the soft thumps and the growing louder hisses of pleasure to his own cramped room._

_The door was slightly open. A tiny ray of light broke the darkness around him as he peeked through, already knowing what he would see. However, the silver haired man needed to actually realize it was the harsh reality, not something his active and paranoid brain made up out of thin air._

_His wife cheated on him. On his desk, the files and different reports hastily thrown to the ground, a messy chaos, in which the woman he offered his heart once clawed into the wide back of another SFU-member, leaving red marks on the unhealthy pale skin. With every thrust of the other man’s hips Kakashi flinched, with every breathless moan she let out his heart broke more into tiny scraps, hearing the grunts and slaps of skin meeting skin made him sick._

_A flash of pain, strong and not subduing resided in his left arm, neck and jaw. He didn’t understand why, shouldn’t be his heart the most aching spot of his body right now? But his body did what it wanted, torturing, crucially burning and only growing stronger._

_Sure, their marriage wasn’t the happiest out there, Kakashi realized it some time ago. That was the reason he had tried to make things better, even when he still got late home, even when he stayed away over the weekend to learn more, train more, get stronger. He had tried to listen more to Hanare, tried to come earlier to their shared home, tried things which were out of his reach and were difficult for him and his ruminative personality._

_He never thought she would cheat on him. He never believed for one second she would betray him. Kakashi expected screaming, another fight, trashed doors and hastily packed bags, but not something like this. Hanare fucking another man._

_Silently he retreated from the cruel sight and turned away, directing his steps to the exit of the dark room. Even from the door his sensitive ears could catch hushed syllables and the getting louder thumping of the desk. Kakashi didn’t find the strength now to make a scene or confront the two fuck-bunnies in his bureau. In defeat his shoulders sank down, drained from all will to fix anything or make this bond breathe back to life when all it was since a few weeks was a ventilated corpse, without a hunch of brain activity. All he wanted now was to feel the cool rain against his skin while he would walk home, being comforted by the steady drops on the asphalt._

_He and Hanare would talk later._

 

Hiko displayed the exact same signs Hanare had before he discovered the affair. Maybe not the exact same, but familiar enough for Kakashi to feel extremely uncomfortable. He checked his phone once more, while changing into sweatpants and a KPD-shirt.

Finally. A jitter resided in his stomach as he opened the text, hauling the pullover over his shoulders he wore today to fight the persistent cold.

_Hiko: If you’re home yet, I’m out to buy some things. If not, then this message will destroy itself in ten seconds. ;)_

A smiley was good. Right? Automatically Kakashi scanned her little text for any irregularities, for anything what would indicate a different reason than the groceries which let Hiko go out tonight, but he couldn’t find anything. Calmed, but not entirely eased Kakashi continued to get into his home-attire and when he was finished he discovered something he never saw before in this flat.

It wasn’t like he didn’t have a laptop in his home. Kakashi was one of these people who went along with the faster going technicization, but weren’t on the latest ground. In comparison Hiko was well informed, extremely interested and always down to buy new components for her PC to make him even more durable, faster or stronger. Every month she visited the electronic market of her trust, even when he was located on the other side of town to look or buy new wires, add-ons or other things he had no clue about, but the female was every time so excited to blabber about the new parts Kakashi just listened and smiled from time to time when he saw her childish enthusiasm. But the laptop on the coffee table, in a shiny black and looking like he was never touched before, he had never seen, whether in his hands nor in Hiko’s.

But it must be hers. No other person had keys to his flat and a thief wouldn’t leave something behind. Kakashi stared full of suspicion at the device, resting at his furniture like it belonged there, but somehow for him it felt like a foreign object suddenly entered his flat and tried to settle in. It didn’t belong here. And he struggled to accept the laptop. Kakashi’s instincts, calmed down by Hiko’s message, roared back to life and rattled on their cells, screaming and howling about betrayal.

_‘Why would she need a laptop, huh? She has already one big fat computer, why would she need a laptop?’_

‘It’s just a laptop. Nothing to worry about.’

_‘And why she suddenly gets one? Maybe she had him even before and hid him from you!’_

‘And even when it would be like this? I have no reason to believe just based on the existence of another PC Hiko cheats on me. That’s bullshit.’

_‘Yeah right. For Hanare was it the changed hairstyle, so why shouldn’t it be for Hiko a new device? I know that irregularities in behavior are bad, I know that sudden changes usually not indicate a good sign. I have seen too much murders were the killers acted like that.’_

‘She isn’t a murderer!’

_‘She could kill you and your stupid heart.’_

Kakashi exhaled loudly. His eyes were still fixed on the black metallic center of his insecurities and in his fingers tingled the need to know what she did maybe hours ago. But then he shook his head.

Checking on her laptop? He acted like an overly possessive boyfriend and he had no right to cage her in his demands. Then she brought herself a laptop without his notice, so what? Nothing to worry. Hiko was that kind of person.

 

His phone vibrated at his upper leg and mindless he took the call while still staring at the foreign object of his troubles. “Yes?”

In the background he could hear the noises of people talking and the faint breaths of the one who called him.

“It’s me,” Hiko murmured, “Just wanted to ask what you would think about take-out today.” Her voice was low and hasty, but she always talked like that when she had to phone somebody in the proximity of strangers.

Kakashi turned away from the laptop and buried his free hand in the pocket of his sweatpants. “Delicious hot food which is delivered directly into my hands. I don’t see anything wrong with that.”

“Good.” A shuffle and the rustling of plastic bags. “Because the bus is taking extremely long, I will be home in half an hour or so, if the driver decides to move even slower. After such an adventurous experience I don’t really have the nerve to cook.” she groaned annoyed and he chuckled at her not-so-whispered complain.

“Aah, right… Your car was taken in. You should have called me, I would’ve picked you up.”

“A rendezvous with you, me and half a dozen of tightly filled bags on your slender Yamaha? Yeah sure.”

“She isn’t slender. She can endure and bring us from Point A to Point B without any troubles. Where are you now?”

Hiko sighed loudly. “Downtown, you know the part where everything’s seems to be so dirty you don’t want to take a single step outside.”

Unconsciously Kakashi’s mouth lifted into a smile as he heard her cheeky description. No, she acted like all the time, made jokes, teased him about his trusty Yamaha, laughed. “Why you went downtown? The next supermarket is just around the corner.” he asked, hoping the longer the conversation went on, the more the bad suspicion inside him would fade.

Silence. The pause stretched far too long for his taste. The confusion and worry surfaced again, so the silver haired man started to pace through his living room, ruffling over the back of his neck and disheveling the hairs there.

“I… Uhm…” Hiko stammered, “I… I don’t know, I just… felt like… There’s this special shop in the north with the ingredients I needed. Badly. I have also brought lamb, I’m going to cook it tomorrow and for the recipe I thought of I need star aniseed and the shop I speak about sells the best in Konoha, so I went there.”

“Star aniseed.”

“Y-yeah.”

Hiko was nervous. So nervous in fact, she stuttered and spoke without a break between the single words and faster than light itself. Not a good sign. Not at all.

Kakashi swallowed the questions swirling through his head and nodded, even when she couldn’t see the gesture. “Okay. Text or call me when you’re three stations from the one you have to get off, I’m coming and helping with the bags.”

“Thank you, my love.”

Did she hide a secret? Did she not? He couldn’t decide on one side, his feelings for the shorty deflected any assumption his precaution and wariness born out of his past threw at the border between the two fractions. Hiko sounded earnest and sincere, thankful and overthrown by his offer. Was that the voice of someone who lied into his face with every word and every syllable?

“Kakashi…”

Inwardly he tumbled over her whisper. Surely she spoke on purpose so weak, to prevent any man or woman from listening to the things which would follow the hushed mumble of his name. Clearly the last time the brunette sounded breathless like that stood before his eyes, he had moved inside her and she clawed into his back, the cat ears still clinging to her head and her lips spilling his name like a prayer, over and over again.

 

Yesterday. That had been yesterday and now he doubted her. Because of what?

“Yes, my little Firefly?”

The rattles of the bus and people speaking resounded over the speakers. Kakashi waited for his girlfriend to continue, at the same time full of anxiety and hope. Then…

“I love you. And I reach my destination in three stations, so…”

He chuckled lowly. “Aah, you destroy my sugar-sweet moment I craved for. I’m nearly there. And just that we’re clear…”

Hiko wouldn’t cheat on him. Never. She knew how hard it was to be betrayed by someone you loved, she of all people was able to relate, more than anyone. His shorty wouldn’t do that.

So Kakashi leaned against his couch and pushed the insecurities and doubts aside. “No indian food.”

Her warm laugh was more than enough as a reward. “Alright,” she retorted after her giggle died down, “choose something.”

“Pizza?”

“Sounds perfect. Two stations.”

With a silly grin tugging at the corners of his mouth the silver haired cop slipped into the shoes and coat, not caring about the casual attire underneath the respective cloth. It was a short walk, but just in time he remembered and tugged a big black umbrella out of the corner behind the entrance door, then he closed his apartment with a loud clap, phone still pressed to his ear and listening to Hiko’s voice, swaying up and down in the familiar rhythm.

She out of all people wouldn’t betray him. Never.


	45. The time flows

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A nice calm evening is everything Hiko wanted. She gets it, but not without a little soft scolding of Kakashi.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not used to say this anymore, but hey! This chapter is on time :D

The bus was a pain in the ass. Sure, the government tried since years to build the company up by advertising the cleaner version of getting through the city, the possibilities to create more jobs and such, but when the bus drivers were too scared to use the full advantage of the miles allowed in the city, then they were crucially slow and hindrances for all the other participants on the street. Hiko was thankful her horror trip with the bus ended, but groaned internally when she felt the light drops on her skin as she stepped outside of the metallic monster.

“Great, just great.” she mumbled and ordered the six plastic bags in her hands and at the same time tried to spot her boyfriend. He promised to be here and since a few minutes ago they spoke with each other over phone, but the battery of hers had been low to start with and now her cellphone was dead, cutting the conversation quite rudely.

The plastic of the handles bruised her already abused skin of her palms. Hiko hissed sharply and tried to shift the weight away, but with each hand full it was impossible to escape the light sting. It had been a stupid idea to train at the shooting range, but after getting things clear in her head the brunette realized it had been months since she only hold a weapon, not to talk about actually hitting someone with it. On top of that a pesky restlessness had taken a firm hold of her body, so she decided to get some of the irritation out of her system by shooting holes in target bodies and sheets of paper with red circles printed on it. Going to the shooting range in the KPD was unthinkable. Too many chances to get captured by one of her friends, too many questions why her aiming was that good for a IT-ler; questions which she wasn’t willing and able to answer without causing more questions.

A shadow fell upon Hiko and unconsciously she tensed, but when the familiar low voice rumbled near her ears, she raised her head and smiled wholeheartedly.

“Your escort has arrived, milady.”

She giggled at the joking tone. “My white knight with an umbrella to protect me from the evil rain. Thank the gods for you smart brain.”

Kakashi hauled three of the bags out of her grip and offered her his arm, which held the cover for both of them. In the light of the streetlamps Hiko could see he wore his favorite sweatpants underneath the black coat and she couldn’t suppress the little laugh at the hastily bound scarf over his lower face. While linking their arms, Hiko resisted the urge to tug at the improvised mask and shortly nuzzled instead her nose into the warmth of his body. “You forgot your mask, huh?”

Kakashi shrugged and lead their way down the street. “Yeah. I only noticed when the water dropped down my nose.” His voice was like always, but Hiko smiled nevertheless as she felt the slight nudge with his hip into her flank. She pushed playfully back and earned a weak grunt from the uptight silver haired man. “Did you order already?” she asked.

 

“Nope. Someone demanded to make me run through the night and rain to meet them at the bus station.”

“You offered, don’t forget that.”

“I did?” Mildly acting surprised Kakashi cocked his head. “Must’ve slipped from my mind.”

“Really?” Amused the shorty snorted loudly. “What possibly could Kakashi Hatake throw out of his god-like concentration and let him forget something?”

“I was a bit confused by the foreign device in my flat, if you want to know.”

“Oh, my new laptop? Yeah, I left him at the coffee table, right.”

“Do you need one?”

She snorted again. “Does anybody really needs a laptop? Anyway, I just wanted to try some things I read about in the latest issue of my computer magazine and I needed a laptop for that.”

It wasn’t a lie, not entirely. She did intend to do some new things with the laptop, but not a single one of them was completely legal. Call the bad feeling residing in the back of her mind paranoia or a distinct hunch, she felt like prey backed into a corner, not knowing from which direction the attack would come. A portable PC, trimmed to be anonymous and fast, with only one program on the hard drive.

Her hacking tool.

“As long as you don’t mess up the wires in my flat as you did in yours, I won’t complain.” chuckled Kakashi and winced when she jabbed his ribcage. She didn’t use any real force, just a light nudge into his side, but Hiko nevertheless flinched at the pitiful sound he let out.

“You’re a meanie,” she pouted, “I didn’t mess them up! I ordered them anew and that needed just some time!”

All the while back to their apartment complex they bickered and teased each other, Hiko shifting some time to time the position of the remaining plastic bags and Kakashi holding the umbrella and his bags with ease. But he didn’t have to deal with the rebound of guns.

After the horrible discovery this morning the shorty needed exactly this. A normal evening, filled with the casual talks and comforting presence of the silver haired male beside her, not thinking about the evil which lurked in the shadows and send her a message through a corpse. The panic attack didn’t fade completely by now, but she felt the positive emotions overrunning the bad memories and flashbacks she suffered under throughout the whole day. Hiko didn’t want to think of anything else right now.

Still chatting they reached their complex and climbed the stairs, Hiko first and Kakashi following on her heels. They used up all of their light topics over the way and as she closed the door behind them and peeled herself out of her clothing, the silver haired male decided to break the silence.

“Does this morning still bother you?”

Carefully Hiko settled the groceries on the ground, already trying to put an answer together which was as honest as she could. “No,” she answered truthfully, “the corpse wasn’t the problem. It was the… sudden intrusion of my territory, as you said it, the realization my place isn’t safe. For some years I managed to believe in my fortress and from one moment onward… It’s invaded.”

“Did that realization cause your second panic attack?” asked Kakashi in return and grabbed all the plastic bags around, meanwhile the brunette hung her jacket at the handle, right beside his thick coat. The beanie followed and when she stuffed her own crimson scarf into the sleeve, she heard his steps returning. Hiko tried to ignore the asking stare directed at her back and continued to fiddle unnecessarily at her clothes.

“No,” she repeated finally and turned to meet his eyes, “I… I don’t think it was due to that.”

 

No. It was all thanks to Kabuto. Kabuto, who seemed to be behind every corner, lurking and creeping through the darkness and leaving undeniable gory messages on people he killed. Hiko had managed to push those thoughts away until some calmness reigned around her, not disturbed by an officer who tried ask her as many questions as he could and reminding her also about the times she was questioned after her rape. At another department, in another environment, in another life, so it seemed to the shorty. As the idea of Kabuto on her trails sank in, Hiko wasn’t able to breathe like she normally did. And hid under the desk.

“Do you want to tell me the reason?”

Partly joking, partly serious the shorty brushed past Kakashi, tugging him with her to the sofa and speaking. “Are you my therapist? The last time I had to answer such questions was with my last one.”

“Maybe it wouldn’t be the worst idea.” Together they sat down at the comfy sofa, the man holding the female. Kakashi was worried, she could tell and the last thing the female wanted to do was worrying her love. He deserved a peaceful life and someone who was an anchor for him and Hiko wanted to be that. But the last thing she wanted to do was going to another therapist.

“I will never ever see a therapist again in my life.” she declared loudly and felt his hands on her flanks tighten while she scrambled through the flyers for take-out services. “I had already my fair share of wise quotes and interrogative questions about my emotional world, thank you very much.” She leaned back into the cushions and was grateful Kakashi didn’t loosen his hold around her. However, his tone was slightly stern as he answered.

“You shouldn’t oppose probably the idea of another visit too much. It can be a great help.”

“Kakashi, I had seven different people trying to get behind my walls. Only the last, a wonderful woman managed that and I will be eternally thankful for her endurance and patience and also persistence. I know I wasn’t an easy patient, but Ryuzetsu was maybe the only one who could manage the feat of making me open up to other people again, because she really _cared_. Not like all the other men who tried to handle me like any other case they worked on. She retired some years after I visited and I will not settle for less when it comes to my emotional health anymore.”

She waved with two different sets of pizza restaurants and he pointed at the right, all the while creasing his eyebrows and one arm slung around her waist. “So you would only going to get some professional help if that Ryuzetsu would work again.”

“You got the point.” said Hiko and wanted to get her cellphone, but the silver haired man got his own out and was typing fastly the number of the selected delivery service. While waiting for the other party to pick up, Kakashi mouthed _“The usual?”_ and Hiko nodded weakly, then snuggled deeper into the crook of his arm. While he ordered their food (mozzarella pizza and curly fries for Hiko, pepperoni pizza and a hamburger for himself) she listened to the up and downs of his smooth voice and desperately hoped Kakashi would drop the topic from earlier. There were some things she just couldn’t tell him, if now because of the explosive potential for this relationship –her secret identity as a hacker, the deep entanglement of tRuthseekEr in the crime case they were working at- or things she didn’t want to remember by speaking them out loudly.

 

But no luck. The moment he cut the connection, her caring boyfriend was back to look with his deep dark pools down at the brunette. “And you never found another therapist?”

“I didn’t try to find another one. I’m fine.” Apparently the wrong thing to say.

“Hiko…” She knew that little growl, swaying in the two syllables. Kakashi wasn’t amused. “It’s not like I want to degrade your improvements. You’re incredible to have gotten so far and I deeply admire that fact about you. It only shows how dedicated you are and how much work you put in yourself; something not many people even get halfway done. But there’s nothing wrong with accepting a little help once in awhile.”

“My love, I don’t want-!”

He raised a hand. “Aah, there it is. You don’t _want_ help, right?”

Hiko kept silent. Pouting she tried to squirm away, but Kakashi didn’t let her, instead he even pulled her closer. Flushed against his wide chest, she felt his heartbeat pounding in almost the same rhythm as her own and as she looked into Kakashi’s eyes, the shorty wasn’t able to release the contact. One hand snaked upwards and his cool knuckles brushed over her cheek, lingering there until she leaned in to the touch.

“You don’t have to do everything alone. Sure, you would be able to do it, because you’re a hell of a woman, but the main point is: you don’t have to go through your troubles alone. I’m here for you.” Kakashi murmured and shortly kissed her. His lips were soft on her own and Hiko sighed out when he deepened the kiss a bit, but not let the exchange go out of control. Just like this morning. Tightly entangled, slowly mouthing and not caring about time, hands roaming over the lines of her body and hers in return did too. Scraping over his shoulders, ruffling his hair, drawing the man closer. Closer. Not close enough. Hiko wanted to drown in Kakashi, in this unbelievable male who thought so much about her and didn’t seem to ever doubt their relationship.

“Okay,” she brought out as Kakashi retreated a bit and her voice was raspy enough to think she was a chain smoker, “I will try to find someone similar. I still have her number around here, maybe she can get me some advice.”

Slowly a smile came to life on his handsome features and her heart fluttered at the sight. “Good. Very good. I’m proud of you, Firefly.”

Warmth gathered in her whole body at the compliment. Never, not even her brothers told her they were proud of her. They had told her she was beautiful, intelligent, clever, but only Kakashi gave her the feeling of being able to become a better person than she was right now, just because he would be proud of her when the brunette would do so. A blush rose to her cheeks as she snuggled her face in the nape of his neck and took his unique scent deeply in. Kakashi was home. Kakashi was safe. She could talk to him.

“Kakashi…?”

“Hm?”

Hiko choked nearly at her next words. “Do you… really want to know what happened to me? Are you really willing to listen?” She desperately hoped he would let her hide her face in his neck, but not to avail. An index and middle finger placed at her chin were enough to gently lift the brunettes face upwards, so Kakashi was able to look into her eyes.

Her boyfriend stared for a moment at her, scanning her whole face for signs only he knew about. Then he nodded weakly, concern shining out of his eyes.

“I want to know. If you are willing to talk, then I will be there to listen.” he murmured, his hands supporting her figure. Her pullover rolled up during their passionate embrace, so his fingers dipped into the bare skin of her flanks, warm and not too strong, caressing the sensitive spots he knew too well.

She felt how his breath ghosted over her cheek and ruffling the tresses on her scalp. It eased her mind more than any word he could utter, such a simple movement, light like a feather stroking over her neck.

“Okay,” she whispered, “okay, okay, okay… I-I only told this Ryuzetsu. Not Itachi, Kisame or Obito. She was the only one until now I trusted enough and only because she had a vow to follow and was bound by the laws not to spill anything. You’re the first I ever I’m going to tell you out of my free will.”

Kakashi nodded. She felt the motion in her whole body and with a sigh Hiko raised her head again to look properly into his eyes. Somehow she knew this was important, for him, for her, for _them_ as a unity. Her tongue and mouth first resisted to form the actual words, but then the shorty pushed herself to get her shit together.

“The weeks after my… rape. I was so down and felt numb the whole time, but… sometimes, in the middle of the night, I woke up. Not from a nightmare, but because…” Hiko bit her lower lip. “Because I… I missed him.”

 

Kakashi’s hands tightened.

“Ryuzetsu explained it with my loveless childhood,” she admitted silently, “I yearned so much for a little bit of love and care that I didn’t mind to do unexplainable things. Completely devoting myself to not lose the one who promised me to fulfil my deepest wishes. Changing my style, my friends, everything just to please him. I suppressed my personality in order to gain love and thus I missed him even afterwards, because he was the first person to ever show something like affection or kindness to me. I… I hated myself so much for my weakness. I knew it wasn’t right to feel like this, but I still longed for him and the little things which told me I had… someone.”

Hiko touched warily the strong neck in front of her and through her glasses she watched the light twitch in Kakashi’s face, telling her he needed all of his concentration to not growl or hiss in hate at the one who did all those things to her. Her fingers followed the heartbeat pulsing through the strong veins and halted at the joint of his jaw.

“I didn’t want this. But nevertheless I wanted to feel him again. This… contradiction was the reason I tried to kill myself. I was so confused and scared by my own feelings. At day I fought my fears without anyone who tried to help and at night I tossed and turned to forget his arms wrapped around me. I couldn’t stand the war inside my head anymore. I-I couldn’t stand _missing_ the one who hurt me.”

The shorty didn’t cry, but the heavy cloud in her heart wept at the memories of that horrible timespan. And Kakashi only listened, like he promised and made it easier for Hiko to talk freely. Her lips twitched as the woman forced them to turn into a little smile, but she hoped desperately it got her calmed state across.

“I couldn’t hate him for years, but sometime my emotions turned. Thanks to Ryuzetsu, thanks to my brothers… And I was glad to be alive. I’m glad I was able to meet you and I’m glad I let you into my life. I will try to trust you more. Promise.”

Hiko leaned in to kiss the man once more. As she touched his lips, her hands automatically buried themselves in his thick mane and drew him closer, to feel more and let _him_ feel how much he meant to her. Desperate she let her tongue flick over his closed mouth and happily moaned when Kakashi opened up, moving his slick muscle and fighting back her invasion. Suddenly he flipped them around, mounting her on the couch and pressing her small form into the cushions of the two-seater. She squealed and squirmed, surprised by the claiming fingers, brushing farther underneath her pullover and pulling the fabric upwards. Slowly Kakashi revealed her stomach and the edges of her white bra, snaking his calloused fingers over the undergarments and making her skin tingle heavily. A heavy shudder trailed through her body and a little crooked mewl escaped her lips, drowning in Kakashi’s mouth.

 

Then the male backed away, only an inch of heavy and hot air between them, his intense onyx eyes trained on her own and unbearable gentle. “Thanks,” he murmured huskily and nosed her cheek, “thanks for telling me.”

The sarcastic snort escaping her told more than the following words. “There’s nothing to be thankful for.”

Kakashi wanted to say something. His lips were already parted, but then he closed his mouth again, slight frustration flashing over his face before he shook his head and leaned down for another gentle ministration. Maybe he mumbled something like “Still means a lot to me,” before kissing her once more. But that could’ve been just her imagination. Then Hiko stopped thinking entirely when her boyfriend was kissing her senseless, full of sensual force, kindness and too much skill for his own good. Only in the back of her mind the brunette mused that Kakashi was again tongue-tied, what happened every now and then when his feelings and emotions were concerned. So she just enjoyed the renewed attention on her, knowing what he wanted to say and couldn’t get across by mere words.

A warm ball coiled in her lower stomach, growing and tightening with every suppressed sigh and every hushed groan shared. Soon she didn’t know anymore where Kakashi body ended and hers started, that tightly they were melted together. Grinding and purposefully teasing, curves bumping into flat muscles, one leg slung over a ripped waist, hands fumbling and crawling underneath too much layers of clothes. Only when the desperate force faded from their exchange, the shorty managed to identify her own flushed form from the equally heated-up man, who was apparently completely lost and far gone.

How cute.

Feeling mischievous, Hiko sucked at his overbearing tongue and caressed Kakashi’s clothed back, scratching, trailing muscles and oh-so-slowly reaching out to his smaller back, knowing his reaction would be exciting if she reached her goal.

And it was. Oh, it was.

Kakashi gasped loudly and broke the kiss as Hiko pinched weakly the sensitive spot there, throwing his head wildly backwards. He hissed and arched to lean into her curious hands, while the brunette nearly grinned at the dazed expression he wore. He was butter in her hands and she loved the feeling of being able to make the uptight and unemotional male look like this: greedy and at the same time childishly hoping for more, seductive and being seduced, despite the wrinkled features so handsome Hiko’s heart stopped for a heartbeat, only to accelerate into unknown speeds.

 

His eyes were shut and some spiky tresses dangled into his forehead, so the brunette used the temporary pause to reach out and gently wipe the few hindrances to her view out of her vision. Her fingers lingered at his face, flattening until her whole palm was resting at his cheek, her thumb sensually stroking over the bone lying underneath.

“My love. You damn cutie-pie. Making such an adorable face.”

He growled lowly, but when Kakashi’s eyes fluttered open, they were shining in mocking amusement.

“And what are you, you little witch?” he asked, voice low and breathy. “Teasing me with your touches.” Like he wanted to underline his words, his fingers snaked again over the edges of her bra, dipping underneath the boundaries and stroking over the underside of her breasts.

“Kakashi…” she mewled out and tried to get closer to his touch, but fast like a snake he retreated and smirked down on her.

“We still await our food and it would be bad,” the silver haired man chuckled at her pout, “if we get into action now.”

“And what if I don’t care?”

“Maa, you’re really making it hard for me.”

“I can feel how hard it is for you.” Hiko wiggled her hips, pressing them in the process harder against his boner, spotting a devious smile. The male shuddered and seeing how turned on Kakashi was made Hiko unconsciously moan. God, she loved him. She loved his reactions, she loved his expressions, she loved and absolutely adored his personality. To not force her to further explain herself was heaven. It was like he just accepted her explanation, enjoying that Hiko was here, in this moment and most importantly, with him and not with someone else... or worse.

Kakashi gritted his teeth, obviously trying to control his raging hormones. “Later.” he said determined and rolled down from Hiko. “We would only get interrupted and I would get frustrated if the poor guy who brings us pizza would press the bell just when I make you chant my name like a prayer, so near to the climax you claw into my back and beg me to do you…”

“You’re an ass.” she hissed and rubbed her thighs together. The wetness between her legs got overbearing with his words, fueling her lust to unknown heights.

Kakashi wiggled with his eyebrows and stretched his hand out, which she took with a grunt. “You’re the same as me. Worse, because my sexual tension is more visible than yours. The only thing which shows your arousal is that…” the silver haired man winked mischievous, “sweet little flush of pink on your cheeks.”

Just when the brunette wanted to retort something harsh, the doorbell rang throughout the apartment and he gave her a smug look, just like he wanted to say: See, I told you so.

“Don’t be such a meanie.” the shorty muttered as she strolled to the entrance and let the pizza delivery man inside the apartment complex. Only two minutes later, Hiko stood with her purse ready in front of the door and heard Kakashi scramble through the cabinets to get some plates, a steady knock rumbled on the wood.

The locks weren’t in place, but they were never when her boyfriend was with her. Hiko ripped the door open, a bright smile on her lips at the sight of delicious pizza, fries and some quality time with her love and stood before one of the biggest guys she ever saw in her life.

He seemed monstrous. His body completely filled the doorframe and his screaming orange hair was cut like the one of a juvenile thug, three single tufts of upstanding mane. Like horns they grew out of the massive skull and the shorty had problems to rip her eyes away from the interesting sight.

 

The delivery boy (he seemed younger than her) held in his shovel-like hands the two cartons and extras. “I’m sorry for the late arrival,” he said and lowered his head, “I hope your food is still hot.”

Hiko flicked her wrist at the apology. “There’s no need. I can see how hot it is, there’s steam coming off the cartons. How much do I owe you?”

“In total 21$, Miss…” He looked down at the tabloid. “Hatake?”

A coughing fit from inside the apartment. Hiko dismissed it with a sigh and handed the delivery boy three bills. “It’s Kobayashi. And the rest is for you, Jirobo.” she said after a quick peek at the name tag on his uniform.

Something strange happened. Jirobo stilled and his small eyes shortly flickered over her whole body, then studied her face intently. She felt uncomfortable under his stare, so she waved with the money in front of him. “Thank you very much and you weren’t at all slow. I appreciate it though.”

Jirobo nodded, still not turning away from her. Only as the shorty coughed and pointed lightly at the food in his hands, he reconciled and handed the packages over. “Thank you.” he murmured and clutched the bills between his fingers. “And have a nice evening.”

“You too!” Hiko waved after the delivery boy and closed the door, humming in appreciation at the delicious smell emitted by the food in her hands. Then a wicked thought came to her. Grinning she walked with more vigor as usual into her living room, putting a bit more of swing into her walk. “Hubby~! Food is ready!”

To see Kakashi stumble over his own feet and nearly drop the cutlery he brought out was worth the tooth-rotting-sweet tone. Hiko acted like nothing ever happened, all the while suppressing the wide smirk of victory.

“What?” she asked and shrugged as the male peered at her, full of outright indignation. “You were the one who made all the noise after he mistook me for a Hatake.”

“Just… surprised.”

“Surprised my ass. You nearly choked at your own spit.” Placing the food at the table, the shorty rested her palms at her hips and pivoted around to face the silver haired man, who sat on his chair and had a little pout on his face. “Of what were you thinking, huh? You and your perverted mind.”

“Nothing perverted.” he retorted quickly. Too quick.

Hiko knew him. There was something running around in his brain, something which bothered him deeply. But he wouldn’t give in to normal methods, so she freed her brown hair (seriously, she had to get them cut again) from their loose band and leaned over, innocently tugging at the neckline of her pullover and revealing some of her bosom, but not too much. “Really?”

His black eyes followed her movements, were nearly glued to her hand and the small gap where her creamy white skin peeked through. Teasing just as much as entertaining herself, she straightened her back again and made sure a sliver of her stomach was visible to Kakashi when she stretched, yawning and acting like the shorty was exhausted from a long day. When she thought deeply about it, Hiko didn’t need to act. The sleepless night from before was engraved into her bones and was still stuck there.

 

“Anyway,” the female sighed innocently and started to open the hot food cartons, “this here is yours,” she shoved the pepperoni pizza and hamburger aside, “and then that would be mine.”

“I can see someone else who belongs to me.” His possessive growl was sexy beyond imagination. Hiko smiled over her shoulder at her boyfriend and returned to the task at hand, until she took once her pizza and his into her hands and carried them to the sofa, meanwhile Kakashi switched on the TV, but his eyes were fixed on her figure, closely watching her sitting down at his side. Handing her boyfriend his food, Hiko blew a kiss to him and chuckled as the male acted overthrown and slumped into the backrest, groaning in the process.

“How can somebody be so cute?” he asked a bit breathy, glanced shortly over and snickered at her obvious blush.

The evening went well. Together they ate, made jokes, shared food (Hiko grumpily – she loved her curly fries) and watched a movie, but around the middle of the plot the female had other problems to take care of, namely the persistent hands of her sneaky lover, who couldn’t wait and started to grope her from time to time, whenever she suspected it the last. It didn’t help either she returned the favor and let her fingers slip underneath the loose KPD-shirt of his, rubbing over the flexing abs and enjoying every tiny twitch she drew out. The ministrations didn’t miss their purpose and soon a huge bulge tented the sweatpants of the male.

Soon they were too occupied to torture the other than following the movie and when the credits rolled over the screen, Hiko laid on top of Kakashi and let her tongue lap over his neck and earshell, her favorite point to lick and suck on. He always made such delicious noises when she did that, loud and at the same time trying to hush the embarrassing moans and whimpers. Apparently Kakashi didn’t like to sound so weak, so it only doubled the woman’s amusement at her and his actions. The man was even too absent minded to caress her in return, too caged by his own lust and arousal, until Hiko grumpily got her point across by a growled “You better make this worthwhile, you meanie.”

After that, he displayed clearly that the dinner didn’t let his hunger diminish.

 

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

The next days were a blur to Kakashi. The investigation consumed a huge part of his time, even sometimes dragging out deep into the night. Unluckily, not much was discovered during the timespan. And it irked the cop more than he wanted to admit. The killer taunted them with the positions where he left the corpses, may it be the openly shown carelessness of the locations (open local space which didn’t much to hide the bodies) or the irritating miss of any real clues. Not Fuu Yamanaka nor Kagero Fuma had any real enemies, except the former superior of Yamanaka, who was questioned two more times. But how could that explain the similarities between the two victims? At the same time, things got even busier for both of them. While he was constantly running around and chased phantoms, Hiko was more and more assigned to late-night shifts and early in the morning visits, fixing various things at the KPD. Black circles were constant reminders of sleepless nights and the fact Hiko swore for the sake of getting rid of her panic attacks off the brown ambrosia called coffee, let her old harpy-mentality shine through. The main office was always on edge around the shorty, who strolled around the department with a grumpy expression and ready to snap at every officer who got on her nerve with stupid questions. That earned her a harsh scolding from the chief and that day, Hiko had been so infuriated with the whole situation, she seemed to seek a fight with Kakashi on purpose, just to get some steam out of her system. Needless to say that evening they got wordless to bed, for the first time sleeping, but not cuddling or hugging the other. The male was hurt by the cold way of treating him and turned his back towards the woman while trying to find some sleep. After a while, the silver haired man nearly managed to slip into the merciful darkness, ruffles could be heard from the other side of the bed and one arm got draped over his waist and a nose peeked into his spine. Her voice had been muffled by the cushions and her own embarrassment, but nevertheless his sensitive ears catched the muttered apology and the silent plea to embrace her. How could he resist? So he had turned around and accepted the apology, nudging the brunette, then spooning the small frame until he felt how Hiko relaxed against his chest. But he couldn’t suppress the small grin hearing the embarrassed mumble she let out, consisting of a “damn early shifts” and “I’m sorry for being a grumpy cat”.

 

His insecurities and doubts swayed from one side to the other. Kakashi watched how the investigation took more from his free time with his shorty away than he wanted, but he had to accept the fact that his job would come first in such an important and threatening case. But there was just no real break-through and lately he couldn’t avoid to think the chance of the case becoming a dead end.

Nine days after Kakashi and Hiko had pizza for dinner, a silver lining showed itself on the horizon.

Itachi marched into the main office, a wildly gesturing brunette on his heels. Hiko was in her coat, half opened and her scarf twisted in her fingers, cheeks flushed due to the coldness reigning outside. In Itachi’s hands were several reports, fluttering in the speed the male put up, but Hiko didn’t lose to him in the term of speed. Kakashi catched the last words of her hissed sentence, all the while her ice blue eyes almost burned in suppressed anger at her brother.

“…making a mistake! He isn’t a killer!”

Itachi didn’t respond. Instead his dangerous vision was fixed on the silver haired detective, who felt the hope rise at the little smile on the raven’s face. “What do you have?” he asked and ignored for once his girlfriend.

The answer nearly let Kakashi jumping in the air out of happiness.

“A possible suspect.”

Hiko snorted and rolled her eyes at the quite dramatically uttered words, but nobody cared about her behavior. Everyone around was fully concentrated at the IT-boss, waving with the papers he held in between his fingers. “Kobayashi-san did a little research and discovered that both victims complained online about one person they both knew. For both cases they were fired from their jobs because of this special person and they were also quite obvious with their hate towards him. Kagero worked for the supermarket “Hozuki Market” who was recently closed due to the enigma and posted some colorful things on the internet.”

Kakashi nodded. “And the name of the suspect?”

Itachi grabbed the black marker to the crime board and wrote carefully, step by step a name under the column of possible suspects. Only one name was by now listed: the one of Danzo Shimura, but as stated, the police hadn’t enough clue to connect him to the two homicides. Now a second name was there and it mirrored the opposite column of witnesses.

tRuthseekEr.

“The hacker as the killer,” mumbled Kakashi and rubbed the back of his neck. “But the same problem as before is still present, we can’t get a hold of him.”

“This is stupid!”

Startled the entire office turned to the outraged Hiko, who stood with clenched fists in front of Itachi and glared at her brother. The door to Nagato’s bureau opened and the chief and his for once present second-in-command stuck their heads out at the commotion. “I told you know numerous times he isn’t the killer! There is just no reason for him!”

The silver haired detective felt like he was missing something. He narrowed his eyes and looked at the furious brunette properly. “Explain.”

“First: tRuthseekEr is a goddamn hacker,” she spit out and glared again at Itachi, “it’s a whole different level of crime! From a psychological point it’s simply not possible that the same person who hacks companies and avoids personal contact with his victims would suddenly stand up and kill people he doesn’t like! It would totally blow his base and location, making it possible for enemies to find him! Anonymity is his biggest issue and by drawing attention to himself due homicides he’s not able to maintain a low cover! Second,” she breathed rashly in, “a hacker has a certain routine to provide himself safety. He’s often secluded, doesn’t go out, a loner. No or little social contact, often only with fellow hackers. The person who killed the people has underlinings, people who work for him, like the ones who drove the van which kidnapped Kagero. A true psychopath, he probably has experience in manipulating other people. And psychopaths are quickly bored and not suited to breach firewalls, where endless patience and persistence is needed. They constantly seek adventure, a high, the next adrenaline spike and hacking can’t give a psychopath what he desperately craves.”

 

Some officers nodded at her words, but most were still not convinced. Kakashi too. Hiko brought no sure proof, only assumptions and theories. There was no stereotype, every murderer acted different than the one before. Especially psychopaths.

“Third: a hacker killing people? For heaven’s sake, he could just destroy her lives with every possible technology on the planet than simply kill them! It’s not logical! And fourth and for me the most important point: truth is one who helps humanity. He doesn’t want to hurt others, he tries to help, even when a lot of people got injured on the way. He helps, not kills.”

In the back of his mind Kakashi questioned Hiko for her affectionate and emotional speech. Calling the hacker only truth, like she knew him. She truly stood behind her words, full of enraged persistence and hope they wouldn’t place the mysterious hacker as a suspect. The brunette wasn’t someone who would let her emotions take over in the middle of a crime case and on top of that with such an outburst. The whole main office, including the young cops were present and had listened to her enthusiastic defense. Hiko had a personal reason; but as long as Kakashi was leading the investigation, such a thing as emotions wouldn’t cloud the possibilities.

“Sharpen your search for tRuthseekEr,” he commanded. “Now it got only more important to find him. We have to interrogate the man and take him into custody, if now as a witness or suspect.”

In the back of his mind he knew he was jealous. He was jealous because Hiko went to such lengths to defend a stranger, someone she only knew through his actions. tRuthseekEr was a criminal, nevertheless she fought his fights in the police office in his stead.

Hiko crossed with a snarl on her lips her arms, while the other present officers returned to their work. To say she was upset definitely lacked the precision of her raging fury as she shifted her ice cold eyes between Itachi and Kakashi, not entirely sure which male deserved her wrath more. Finally the glassed woman huffed, glared once more at the silver haired detective, who shuddered inwardly at the anger and hurried outside. Maybe she went down to the labs and tried to find a way to prove the innocence of her favorite hacker, or she took her break earlier and visited the café she was so fond off.

‘I’m so screwed… But Hiko has to see we’re not living in a perfect world and that theories don’t solve cases. I need proof to work with and Itachi brought some to underline his suspicion. I’m sorry, my little Firefly, but either you somehow assemble some solid base to your arguments or tRuthseekEr gets handled as the main suspect.’

Kakashi returned to stare at the whiteboard, littered with photos of the crime scenes, black letters and a timeline. Accurately the time of the possible abduction of Fuma and Yamanaka were signed, as well as the time when the corpses were found.

“Kakashi?”

He stirred and spun to Sasuke. The younger man clutched a phone in his hand as he stood slowly up from the desk he worked at, mountains of files piling on his workspace. And wasn’t the nose of the Uchiha a bit paler than usual?

“A new corpse.” Sasuke stated clearly. His superior lowered his head at the view of another bloody and gory body he had to inspect, but he quickly regained his composure.

“Then let’s go.” Kakashi said and gestured Naruto and Sasuke to come with him. Gai was busy today with checking the rest of his files from all over the country, so that left only the three officers.

            ‘I will talk to Hiko later. She has to understand.’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A big thank you, like always, to Miss-Fandoms-Shakespeare. You're the hero I don't deserve, but desperately need T.T


	46. The reason becomes clear

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Until now, the reason why all those things happened is an enigma. But when Hiko gets a call and is forced to make a decision, the reason becomes clear.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A little bit later, but that's okay.... Right? It is okay?

Hiko still fumed when Itachi returned to their shared office. Her knees trembled in the emotions boiling inside and she was near to call it a day and go to her training gym to punch a sandbag until the insides fell out. Today had already a bad start. Nagato assigned her through Ebisu to go out and get some results of hairs they found on Kagero from an outer company, but when she arrived at the other side of town and asked nicely for the results, the assistant said that no order could be found. No need to say Hiko was silently fuming when she entered the police office again, three hours later due to the chaos on the streets and without anything in her hands, but had kept her cool. And then Itachi stormed right out of their bureau, exclaiming with his super serious tone he had a trace! tRuthseekEr wasn’t the goddamn killer! Hiko was tRuthseekEr and she was to 90% sure she would remember killing a person! Goddammit, she had alibis for every…

Wait. _Wait._ Hiko waved dismissively at her friend and scrambled hastily through the documents on her desk, reports about this and that, technical related things and new purchases, including the replaced server tower she worked on…

Something had been strange. Back then, the brunette didn’t think much. She had been tired to death, not able to pry her eyes fully open as she inspected the tower. Her mind had carousell around the image of a warm cozy bed and Kakashi lying beside her, breathing slowly and soothing. But now, with a dark premonition dawning, Hiko couldn’t dispel the bad feeling nagging in her brain.

Something was strange. Really strange.

Only in the back of her mind the woman registered Itachi talking about a new corpse and Shino answering, but she kept fixed on the memories. She even pushed her anger aside. The only thing she needed to be was cold logical, clear and making a way for the truth.

The day came back to her mind. It was dark as she arrived at four in the morning. Hiko also remembered the exact amount of cars she passed that day, only three others were awake and able to drive a car. The air had been like usual a bit heated in the server room, but she had just discarded her pullover and went to work, only in a light grey tank and armed with her small case of differently sized screwdrivers and other tools. Like usual, the woman had dismantled the tower, aware of the possibility of electrocution. So beforehand she had turned the power inside the server room off and safe from the possible danger, Hiko energetically went to work.

Getting a screwdriver out. Seeing if it fit. Sighing and changing to another, bigger one. Counting the numbers of screws to be sure not to lose anything, then placing them in her pocket. Carefully setting the lid on the ground. Checking the wires, one by one by one. Countless of them. Green, yellow, red, blue. Neatly arranged in bundles. All her work, set up at the start of the server. With the help of Itachi. Each of the bundles tagged with some clear tape, blue marker blinking in the light of the flashlight between her teeth. Checking every single one of them.

Hiko jerked. Hadn’t been there an abnormality? An abomination? Using her arms as a cover, the shorty shielded herself from the light or any other influence trying to disturb her and the train of thoughts, who drove now at full speed ahead.

Mentally she recited every single step of her actions, around her the rest of the IT-office did their work like they were supposed to do. The tapping of Hinata's fingers on the keyboard eased her mind and straightened Hiko’s way of thinking. Lulled by the gentle sound, she sank deeper into the depth of her memories.

Walking around the tower and opening another lid. Same procedure. Counting screws, placing them in her pocket, settling lid on the ground. Again sticking her hands into the shadows inside the high and fat device, fiddling and squirming until she could peer inside. Feeling the hot and melted mess and hastily retreating at the smell of burned metal crawling into her nose. Sniffing a bit more and wrinkling her nose at the unpleasant scent. Light falling inside the tower, showing off the catastrophe and pile of melted and contorted wires. Irritation at the mess.

That. _That_ had been strange. The tower was at utmost only four years old and a high quality product. Hiko had read flyers about that special model and noted down the chance of electrical fire were going towards zero.

Her instincts immediately roared to life. She wasn’t wrong. Something – _someone_ -caused this. Sabotaging. Trying to do whatever. Tugging one strand back, Hiko ruffled over her beanie and was deeply entangled in her thoughts, as a message on her phone disturbed her. She mindless tapped it on, read the short notification of a message in the office chat and opened the program on her work-PC.

_ChatRoom of the KPD_

_Puppy-Alert: ShinoA.; HinataH.; SasukeU.; NarutoU.; KibaI.; InoY.; TentenF.; SakuraH.; ShikamaruN._

_NarutoU. : just arrived at the crime scene! OMG, I will never ever walk over that bridge_

_KibaI. : what bridge? The one at the canal? Don’t ya tell me that’s where the corpse is, Akamaru loves that track!_

_TentenF. : is it the canal?_

_NarutoU. : yip yup. At the sidelines, leaning against the metal rail. Horrible sight_

_SakuraH. : can you shoot a photo for me? Orochimaru took Ino this time with him and I also want to take a look at the body before it arrives here…_

_NarutoU. : sure thing Sakura-chan! Just wait a moment, Kakashi-sensei is so pesky about cellphones while working…_

Hiko minimized the chatroom and ordered the present files on her desk once again, trying to figure out where she left the one for the server tower. She was too messy for her own good. Grumpily the woman thought about the neatly arranged workspace of her silver haired boyfriend, about the titled compartments, different cups for pencils and even the after size ordered notepads, stapled over each other.

Kakashi had a thing for ordering things.

Her cell phone vibrated once more. Hiko grunted, unnerved, and opened the chatroom, quickly scanning the image.

No. No. That… That couldn’t… _NO!_

For some seconds, she tried to hold her breakfast in, but then she dragged the trashcan closer and heaved. Barf, sick smelling puke splashed into the cold plastic. Heaves shook her body. Wave after wave Hiko puked all over thrown away papers, old gum and other trash, splattering the insides with her breakfast and lunch. The liquid stung in her throat, burned, made her sick again. Gurgles escaped her mouth, weak pitiful sounds and echoing in her ears.

It couldn’t be. It couldn’t be. No. No. No. No.

However, in the back of her mind Hiko had expected something similar to that. She shouldn’t be too shocked. But that her former therapist, the beautiful Ryuzetsu would meet her end like that, emptied out by the same person who tortured the shorty was too much for her. Especially someone like Ryuzetsu, who tried to make the world a better place and help people with their fears and anxieties, didn’t deserve to die. Not like that, butchered like a pig and thrown away.

“Hiko?” The worried voice of Hinata broke through the haze of her despair. The pale-eyed girl had cocked her head a little and even had the control of her facial muscles not to wrench them at the foul smell erupting from the mess the shorty created. “Are y-you probably stomach sick?”

Hiko nodded weakly. Her head spun around and her fingers clenched into the sharp edges of the trashcan, still holding the plastic in front of her face in case her tummy decided to start an uproar again. Suddenly she felt Itachi’s presence by her side, gently loosening her hands from the can and patting her back, even rubbing it until she smiled tiredly at her brother.

“Maybe you should take a rest today.” he said.

“But…” The sickness boiled up again and Hiko paused. “Yeah… Probably you’re right,” she murmured and brushed her hair back. “I’m just sorry to leave again earlier than all the others.”

Itachi swatted her worries away. “You have enough overtime to outnumber every one of us. No big deal.”

“For me it is…” she whispered, however packed her things nevertheless and waved not too enthusiastically at her comrades, then got home, only half of her mind was fixed on the road and the happenings around her. Hiko was lucky no one crossed her path and like this she entered her flat, somehow feeling empty and filled up by numb sparks of emotions, trying to pierce through a curtain of dullness that settled down.

Again, maybe out of the ill intent to remind herself what she had done, Hiko looked at the photo of her former therapist. The woman who did so much for her and hadn’t had an easy time, with all the insults the brunette spit at her for doing her job. In the end she admired the woman for her calm demeanor and the way of handling even difficult situations with grace. Nearly two years Hiko visited Ryuzetsu in the small room in the tiny village next to Konoha and it had been worth the hour drive and every ounce money which was spend. Those years the brunette had no choice but to live with a little bit tighter finances, but she didn’t regret visiting her. No, Hiko deeply regretted getting Ryuzetsu involved in something which revolted in her ugly death.

The shock at the kidnapping.

The slowly dawning and waking up in a compromising position.

Struggling against the binds, again and again, not believing they wouldn’t give in.

Hearing the calculated steps.

Seeing the grin, pearly white tooth blinking in the surrounding darkness.

Hiko started to shudder heavily. Cold sweat poured down her neck and soaked the neckline of her shirt, making the woman grimace and whimper at the uncomfortable feeling. Trying to get her breathing under control, the female stopped unpacking her backpack and laid flat on the ground, her eyes facing the ceiling. Intently she followed the slight cracks of her white wall, trailing north and south, left and right. A map of crossing lines, cracks and wasn’t that a spider web in the corner?

She should talk with Kakuzu about this, the state the wall was in was almost horrible. But she never looked this closely before at the ceiling, right? So she never noticed before. Naturally.

Hiko inhaled and exhaled loudly. Now it was okay again. Her heart still ached at the fear and regret, but it didn’t bury her mind anymore. She would get through this. Somehow.

Her cell phone rang loudly. Like a robot Hiko fiddled a bit with the fabric of her pullover, cropped it up to reach inside the jeans pocket and with expertise took the call and discarded her beanie on the sofa with a flick of her wrist.

“Kobayashi is speaking.”

_“Hello baby.”_

For a moment she didn’t even register what was going on. Then Hiko jerked into a sighting position. Again sweat broke out and tainted her neck, armpits and hands and trembles shook her once more. Panic. Simple, sheer panic. How was that possible? How did he find her? Didn’t she took all the precautions to make sure she was only listed in the absolutely necessary documents, rebelling against the norms and rules of the bureau and even asking Nagato to block her address off the official documents? No one beside the ones which she gave her number should be able to call, but here she was now, with her abusive ex on the other end of the connection.

Hearing his silky voice after all those years… The shorty wasn’t able to describe the whole load of feelings running through her system.

Fear. Anger. Submissive nervousness. The urge to hide. The old need to change into appropriate clothing – appropriate to his tastes.

Kabuto. Hiko would recognize his voice even under thousands. It was definitely him and when he chuckled sickly into the speaker, she flinched away from the sound. _“Babe, I know you’re still listening. I can hear your breathing.”_

The same sick casualty, the same kind of dark promises shining through every syllable. She remembered the up and downs, the pauses he set between the single words, the little sway whenever Kabuto ended a sentence.

She wanted to end the call. Her fingers already clenched around the device, but something, a strange presence looming over her head restricted her movements. Maybe the old submission to his orders or the new horror dawning over her mind was at fault, so she stayed tuned and ready, trembling in her shoes and feeling how the first tears pricked at the corners of her eyes.

 _“Answer me.”_ he snarled.

“I… I’m listening.” the shorty whispered, too frightened to resist.

It had been a rule. Whenever Kabuto spoke, Hiko had to keep her mouth shut until he asked for her input. Her brain hadn’t forgotten the rule, like the last eleven years vanished into thin air, leaving the weak small female out of the cage Hiko build with every ounce of her being. She was small. She was weak. She was worthless. All the efforts, all the work she put into herself and all the invested time, spend with therapy, meditation or panic attacks… Everything had been effortless.

Kabuto snickered again. _“Oh, Hiko, Hiko, Hiko… You’ve been a bad girl. All these years I hadn’t had a clue where you possibly have gone to. You can’t know how_ _surprised I was to hear you work now for the police. I remember you originally wanted to become… ah, what was it again?”_

“Game designer.” she answered meekly.

_“Right. But someone like you with no talents at all will fail at her job anyway, no matter which path you have chosen. So explain to me why did you enter the reigns of the police?”_

Hiko gulped. “I…I wanted…”

_“Don’t stutter.”_

“I wanted to find you.” Her knees were weak and jitterish. The longer he talked the more memories of that time came back to her, the timespan where she devoted herself to become the perfect girlfriend, to give love freely and hoping for some pitiful crumbs in return. Her new personality rattled at the cell bars, eager to break out and gag the weak Hiko from the past. Suddenly the brunette murmured into the speaker. “I wanted to find you to stuff your ass into prison.”

The rapist fell silent, only the weak breaths resounding through the speaker told Hiko he hadn’t cut the connection at her bold reclamation. She bit into her lower lip, but not out of fear anymore, but out of the sudden urge to laugh at the male who made her life a living hell. The corners of her mouth nonetheless perked upwards and the strange bubbly feeling inside her stomach wasn’t any longer sickening, but freeing her from the binds his voice created before.

_“Baby. Hiko-chan. You’re my possession.”_

He simply ignored her outbreak.

_“You still have my marks edged into your skin, I know. They’re the proof for our love, you still belong to me. You’re just too stubborn to see clearly. Don’t worry, you can abandon my replacement and return to my side. I forgive you for running away.”_

“Your replacement?” she asked, clutching her cellphone in her hand that it hurt. “What replacement?”

 _“Don’t play dumber than you are,”_ snickered Kabuto, _“I speak about the detective with the same hair color as myself. You haven’t gotten over me, huh? Kakashi Hatake…”_ The flips of pages. _“Let’s see what we got. A little prodigy. Top marks at the police academy. Active duty for the special forces in Konoha, 42 undercover missions and every single one of them successful. Some bodyguarding, spying… Oh, seven assassinations of mafia leaders! Numerous of investigations. A failed marriage. Really, were you that desperate to take even a stray dog like him?”_

Automatically Hiko scowled. “He isn’t a stray dog!” she shouted, “In every possible aspect he’s better than a sick shit like you! He helped me, after all the fucked-up things you did!”

_“Language, baby.”_

“He’s kind, he’s funny, he actually cares about me and my problems, a feat you never managed to accomplish you jackass, you plague of humanity, you worthless excuse of a dipshit!”

 _“Hiko._ Language _.”_

“What will you do, huh?” Cackling Hiko stood up and strolled around in her living room, pacing back and forth. “Rape me again? Fuck me with your tiny little wiener? Even in that department Kakashi is much more a man than-!”

_“Silence.”_

“FUCK YOU!” screamed Hiko and kicked against the coffee table. Like a waterfall the flyers of the take-out services fell to the ground, but she couldn’t care less. It was about getting this whole shit off of her chest, all the things she wanted to say to Kabuto all those years and piled up until now. Maybe this was a once-in-a-lifetime-chance. “I will not keep quiet anymore just because you run over my mouth! I will not leave Kakashi, I will not accept your demands, I will not crawl back to you just because you try to command me! Do you think raping me is a proof of your feelings? It’s not and I don’t care about your nasty tooth marks on my body!”

 _“Be careful what you wish for,”_ he hissed like a furious snake, _“Because at the end of all this you will come crawling back to me on all fours and beg for my forgiveness and attention. The three bodies were only the start of your cleansing to be worthy of my presence again.”_

She snorted disgusted. “Cleansing? The only thing I have to clean is my brain from the memory of your ugly face.”

Spitting insults into a speaker wasn’t as satisfying as to spit them out in front of his feet, but Hiko had to arrange herself with such a weak replacement. There was no way she would go into his proximity ever again.

_“…Seems like the years away from me took a toll on you. A proper re education is needed in order to stabilize our relationship again.”_

“I’m fine, but you need some professional help, you sick psycho. My relationship with you was severed the moment you drugged and raped me, so why do you believe in the cloud-castle so much? What would possibly bring me to get back to you? Please, enlighten me.”

A moment of complete silence. Then Kabuto laughed. It started low, but with every second it got louder and higher, until even a small child would recognize the madness swaying in every octave. The sound made Hiko freeze on the spot, right in front of the windows and the free hand raised to grip into the curtains.

 _“Baby, I don’t need to force you,”_ snickered her ex and his exclamation made her sicker than before, _“You will come back to me out of your free will. It will be beautiful, we will experience all the good sides of our bond again.”_ His heavy breaths told her exactly of which “good sides” he thought about. _“I can’t wait for the moment you realize you can’t run away from us. You know, for years I tried to recreate what we two had, but all the other people had some flaunts. They weren’t you, baby. No one could produce such sweet cries like you, no one shredded such beautiful tears. No one’s blood tasted as good as yours.”_

Hiko couldn’t say anything. Lives, countless of innocent people probably died because Kabuto wanted to find another Hiko, another one who was exactly like her in all ways. Hundreds of women, tortured, raped, tossed aside. Her previous courage slipped away and hid again like a scared mouse from the ferocious cat on the hunt in a dark corner of her brain. Pained she closed her eyes and listened, the head lowering with each sentence.

 _“But you changed a lot, huh? Not only your career, but your personality. Before you were so obedient and formable, so wonderfully shy and quiet. Your speech in the office was rather loud in comparison.”_ Kabuto clicked his tongue in disappointment. _“Re education will take some time, but we will have all the time in the world. Even becoming a hacker in order to bring justice to the unfortunate ones. tRuthseekEr… I couldn’t believe you were able to sink so low.”_

“What? How do you know-?”

 _“None of your business.”_ he said and Hiko shut her mouth. A sigh echoed over the connection, vibrating in her eardrums and reminding her of the various times he scolded her with just a disappointed look, a disapproving gaze or a raised eyebrow. _“No matter how nice it is to talk with you after all those years, I prefer a real encounter. Face to face. To see how much work I have to do to shape you again to the person you were before. You were better that way.”_

“I don’t believe you will come and meet me at the police station?” hissed Hiko, who finally regained at least some of her courage again. “We have really nice cells there and a monster like you belongs behind some thick iron bars. Maybe I will even throw raw meat to you, that you survive until the jury decides your fate.”

 _“Oh no,”_ Kabuto chuckled again, _“as I stated you will come to me. You just need some time to realize what our relationship can create for both of us. And maybe, only maybe when you are back and we went away from this dirty city, then I will even set the accuses on your name straight.”_

“Wh-?” Unbelieving her eyes widened at the statement. There was no way he…

 _“No real alibi for any of the kills, I suppose,”_ Kabuto laughed and hopelessness fell upon her, _"_ _Even the last is covered, baby. From tomorrow onward, you will be a sought-after woman. You and your secret identity will be known to the whole village, your face will be on TV-shows, newspapers, magazines… It will be wonderful. Don’t disappoint me and get captured by the police, or I will have to resort to drastic measures to get you out of prison and then I would probably use my opportunity and search for my replacement… Oh, and don’t tell him either. Just run away and let him believe you left him for someone better. In the end it’s true. Otherwise I will pay him a long, nice visit.”_ he cackled madly.

Hiko’s lips parted at the shock as the words pierced through her mind. Was Kabuto really telling her he managed to fake evidence and placed some to point at the shorty? Did he really went that far only to push her into his arms again? Slowly she slid down, stretching the fabric of her jeans in an uncomfortable way, but she couldn’t care less at the little stings of pain flashing through her knees and skin.

Kabuto threatened her. He threatened her to lie and leave Kakashi, the one man who she loved to the bottom of her heart. Said organ clenched firmly with every beat at the thought of leaving. Only leaving and a simple note left behind. Cold and impersonal. Hiko whimpered.

It would hurt him, not only the illusion of her as a criminal, but going away without an explanation. Kakashi would feel again unwanted, not loved. Even when it was a play set up by the puppeteer behind the scenes, pulling just at the right strings to manipulate the brunette, the detective had no other choice but to take the lie as the truth.

Unbeknownst to Hiko, tears escaped her tightly shut eyelids. Hot they ran down over her face and she sniveled, trying to repress the drowning sadness. How should she chose? On one side was the silver haired detective, broken and hurt, but alive, on the other side the same, but she weeping over his dead body, his blood slowly oozing out of a wound. Which path should she chose? What was the right thing to do?

 _“There it is.”_ cooed Kabuto full of happiness. At the other side steps resounded through a big room, thrown back by far away walls. _“How much I missed those. We will have a lot of fun when we are together again baby.”_

She couldn’t stand it anymore. Why? Her head spun around, wildly pivoting and not leaving her a chance to get off the ride. “What do you want from me?” she asked, voice cracking. “What do you want from me, Kabuto?”

Hiko couldn’t put Kakashi into danger. He wouldn’t even realize he was being attacked if Kabuto knocked at his door or entered the police station, a syringe ready in his pocket and wearing the nice smile he could fake so well. He could kill him before her love would had the chance to fight back. Fear flooded through her veins. There was no way she could let that happen.

_“It’s simple. Do as I told and I will not make a move. Run away and hide as long as you want. Discourage your dog and tell him you don’t love him like you love me. No secret messages, no word to one of your friends. If you disobey, the stray dog mated for the last time in his pitiful life. Do I make myself clear?”_

“Y-yes.” whispered Hiko and sobbed nearly.

Kabuto grunted satisfied. _“The first step was taken. Time is running, baby. Tick, tack. Soon I will sleep with you again. Don’t let me wait for too long.”_

A ‘click’ in the connection. Her fingers were numb and the cellphone clattered to the ground. Hiko sat there, legs bend underneath, upper body leaning forward to free her chest from the weight pressing down on it.

How could that be reality? The shorty prayed inwardly to let this be a horrible real dream, that she would wake up any moment and find herself beside Kakashi, who grumbled and demanded his five more minutes of cuddling and she would stand up, trying to fiddle out of his embrace and in the end she would fall into the cushions again and give in to his demand, secretly enjoying the warm frame pressed into her just as much as he did…

Hiko pinched her arm. The sting wasn’t enough, so she pinched harder, until blood was drawn. Strangely numb she watched the crimson liquid running over the appendage, like it didn’t belong to her body anymore.

No dream. No merciful awakening from this nightmare.

Hiko inhaled loudly. “I can do it.” she mumbled into the empty apartment. Reaching up, the woman swiped the tears away and steadied herself at the wall, trying to get up. Both attempts were useless, the tears were quickly replaced and her knees were too weak to shore her unresponsive body. Shaking her head in despair and whimpers, Hiko forced finally her frame into an upstanding position and stumbled into her bedroom, a blurry curtain of tears blinding her vision. Only one thought ruled her mind and made everything else in comparison meaningless, almost laughable to the mighty need to…

Protect. Protect her love. Protect the life she was living now.

“I have to do it.” she mumbled and opened the drawer at her side of the bed, right beside the door. In the very back of the small wardrobe, hidden behind some cartons filled with books and files, was a backpack, similar to the one she used for daily business. But this one was durable, made out of thick material and able to fit 5 liters of stuff, if she packed the bag wisely. Hiko shortly stroked over it, then assembled some fitting clothes for the cold weather of the season and stuffed them inside.

Protecting the one who understood her.

Socks. Thermal underwear, sweatshirts and thick jeans. Two pullovers. Extra jacket. Then the brunette got the freshly bought laptop and carefully stuck it inside the bag, plus the small case of tools and a charging cable. The stick with all her contacts, hacked companies and little programs which could be of help.

Bathroom. Toothbrush and toothpaste. Shortly her eyes brushed over the package with birth control pills, then strolled outside, not daring to look at the various signs Kakashi lived here too.

She left her pills there. Hiko wouldn’t need them. If Kabuto really managed to get her hands on her again… A disgusting shudder made the woman nearly gag.

She also left her cellphone behind. The police would be able to find her if she would take the device, while the laptop could be deceived or covered by the female. Carefully Hiko placed the cellphone at the bigger table in the corner of the living room. But she couldn’t the resist and pressed the button to activate the screen.

New tears welled in her eyes at the sight greeting her. A photo of only Kakashi and herself, the man hiding his masked face in her mane, while Hiko smiled and did a peace sign. Obito had taken it when they were meeting at Itachi’s house one evening. The moment she saw the image, Hiko just had to select it as her background and was rewarded with a deep rumbling chuckle vibrating through the man when he noticed.

Another reason to leave it here. She had to concentrate and any disturbance could be life-threatening.

Protecting the one who was patient second to none. Protecting his life.

Quickly Hiko thought about her backpack and what she would need to survive out there, in between the police, a psychopath and the cold and freezing weather.

Food. She raided the fridge and stuffed all packed goods inside, things which wouldn’t go bad easily, together with two bottles of water. And then finally it hit her.

The thing she probably needed the most. Her weapon waited in the lowest drawer of her nightstand, together with some boxes of patrons. When the small arm laid on top of the pile, the brunette stuffed two boxes of ammo to the side, more she couldn’t take and fit inside. Then keys blinked almost mockingly at the bottom of the drawer and she huffed when she placed them inside her jeans pocket. She would need them too. After all some reserves of money and other things were hidden all over the city, in public places like a train station locker or left with some trustworthy persons she helped once. Hidden years ago, thanks to a heavy paranoia-streak she had. The woman never believed they would one day come in cellphone.

Her hair brushed over her shoulders as she bend down to pick the package up and innerved Hiko tugged the too-long tresses back. Time to speed things up. If Hiko wanted to have more time to find a place to stay tonight, then she had to leave as soon as possible. The training she gifted herself with over the years in preparations of a situation like this (not at all like this, the shorty never thought she had to worry for someone else) began to take form and Hiko braided her hair tightly, while rummaging through her wardrobe for a practical coat. Warm, durable, invisible. Her eyes landed on a black winter jacket with inner lining, windproof and waterproof, plus a hoodie. Hiko also grabbed a thick darkish green scarf and a simple wool hat in blue, then her view locked on a spare pair of black, fingerless gloves.

A tiny reminder for whom she did this. Hiko smiled sadly as she slipped them over her tiny hands. They were a bit too big, but that was okay. They smelled like Kakashi. Also a second pair of socks she slipped into, then grabbed a pair of work boots. They were heavy, but warm, proven in wind and weather and had a tip of steel to protect her if she needed to kick someone.

Protecting Kakashi. Protecting Kakashi. _Protecting Kakashi._

Ready. Sadness, but also icy determination tugged at her heart as Hiko grabbed, full of hesitation and doubt, a notepad and fiddled for a moment with the pen. One time, two times she twirled it through her fingers, set it down at the paper and lifted the pen again. There she sat, fully clothed to sleep out in the open and armed for a physical or electronic assault, prepared to face someone who seemed to know everything when she could feel lucky to know at least his name, but couldn’t bring herself to break up with Kakashi, even when it was just for show on her part.

But for him it would be real. Kakashi would be the one to suffer the most, because he had no idea what was going on or a reason to think Hiko would leave suddenly. The truth would hit him unprepared. Her heart throbbed painfully at the thought.

Didn’t Hiko swear to herself she never would hurt him? And now she would break her vow, in full knowledge of the consequences and no one could be blamed.

The hate returned and Hiko grit her teeth. There _was_ someone to blame. Kabuto, the fucker. He forced Hiko to do this, to inflict pain on Kakashi, just because he held all the strings.

Mindlessly she watched her hand leading the pen, saw how the black ink spread over the white paper, watched how the path formed words, harsh and cold. After the dirty work was done, she dropped the pen on spot and sprinted nearly out of her flat, remembering in time to crash the flat keys into the door on the outside. Numbing sadness and burning fury battled each other in her stomach and she gagged when a deeply frightening thought entered her mind.

How long would she be gone? Days, weeks, months? Hiko stifled her sobs in the gloves at the thought of years living as a falsely accused murderer, away from her family and the people she loved. The woman wanted nothing more than to turn around and crawl back into her bed and wait for Kakashi to return, to tell him everything and bury her face in his chest and weep and let herself get comforted by him. But she didn’t even look back once as she made her way towards the inner city.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Big fat kudos to Miss-Fandoms-Shakespeare for proofreading and writing such nice things underneath my drafts. I swear, I'm squealing more because of you than anything else! :D


	47. Breaking news for you

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kakashi wants to comfort Hiko, only to find an empty apartment and a heartbreaking note.

“Stomach sick?” asked Kakashi slightly confused.

All the present IT-people nodded in unison, even Shino joined. The insect lover was also affected by the stench in the room, emitted by a grey trashcan which rested beneath a wide open window, despite the coldness reigning outside.

Itachi typed something on his keyboard, his fingers moving with lightning speed. Kakashi just bought him all the input they had about the new corpse they found and originally he wanted to get some late lunch (more like dinner after a quick look at the clock) with his shorty, but to his shock she wasn’t where he assumed she would be.

“Hiko w-was really p-pale, Hatake-san,” said Hinata and clenched her hand together, “Maybe some k-kind of flu. I hope it i-isn’t something t-troublesome for her.”

He nodded mindless, but then forced himself to properly look at the Hyuuga. “Thank you. I hope so too. Well,” Kakashi waved at the three people, “thanks for the hard work until now. Message me if you have any break-through in our killer case.”

Itachi finished whatever he was doing and nodded. The black tresses of the man jumped up and down in the hasty motion. “We will.” Then, a little bit weaker: “And watch out for Hiko.”

The detective nodded too and strolled outside of the office. Before he closed the doors, a mumble and the clatter of keyboards could be heard again. While he walked down the corridors of the KPD, hands buried in the pockets of his pants, his thoughts returned almost out of instinct to the third victim of the butcher. Also a woman, found naked on the bridge crossing the wide canal in the middle of Konoha. Kakashi shuddered when he remembered the expression of deep fear and indescribable pain edged into the haggard features, the brutally opened rib cage and the partly broken ribs, destroyed in the attempt to empty the nameless woman from every organ inside. Even he, as a normal cop without high knowledge of medicine could see that the usual delicate precise worker hadn’t be present while killing the woman. No, this time she was ripped open, by crude tools, hands and fingers, breaking everything in the way between the quickly beating heart and moving lungs.

No good sign. The killer changed his method. Kakashi worried that every following death would be even more brutal than the previous one, until it would climax in a killing spree and deck the city with corpses and blood.

From a psychological point three possibilities opened up: one, the killer changed drastically, if now in personality or person, two, the killer worked for a bigger goal and saw himself already fulfilling said dream and got carried away or three, the nameless female had a strong effect on the killer, strong enough to break out of his careful behavior and dropping the cautious personality he usually displayed with every victim. Kakashi couldn’t say which outcome he preferred.

 

The way home was dark and while Kakashi automatically followed the road with his eyes and looking out for threats for him and his Yamaha (Hiko was called around midnight by Nagato, to fix some technical problems and took her already returned car) he tried to dispel the gory pictures out of his brain. Instead the man favored the images of the brunette lying down and maybe cursing under her breath in her bed. When Hiko was ill and puked on top of that, she would become a little bit edgy. She hated being ill, a trait he experienced during the first time she was down with fever and a running nose. The glassed-eyed woman had looked vulnerable and full of rage at the same time when Kakashi entered her home with a maxi-box of tissues and a fully perverted glim in his eyes. He chuckled at the memory of her, how she grabbed the present and obviously measured her chance to hit him with the package.

So he paused his drive and brought some medicine for flu, stomach sickness and just in case, diarrhea. Not any heavy bottles, also just in case.

Smiling despite his exhaustion, Kakashi parked his motorcycle and also covered the vehicle, before opening the door to the complex and silently walking the stair up, in his right hand dangling the white plastic bag with the medicine. As he reached the level of Hiko’s and his apartments, he couldn’t notice anything strange, but when he edged closer, already raising his hand for a knock at her door, his eyes fell on Hiko’s keys. Out in the open they stuck in the lock and when Kakashi turned them, the flat opened without any further hindrance.

“Hiko?” Kakashi stepped inside. No light was on, but maybe she was just asleep. He checked the bedroom, but there was no shorty hurdled into the thick blankets, a pitiful expression on her face. The bed was like he left it in the morning, his part neatly folded and prepared, hers hastily discarded and crumbled. Instead the wardrobe was left being open, clothes hastily thrown to the ground and piling on the carpet, like someone searched for something in between the neatly folded pants and pullovers.

His instincts started to rumor. Silently Kakashi settled the plastic bag down and creeped into the living room, aware of any noise which would indicate an intruder. But there was nothing. No accelerated breathing, no hasty steps, no shuffles. Only the drowning silence. Nevertheless the cop waited for some moments before he flipped the switch for the lights.

And got only more worried. The coffee table in front of the two-seater had shifted from his usual position, the flyers from the take-out services had cascaded on the carpet and floor. A beanie, _her_ black beanie laid crumpled on the cushions of the comfortable couch, hastily discarded and obviously forgotten. The drawer connected to Hiko’s desk, where the big computer was located, was wide open and showed the insides of the compartments. Kakashi turned and noticed the bathroom door was against her personal standards wide open.

A different kind of sickness settled down in the pit of his stomach as he walked over and peeked into the tiny room. It only took him one look to realize what was missing and that left him swallowing down the worst lump of bile he experienced in a whole while.

Her toothbrush and toothpaste.

            ‘No. No. _No._ It can’t be. Not again, please, not _again_ …’

That must be some kind of trick. Desperate Kakashi reached into his coat and selected her number, pressing the call-button without hesitation. For seconds the man hoped she would take it, but same dim light was shattered as he heard the loud hollow melody of her cell phone echoing through the apartment.

 

Still with his own cell phone pressed to the ear, Kakashi walked slowly towards the bigger table in the living room, his eyes fixed on the vibrating device. His heart should not beat so loudly, afraid to receive another impact, worrying and so damn hurt. Aching with every movement and shattering as Kakashi hastily read over the scribbled message in the handwriting he knew now so well after months of reading grocery lists or other notes, sometimes decorated with a little heart or a smiley, just for him.

_I’m leaving you. There’s someone else. Please don’t look for me and make this even more complicated than it already is._

_I’m sorry._

It couldn’t be. It couldn’t. Dully Kakashi placed the small note again beside Hiko’s cellphone and rested his own on top of it. His fingers shook as he did so.

‘Hiko… What are you saying? I can’t believe you. Why are you writing this? Where are you? Why did you leave? Why did you leave without talking to me? I thought we were fine, our relationship is fine and going well, that we would move forward despite our little difficulties. Why? Why do you leave me?’

Kakashi shook his head, his eyes still raking over the familiar handwriting. There was no way Hiko would leave without an explanation. No actor was so good to fake such love and not at all the shorty. She couldn’t fake her emotions, she was such a loving person, she out of all people wouldn’t do something so cruel to just write a note and expect he would be satisfied with such a thin explanation. Hiko wouldn’t do this.

…Wouldn’t she?

Still steadily shaking his head, Kakashi walked backwards, away from the cold message in the familiar handwriting, away from the proof he didn’t want to believe it was true, away from the reality which crashed into him. One question was prominent in his mind; one question and a deep crave to know. Why? And where was she?

His first try was Obito. After Kakashi calmed down a bit and got rid of the suddenly too tight scarf and mask, he grabbed his cell phone and dialed the loud Uchihas number. He didn’t even pause to listen to Obito’s greeting.

_“Hell-!”_

“Do you know where Hiko is?”

_“Isn’t she with you?”_

His stomach sank down. “No.” Kakashi said and started to pace up and down. From time to time he stopped to throw a look outside of the window, maybe a small frame would stroll over the sidewalk and glance upwards to meet his eyes. But there was no one. “She’s not in her apartment. And… she left a note.”

_“Didn’t she write down where she would be to such a late hour? That’s not the Hiko I know.”_

The silver haired man swallowed heavily. “No, she… She didn’t write anything down. Nothing relevant.”

_“Maybe we can get a clue where she went. Go on, read it for me.”_

“Obito, I don’t think there is anything what would…”

The Uchiha snorted. _“Aw, come on! Just read it, you pussy!”_

Kakashi still stared at the road below, but his eyes were blind. Then he closed them and fisted his hand into the fabric of the curtains.

“I’m leaving you. There’s someone else. Please don’t look for me and make this even more complicated than it already is. I’m sorry.” he murmured weakly. The words were already branded into his brain, fresh and itching like an abscess.

 

Obito kept silent. Only his breathing ragged over the connection. Unsure what to do, Kakashi didn’t dare to break the silence. When not even her brother knew where Hiko was, where could she possibly be? His worry raised into new heights and he started unconsciously to wander around her living room, brushing past the sofa, the packed shelves, cupboards, the posters with exotic images, then he turned around, pacing the same way back.

Finally the raven spoke again. _“She… really wrote that? No joke?”_ His voice, usually deep and rough trembled. He was also distressed, a fact which calmed Kakashi down. To know not only he was panicked by the sudden vanishing was a strange reassurance. He shook his head, remembered the other couldn’t see him and rasped: “Hiko wrote that, yes.”

_“I’m coming over.”_

“Wha-?”

_“No discussion. I’m coming over. Don’t move, I will bring Itachi and Kisame with me.”_

“You don’t need-!”

Obito snorted loudly. _“Oh please, don’t gimme that shit. You’re our friend and Hiko is our sister. When she really left you, maybe the best thing which ever happened in her life, then she went crazy, nothing less. And the moment she dragged you with her to our meet-ups, you were already in our circle. So shut up and wait for us. We will find a solution.”_ With that he cut the connection, leaving Kakashi at loss for words.

He should feel delirious at the sight of friends coming over in the middle of the night, just for his sake. Never before there was someone willing to come over, (someone else beside his father) and now three loyal friends were ready to give him a helping hand.

If the reason wouldn’t be a vanished Hiko, then Kakashi would smile. But it was how it was, so he sat down at the couch, forearms settled on his knees and hid his face in his palms.

‘Where are you now Hiko? Are you really in the arms of another man and kiss him like you kissed me? Do you laugh for him like you laughed for me? Do you smile at a silly joke or chuckle when he’s reading his favorite book? Do you talk animated and fill his home with your words or cook for him his favorite food? Do you let him seek comfort in your arms, do you sleep by his side and chase his nightmares away, do you ease his mind like you did for me? Why, Hiko? Why?’

His feelings were complicated, even too complicated to understand all of them on his own. There were the doubts and worries, the constant questioning of himself and foremost the “Why?”, running circles in his mind, but also the worry for the brunette itself wouldn’t fade easily. Where would she go? Where was she now? Was she well, was she sick? Did she sleep well, was she able to fall asleep or stumbled the brunette around, aimless in the darkness until she would close her eyes? Did she eat anything? Had she fever? Maybe she was hurt?

Kakashi clutched into the fabric of his coat which he still wore until his fingers hurt from the force.

He wasn’t angry. Dejected. Despaired. Deeply worried. But not angry.

Strange. Back then with Hanare he had been a tiny bit angry, at the foulness of her to fuck another man on his desk. But even when Hiko just left him with just a cold note, left him for another man, he couldn’t bring himself to hate her.

Maybe that would come later. The emotions, the regret and fury always came later.

The bell rang. Like a robot Kakashi followed the official norm, stood up, moved to the entrance and opened it. Obito stood before him, hair ruffed up like he fell out of bed, wide jacket hanging loosely from his shoulders, even the black eyes, usually sparkling in happiness and enjoying everything around him like a child were widened and nothing from his usual loud behavior was visible anymore.

“Can I come in?” he asked and wordless Kakashi stepped aside. Only now he got out of his shoes and coat, then numbly asked if Obito wanted something to drink, like it was expected from him.

He felt the intense stares of the raven in his back while he prepared two cups of coffee. Out of habit Kakashi’s hands already moved to the can with milk to fill half of the mug with the white liquid, but then he forced his twitching fingers to close around the can with sugar. Hiko drank her coffee with milk, not Obito.

 

“I know it’s a stupid thing to ask,” the Uchiha nodded shortly as he received his hot beverage, “but are you alright?”

Kakashi nodded while stirring in his pot. Right round, following the spoon like his life depended on it. He couldn’t stand the pity of the other male, surely standing clearly in the black pupils.

The detective moved the cup upwards and drank from it. Unhindered the beverage flooded his mouth, burned tongue and the ceiling. Slight slivers of pain flashed through the tortured flesh, but he didn’t move one muscle. The stings of his heart were much stronger than such insignificant burns.

There was something wrong. Dully Kakashi searched for the mask he expected covering his lower face, his fingertips brushing over his naked cheek and bones underneath, but the flu mask wasn’t in place.

Right. He had discarded the cover beforehand. It had started to suffocate him. He chuckled bitterly and sipped again on the coffee. “No. I assume I’m not.” he admitted weakly.

“Do you have an idea where she could have went to?”

Obito had leaned into the armchair, moved the joints of his shoulders until they popped loudly and crossed his legs like a real adult, not like a grown-up boy he usually showed to the world. The dark eyes were stern, but also friendly, but Kakashi couldn’t meet them. Instead he stared blankly at his socks.

Hiko would’ve laughed. Black and white with bananas printed on it. Where did he got anyway white socks with bananas?

“Kakashi. Hey. You have an idea? Maybe only a small hint?”

Single strands of her brown hair hung from the backrest. They also clung to her soft movie blanket, marking the cover as hers, but also some silver hairs were by now mixed into the fabric. Absent minded Kakashi plucked one of them off of the blanket.

Had it been only a few days ago they cuddled together underneath the green and white shelter, playfully nudging their knees into the legs of the other and she snickering whenever he acted more hurt than the little shove could?

Kakashi slowly shook his head. “No. I don’t have a clue.” he rasped and tried to sound like everything was alright, but failed miserably. Even in his state the male was able to hear his own despair shining through every syllable, screaming about his injuries to everyone who had ears to listen.

And Obito noticed.

“Man, don’t let your head down!” Pumping his fist out, the raven nearly lost the grip around the mug, all the while Kakashi just dully watched the actions of his friend. “That must be some kind of crazy bullshit she got herself into. Hiko would never leave someone like that. She may be not the most open person in the world, but she knows betrayal, she knows what hurt others. And especially to you,“ Kakashi raised his head at the gentle tone Obito used, “Hiko would never do such things. That’s not her way.”

“And how long do you know her now?”

A wide grin flashed over the Uchihas features. “Twenty five-motherfucking-years. If there’s a human in this world who possibly got to know her better, it would be you Hatake. And if you listen to your own thoughts and think this through, then you will agree.”

 

Kakashi chuckled warily and emptied the mug. Porcelain clinked on the hard concrete of the coffee table as he placed the mug down. “Thank you.”

 Obito flicked his wrist. “No problem man. That’s what friends are for, right?”

“Sure.” said Kakashi and watched how Obito sipped at the coffee, then looked around. The raven noticed the various items of the man lying around, but only raised his eyebrows and said nothing. Silence filled the space between the two men, until the next bell and rapid knocking at the door announced the incoming of another Uchiha and his giant fiancé. The silver haired detective wanted to move, however Obito was faster and with an apologetic gesture nearly ran towards the door.

Kakashi leaned into the backrest.

He felt hollow, too hollow to deal with anyone yet. Obito’s words helped a bit to ease his troubled mind, but the fact why Hiko left when she loved him was still running around and mocked the male. His brain hadn’t really the chance to realize what was going on, but he knew at least tomorrow the bitter truth would hit him with full force. But there were people who cared, whispered in the entrance area for his sake and stuck their heads into the living room, only to retreat and break into more whispers.

Kakashi touched his uncovered lower face.

His little Firefly would have found the situation hilarious. But she didn’t seem to be his nor was she here with him, giggling and poking his cheek like she would if she would be by his side.

She wasn’t by his side. Kakashi breathed shakily in and listened closely to the soft murmurs near the entrance. His ears perked up as he recognized his name.

 

“…can’t believe it. She wouldn’t leave Kakashi.” Kisame. Good old trusty Kisame.

“Me neither,” whispered Obito, loud enough to wake the dead. “I mean, she is so clingy with him. I can’t believe she would…”

“That’s not like her.” rumbled Kisame. Shoes were placed on the rag at the side and feet shuffled around. “And wasn’t she busy with the investigation going on? When should she have the time to meet someone else? When she isn’t with Kakashi, she is usually with one of us.”

“Lately Hiko was extremely absent-minded and often went earlier home.” Kakashi nearly missed the silent admission of Itachi, but his inside froze at the truth of the words. “She was… somewhere else, had panic attacks, made mistakes. I read her reports and I never saw that many spelling errors. There was something going on in her and when she didn’t tell anyone…”

Kisame snorted weakly. “But cheating? Come on. Never our Hi-chan.”

“I just want to say that there’s a possibility.”

“Our. Hi-chan.”

Before the little argument could turn into a full-grown fight, Kakashi coughed two times to remind the group he was still present. Immediately all of them fell silent, like a blanket covered their discussion. Then they entered the living room and Kakashi watched how Kisame fidgeted around, Itachi wore his usual unemotional expression, but clutched his fingers together and Obito ruffled nervously over the back of his neck. All of them were confused by the shorty’s actions, by her sudden confession and vanishing into thin air.

Hiko wouldn’t do this. Right?

“Hey.” Full of sympathy Kisame patted his left shoulder, digged as an assurance his shovel-like hands into bones and flesh. The grip was short, but strong and Kakashi nearly winced at the badly concealed force, however just in time controlled his features to show nothing but a weak tired smile.

“Anything heard from Hiko since you came home?” asked Itachi and mirrored his own actions from a while ago and scanned the note, even going as far and holding the sheet into the light like he wanted to check the handwriting on authenticity.

“…No.” he rasped finally. “Not even a text during the day. Just…” he gestured to the slip of paper and let his hand fall again into his lap. Itachi nodded and dropped the message on the big table, right beside her cellphone. The next object of his thorough investigation. Quickly the Uchiha overthrew the PIN Hiko installed and searched through the memory, while Kisame rummaged through the kitchen in search for something only he knew about and Obito settled again into the armchair and sipped from time to time at his coffee, looking around with a sharp gaze and seeming to notice every little detail.

Itachi huffed and raised the phone. “Only one foreign number. She was called at 14:34. But no messages from another unknown ID, so I assume this must be the ‘someone else’ she was referring to.”

Kakashi raised from his place and eagerly gestured the raven to give him the cell phone, what he did. But for a moment it seemed like Itachi paused full of anxiety, before Kakashi closed his hand around the thin device.

One inhale to steady himself, then he stared at the screen. A stream of numbers was the only thing which identified the other party and for him it almost seemed like the letters blinked in a mocking pattern. “Any chance to trace back the number?”

 

“Not without a reason.”

“And calling them is useless?”

“Not entirely. If the other party wants to take the call and the cellphone isn’t out of service…”

That was everything he needed. Growling weakly Kakashi pressed the green button and waited, the free hand propped into his waist. Everyone else was frozen. Obito just had raised the mug to his mouth, Kisame stared blankly at the cupboard and Itachi had crossed his arms over the chest. Maybe they hadn’t expected him to be so bold to call his love rival.

The ringing never seemed to end and the detective was near to give up, when finally the ‘someone else’ took the call.

Kakashi never would forget such a voice. Like silk it crawled into his ear, pressed against his eardrums and sank into his brain. He couldn’t help but to think about the compliments that such a voice could make and how Hiko would blush and fidget under such a rich tone, full of confidence and hidden glee.

_“Baby, are you already missing me? Our last time was, after all, so long ago…”_

Red pulsed in his vision when the innuendo sank in.

“Who are you?” he growled into the speaker and startled everyone present. “Where is Hiko?”

A dark snicker. _“Aah, the jealous boyfriend. I didn’t expect to hear from you, in all honesty, however… It’s always good to know the rivalry in the game, right?”_

“Currently I have not much patience left for any riddles or wise words, so just one question. Where is Hiko?” Again Kakashi started to pace up and down, brushing past Itachi, past Kisame in the kitchen, turned at the door leading to the entrance and started the round again. Where lethargy reigned was now restless energy and unable to control himself Kakashi snapped at the voice when he only snickered again, the laugh vibrating over the speaker.

“What’s so funny?” he hissed back. Obito jerked and spilled some coffee at the harsh tone, but the silver haired man couldn’t care less.

 _“Nothing, just the anger of a fool not seeing clear,”_ said the voice, _“Didn’t she break up with you?”_

Kakashi refused to say anything. However, the other party seemed to be able to read his thoughts. Another sick cackle and goose bumps crawled all over Kakashi’s spine, repelled by the fakeness in the happy sound.

 _“So she did. Good._ Good. _Such a fine, obedient girl. Does what she is told. I really like that about her. But also the special whimper when she comes is nice, don’t you believe? Or the way how she calls out my name when I give it to our little Firefly, afterwards Hiko is so wonderfully vulnerable and defenseless, and she does everything I tell her to do… Even things you can only dream about.”_

The memories flipped a switch inside Kakashi. Rage flooded every part of his body at the casual mentioned words, making his hands tremble and his face growing hotter with every second he listened to the various descriptions of Hiko’s noises and reactions to this and that, things which were burned into his brain and he had loved to do. Because it were his reactions only Kakashi could draw out.

“Don’t you fucking dare to take her name into your mouth and talk about her like this!” he snarled sharply. “If you would really love her then you wouldn’t speak about Hiko like she is only a toy for you, a mere object to play with! She’s far more than this!”

 _“Oh no detective,”_ the voice snickered full of glee, _“Hiko is far more than a simple toy for me. And to the question where she is now at the moment… Even I don’t know. Only time will tell when she makes her decision, but I’m sure it will be for my side. Sayonara, detective.”_

“Wait!” But the connection was already cut. Confused Kakashi blinked at the bright screen. “He… He just...” Helpless he shrugged, still fixed on the device, then shook slowly his head. “I can’t believe it. He is… a total….”

 

“Douche? Asshole? Shit-face?” Promptly Obito gave some examples.

Kisame joined in as Kakashi declined those suggestions silently, hands closing around a whiskey bottle (he must have brought the beverage, because there was no way Hiko would have purchased such alcohol on her own) and brought also four glasses with him. “Jackass? Bastard? Wimp?” he said and placed a cup before each men.

“Not really.”

“Creeping Jesus? Pratt? Dosser?”

“…”

“Scum? Jerk? Rat bag?”

With a thankful sigh Kakashi took the offered glass and watched mindless how Kisame poured him a deeply needed drink. “Scum fits quite perfectly.” he murmured and downed the whiskey in one go. The alcohol burned in his throat, but it was a good pain, steadying him on earth. Holding the mug again to the blue-skinned giant he nodded at the empty can. The fisherman grimaced lightly, but complied without any reveries.

Obito watched with worry how the silver haired man gulped also the next down like it was water. “Kakashi, do you really believe you should drink so…”

The next drink was gone.

Obito shrugged and raised his own whiskey. “Nevermind.”

The silent comradeship between the four males was better than any words they could utter and Kakashi was thankful for the presence of his friends. After that call he wanted nothing else but to drink, to forget and to drink a bit more to forget even the rest of this shitload.

 

(…)

 

A cellphone played weakly a rock song and he awoke from the sound. In the darkness Kakashi couldn’t see, but he didn’t really care much. Blindly he felt around, until his fingers brushed against naked skin and in the frail depths of his drowsiness the silver haired man slid his fingers over the spine downwards and groped the unfortunately clothed ass. A hand swatted him weakly away, but he wasn’t someone to give up so easily. Still eyes closed Kakashi grinned and inched closer, knowing Hiko liked (even when she didn’t want to admit the fact) when he pressed his morning-wood into her back. Hiko always arched into the perverted touch and moaned so wonderfully sweet.

Strange. Had been her waist always so thin and ripped?

A deep grump came from the other. Slipping his arms around the flanks of his bed partner, Kakashi snuggled into the muscular form and breathed the smell of… Wait.

Hiko didn’t smell like pine. Where was the raspberry and vanilla scent?

“Usually you have to invite me to a date before I let somebody grope my ass and press his boner into my back. And seriously, what is this, a cucumber or what?”

He flinched away from the hoarse voice, _not_ Hiko’s melodious tone. It was the voice of a man, a familiar on top of that. Then a porcupine started a polka in his head and groaning Kakashi buried his face in the pillow. The ache was punishment enough, but why again he molested his friend?

“Hey party people, wakey-wakey!” Obito’s cheerful boom echoed too loud and too near his ears. “Man, you’re wild when you’re drunk!”

“What happened? And why did I ate rotten eggs or something?” The bad taste on his tongue could also be from a corpse. The bed shifted and dipped as the loud Uchiha tossed himself around until he faced the detective.

“You downed nearly half of the whiskey alone, then you started to get out of your clothes and demanded we had to play twister. Kisame captured you before you could slip out of your boxers, then I thought: “Well, that gets out of hand” and tugged you into bed, but you begged me to sleep in the same bed as you, so I sacrificed my dignity and the possibility to get laid by my marvelous girlfriend-!”

Kakashi groaned embarrassed and tried to cover his stinging head with the pillow, but his friend only laughed at the red ears the silver haired man spotted. “Aw, no need to feel ashamed! I mean, we are friends!”

“We are foremost adults and adults don’t cuddle if they aren’t in a relationship.”

“Tell that Itachi and Kisame. Even before they became a thing they always were in each other’s arms, it was almost ridiculous to watch. Right, they went over into your flat and crashed there.”

Kakashi peeked out of his cover. Obito wore his sheepish smile, but it suddenly dropped, making way for worry. “Are you…” He stopped mid-sentence and the single drop of mood was everything Kakashi’s aching head needed to remember why he had drunk so much.

 

Hiko was gone. Went for another man. Left him.

Suddenly all the feelings were resurfacing. The dull emptiness nagging at his insides. The growing loneliness. These damned negative things he already went through years ago, after Hanare moved out of their shared home. Suddenly there was nothing else but…

Kakashi sighed into the cushions and hoped the soft fabric would muffle the sound. He didn’t feel like getting out of bed and ready for his job. All the energy which usually fueled his whole being and mind was just… gone.

Like the shorty.

“Come on,” said Obito and grabbed the blankets, “get out of bed! I’m sure you don’t remember anymore after your whiskey-indicated black-out, but all of us stated one thing: After a while Hiko will come back, because she’s maybe a bit confused right now by what only she knows, but she loves you.” He had the courage to poke Kakashi into the bare ribs and the silver haired man squirmed away from the touch. “The stupid harpy needs some time to cool down, because for god-knows-what. But she will come back, because she is so deep in love with your lazy-ass, Hiko gets all touchy-feely and opens up to other people, she isn’t scared anymore. That’s your influence.”

“Really?” The question was faster out than Kakashi could think. He wanted to believe, he wanted to believe desperately into his shorty, that this was only a little interruption and not the end _–please don’t let this be the end-_ so it was normal to ask. Right?

The raven started to laugh and violently ripped the blanket away from Kakashi. “She totally loves you! Only a little bit more and she even grows a few inches!”

Maybe it was foolish to believe. Maybe Kakashi should have learned his lesson a long time ago, when he thought he could repair his marriage. Maybe he shouldn’t believe anymore.

But Kakashi wanted to believe. Oh, how much he wanted to believe.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Miss-Fandoms-Shakespeare, your comments are my fuel to keep me writing the angsty mess I produce in the chapters I'm currently planning/writing :')  
> (yes, this was actually a compliment) xD


	48. Evidence assembled

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> New evidence appears and slowly Kakashi doesn't know what to think and what to believe anymore. All the while Hiko found a remporary place to stay, but the questions she has to face make her more than only uncomfortable.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, sorry, sorry... >.<  
> To all of you a happy late christmas and a happy new year's eve!

Dully, Kakashi listened to Gai, who brightly boomed about the new insight he gained through an inspection and questioning of the place Fuu Yamanaka was last seen, a small bar in the northern districts of Konoha. Apparently he had talked with someone, a cloaked small man or woman, then vanished together with the enigma into the night, the last time he was seen alive. Without a doubt the other party had been to something up, because the witnesses described him or her as nervous. Peeked always over the shoulder, looked around and went silent whenever a drunkard came to close to the little booth he and Yamanaka occupied.

He should feel good about a clue. Finally the police had a little trace, something to search and investigate closer, not stumble through the darkness with nothing but dim flashlights. But his heart only jerked weakly, then continued to bump in the monotonous rhythm it seemed to follow since yesterday.

“Good job Gai.” he said and forced himself to smile exhausted at the youthful thumbs-up of his partner.

The blinding smile dropped. “Is something the matter, my eternal rival?”

Damn. Kakashi’s various masks dropped. Quickly he shook his head, then averted the painful topic with a strategy he only used when everything else failed (and it would, considering the persistence and endurance of the green-loving man in front of him). Kakashi tugged with a practiced gesture “Icha-Icha-Violence” out of his coat and opened the thin booklet somewhere in the middle, pretending to read, while everything his eyes saw were confusing loops of black on white.

“Just… needed to find my page again.” he mumbled as an excuse and flipped to the next, hoping it would be enough of an explanation for Gai.

Thankfully it was, but Kakashi couldn’t bury the faint premonition Gai would try to dig out the reason for his unusual behavior and absent-minded grunting.

Until now Kakashi managed to avoid any questions from the surrounding officers, even when they all must have noticed something was off. He heard the little murmurs behind his back or the weak approaches towards Obito, but his friend kept loyal and fend everything and everyone off. However soon even the colorful front of his favorite novel wouldn’t be enough to keep the gossipers at bay and at least the moment Hiko didn’t came to fetch him for their break, the other officers would ask what was going on.

 

Kurenai would be the first to notice, Kakashi was sure. Since the summer festival the two females were quite close, chatted whenever they had the chance and visited the coffee shop down the street sometimes. Surely the woman would ask questions when Hiko wouldn’t come to the main office and get Kakashi for a shared lunch. Following would be Sasuke and Naruto on his friend’s heels, asking with wide eyes (the blond) or a defiant grunt (the raven) where his girlfriend was, maybe she was still ill?

The detective shuffled on his seat, face still hiding behind “Icha-Icha-Violence”. That his close friends knew that Hiko… fine. But to announce his again single-state to his colleagues and subordinates was horrible. The pitying look in their faces. The whispers among themselves, the deafening silence when Kakashi would enter a room. They would treat him like a mix between an outcast and a lost cause, even when the break-up was only a temporary thing on his part.

It had been the same back then with his ex-wife. Kakashi’s stomach clenched at the prospective of the various situations, but even more the question where the shorty was now. He still didn’t know and the missing of any life sign from Hiko, any possible clue about her state and her whereabouts was killing him inside. Kakashi couldn’t concentrate on his work, his thoughts only turned around the possibilities and horror-pictures which automatically came to life, being a cop for far too long and knowing how dangerous the streets could be.

‘One wrong step and she’s gone. Forever. God Hiko, why do you went out and didn’t left any information? Why didn’t you take your cell phone with you? I don’t want to think about you being beaten-up for a witty comment, left near to death after an accident in a shit-hole or… I don’t want to think about it or else I’m going crazy.’

“Kakashi?”

“Hm?” The detective closed “Icha-Icha-Violence” carefully and turned to Obito, who approached and knocked two times on top of his desk. “Did you say something?” Out of habit the unemotional tone came to him, when Kakashi nothing wanted more than to drive around the town and search for his shorty.

“We have a witness.” said the raven and gestured weakly to the entrance. Kakashi followed the finger and couldn’t be more surprised.

He recognized the purple hair, bound into a messy bun and the beige trenchcoat she loved so much she even wore the coat in the middle of the maybe coldest November he experienced for the last few years. Anko.

Her timing was terrible.

“What did she see?” he asked and tried to concentrate. For the sake of the three dead and brutally slaughtered people down in the labs, for the peace of their families. “Anything related to our killer?”

Obito shook his head, arms crossed over his chest. His features wrenched and between his sharp eyes a crease was born as he looked over his shoulder at the fidgeting woman. “Her answers were really vague. She said she only wants to speak with you, god knows why.”

 

Inwardly Kakashi sighed loudly, but on the outward, he was the perfect controlled police officer, even trying to force a bit happier expression on his masked face. “Well,” he hid his booklet underneath a small pile of files, “let’s hear her out.”

Maybe the actual work would distract him enough to think about something else than Hiko and all the possible ways of the female to get hurt in Konoha. While Kakashi made his way to his ex-fuck-buddy, he remembered clearly the fight he had because of the purple haired woman and her sudden messages. But from the confident and constantly ready female nothing was left. While he scanned her figure, he noticed the stand Anko was in.

Her posture had been proud and secure of her assets, her huge breasts pushed into everyone’s face who was in her visor and attractive enough to catch her interest. Her eyes had been fierce and as a security chef of a huge bank Anko was always attentive and searched in her near proximity for possible dangers. Underneath her cocky behavior hid an intelligent and diligent worker.

The woman standing at the entrance of the main office wasn’t Anko anymore. Sure, the face and frame were the same as before, but the way she held herself changed drastically. Not proud, but nearly… _fearful_. Ankos eyes were down casted, her arms slung around her torso like she needed the support of her own limbs to hold her intestines into place and if Kakashi was right, the busty female trembled, even when she wore the thickest clothes he had seen until now on her.

Carefully he approached her and as he coughed to announce his presence, her head flew up. The pupils were widened and if Kakashi wouldn’t knew better, he would say Anko was on drugs or other mind-altering things. But nobody was insane enough to go in such a state into the devil’s den, to speak, the KPD.

“Can I help you?” he asked and guided Anko to one of the friendlier bureaus at the side. Little compartments to give witnesses or victims a peaceful environment and relax a bit, before the officer in charge would try to get the needed information subtly out of them.

Her eyes raked over the interior, the hard couch and the small table in front of it. She settled down and her fingers wandered over the cushions like she had let them wander over his body when they shared a passionate moment. For minutes the woman didn’t answer, only her eyes flew around, unsure where to settle on, then they came to an abrupt halt on the ground. Staring down, her slightly deranged state catched Kakashi’s eye even more, until he coughed, what caused her to jerk like he interrupted a very important conversation.

“Yeah… You can… help me.” Anko murmured, eyes still set on her shoes and ground.

Quickly the silver haired man shook his head to get rid of the forbidden thoughts and sat down in front of her, into a single armchair. The furniture groaned silently when he sank down, but Kakashi ignored the noise disturbing his concentrated mind and scanned again Anko.

“Would you like something to drink?” he asked, but before he could make any suggestions, she shook her head.

“No. No. This can’t wait.”

“Okay.” Kakashi gestured her to continue. “I’ll listen. What did you witness?”

 

Anko struggled for a few moments. For the first time since she entered the office, the woman raised her head fully, like someone flipped a switch on or pulled at the strings holding her body. Kakashi was reminded of the day they met as she straightened. But there was something strange in her eyes, a special dullness or emptiness which send shivers down his spine. Thankfully the cop had enough self-control to suppress the tremor havocking in his body.

“Yesterday I went for my daily jog towards the Konoha bridge,” began Anko, sounding like she repeated a well-prepared text, “it was around 11 a.m. Cause the fog or the rainy weather, not much people were present as I moved over the construct. Just when I wanted to cross over, a transporter came up and I made place for them. In the front where two people, one fat young man with bright orange hair and a cloaked female I believe, but I couldn’t make out much due to the hoodie.”

“What happened afterwards? Did you see other people?”

Kakashi’s heart started to pound and his skin started to tingle pleasantly. That was the first mistake of the killer. Leaving a witness. This would be the breaking point which would lead to the murderer and the end of the horrible homicides taking place in Konohagakure.

Anko gulped dryly, but continued, the empty eyes set on a spot behind Kakashi. “Not much, but if I had to guess, there were two other people in the transporter.”

“Do you remember the color of the car?”

“Pitch black.”

“Maybe also the car plate?”

The woman shook her head. “There was none. Only the people inside.”

He leaned into the backrest, looking as relaxed as one could be, on the inside however Kakashi jittered in excitement. He could feel it. “Go on.” he said calmly.

“I continued my training and nearly was out of sight, as the transporter halted directly on the bridge.” Anko said. Automatically she wrinkled her trench coat out before speaking up again, voice flat and somehow strained. “I know that’s forbidden, so I wanted to go back and talk to them, as the co-driver got out and opened the slide doors. Out came some more guys, but I hid quickly when I saw the person hanging in between them.”

“Could you describe the person?”

“A woman, maybe around my age. White hair, darker skin than usual. I couldn’t see much, but I assume she was already dead. One of them carried a huge box and spread the insides over the body when they had arranged it. The cloaked person seemed to lead them, pointed various times at the railing and the corpse, gestured to the other guys around her. And she was the one to place the final thing into the lap.”

Interested Kakashi leaned forward. “No special features you remember? Maybe even a description of the cloak could be helpful.”

Her hand flew up, covering her right temple and side of her face. Kakashi watched how Anko bend forward, the other arm slung around her stomach and he worried for a short second, but then she spit out a description, vague, but he could work with that.

 

“Short. Really short. The others hovered over her. The cloak was black, but covered everything, from head to toes. I couldn’t see anything from her face, but one time she moved too much and her left forearm was revealed. There was something like a tattoo, words or such. And her voice… I would swear…” The woman shuddered. “I know that voice. I don’t know from where, but I know that voice.”

“Hey.” He felt obliged to calm Anko down. Not only as a police officer in charge, but as a distant relative and someone who got to know the purple haired female. So Kakashi stood up and gently placed his hand on her shoulder, noting she jerked at the cautious touch. “It’s okay. You saw something disturbing, but it’s good you came to the police. And I even can relate why you only came today.”

Shocked eyes turned towards him and Kakashi forced a caring light into his features, like he wasn’t totally numb _–dead-_ on the inside. “The ones who placed the woman on the bridge were probably the ones who killed her, so you were in a state of shock.” he said quietly and Anko returned the slight touch with a sharp nod. She wasn’t one to show her feelings in an obvious manner, she preferred to make nasty comments about the other, like she did with Hiko when they met in Sabaku Savings. That Anko reverted to this, a silent and almost angsty female, was probably one of the most confusing things Kakashi ever encountered. Then Hiko came again to his mind and sadness washed over him as the memory of the first witnessed panic attack, heaving and panting, the hopeless shadow in her bright blue eyes and the tears, prickling hot over cold skin came back.

She didn’t answer, only let her eyes drop to the ground again. Once more Kakashi was reminded of the countless drug addicts and abusers he saw during his SFU-time. They had the same lifeless staring in them, the same unemotional and untypical demeanor, underlined by white noses or injection marks dotting out from their pale skin.

“You can rest here for a few moments,” he said and squeezed her shoulder one last time, before releasing the joint and walking over to the door, “just tell me when you leave. Another officer will come in and ask you to describe the accomplices in detail. Thank you for your report, the city and the KPD appreciate your service.”

He was nearly out of the room, then Anko mumbled something; a sentence he surely didn’t expect from the tough female. The content let his heart race faster, if now out of despair or pain, Kakashi didn’t differ.

“So… You and the dwarf. I can’t say I didn’t see that coming.”

It was the first time they met personally after their last sex-meeting and also the first time after he ended their fuck-relationship over phone. So he shouldn’t be too shocked by the casual mentioning of the brunette or the mocking nickname Anko gave Hiko, but it hurt to be reminded of the evening yesterday and this morning, to feel all the emotional emptiness and the buried crave to know how his shorty was. Hurt? Joyful? Pained? Happy?

At least alright?

 

“Yeah.” Kakashi choked on the single word, fingers still clenched around the doorknob.

Anko wasn’t quite finished. Why exactly had she had to find her original personality again and the man was reminded of the reasons why he had been always so eager to leave her flat when they were finished screwing each other’s brains out? “Things are getting better and better, eh? From one woman to the next. Say, is she at least creative in the sheets? She seemed a little prudish to me, but…” She shrugged. “Everyone has his own kinks. Maybe the dwarf gets off to other things. SM? Toys? No, don’t say anything. It’s a foot fetish, right?”

Kakashi just wanted to retort, the words already formed on his tongue. However, the sudden wave of anger flared bright like a hay fire, but was just as fast over, dimmed by the overbearing loss. Quietly and not looking back, Kakashi got out of the small bureau, leaving the disappointed woman behind. Outside, after he closed the door with a resolute ‘clap’, he steadied himself with a deep breath. Inhale. Exhale.

They would work this out, he and Hiko. It was only a little bump on the road. She would return, maybe today, maybe tomorrow. Hopefully tomorrow. He didn’t know how he would carry on without the small body by his side, not intoxicated by too much whiskey and satisfied with the body of her loud brother. And again Kakashi’s thoughts wandered off, to the brunette and how she dealt with the world around her, if she was okay or not, if she was affected by leaving him or…

No. She was affected. Had to be. Hiko wasn’t an actor. She tried, yes, but she never managed to hide her emotions, not from him.

‘ _There were times you had no idea what’s going on. You shouldn’t lie to yourself. The evening you two danced and Hiko had a nightmare. She left you in bed, remember? And proceeded to suffer in solitude, until you dragged her butt back under the sheets. You noticed something was off. And the last days she was quite absent-minded. Not really attentive, a bit grumpy… A lot of work to do, outside of the KPD as well. Maybe she met someone, maybe she opened up even faster to someone else, maybe she decided you were a hopeless case after all. Wouldn’t be the first woman.’_

Stomach acid boiled up, burning and crawling upwards, through throat and mouth, burning tongue and teeth with the typical disgusting taste Kakashi knew all too well. Grimacing he swallowed the sign of his emotional state and suppressed the shudder born out of the action. No. No place for bad thoughts. He knew Hiko would come back. Obito and the others were right, Hiko was in love with him. Not only she changed the ruminative cop for the better, apparently he had also some kind of effect on the shorty, and not a small one if he decided to listen to his friends. This was just… an interruption. She announced their relationship went until now almost too smooth, too easy. Hiko expected some problems on the way and begged him to understand. And she said she loved him, no matter what would come. And Kakashi believed her. He believed his little Firefly.

 

Determined Kakashi tightened his fists and strolled over to his desk. Sasuke already worked full of diligent vigor, almost throwing himself into the big piles of files and papers which arrived by now from the other departments, Naruto by his side. But the blond’s face wasn’t as determined as the Uchihas. Pouting he flipped through the pages, hastily and not careful, not batting an eye to all the little details which could be crucial for a murder case.

“Naruto, if you want the files like a novel where you can skip most of the part, your career will stagnate.” he said calmly and picked the file out of Gais student hands. “I don’t want to interfere how you do your work, it’s Gais job after all, but it’s also my case. And I expect all involved officers to give their best, regardless how boring the task is or how useless it seems.”

Naruto wanted to interrupt, but Kakashi raised one hand and stifled the attempt of weak defense. “I also don’t want to say Sasuke is perfect. Look, he pays attention to the details, but he totally forgot to order the files. Where there any cases which are highly likely tied to our killer?”

The raven nodded. A slight crease between the eyebrows told the silver haired male his student wasn’t overjoyed by the scolding, but he had to learn, like everyone at the start of their career. “Then order them. At the end of the shift I want to see the results of your hard work. Keep going.”

With that Kakashi swiftly turned away. While he walked through the office, avoiding to bump into a fellow cop, he catched the loud voice of Naruto, boisterous and not at all silent, like the young man probably intended it. “Kakashi-sensei seems happier than before, right?”

Sasuke grunted only back, but then he was out of hearing range and on the way down to the labs, a hand resting on the bump in his jeans, where his cell phone was located.

He hoped for a little sign, a ring, a vibration and hopefully Hiko’s name blinking on the screen, telling him she was back in her home and ready to talk with him about her sudden flight. And they needed to talk about that, at least that Kakashi was sure about.

When the result was Hiko being back in his arms, hell, even near him was enough, then the male could talk. He would sing like a sparrow if that was needed to bring the brunette back into his life.

But life wasn’t so kind to let this be solved that easy.

Just as Kakashi wanted to get into labs, only a few steps parted him from the cold white room, Orochimaru emerged, head turned over his shoulder to speak with one of his assistants, which one Kakashi didn’t know. “…the chief needs to know. I don’t care if he’s in an interview with a gutter-magazine, this changes everything! We have to reevaluate our processes, our doings, the whole investigation could be undermined! This-! Hatake.”

 

Orochimaru stopped in his tracks, the spotless lab coat flattering against the harsh movement, one arm full of with a clipboard, which was now pressed to his chest.

Kakashi waved at the pale man. “Yo. What are you telling the chief?” He couldn’t help but to notice the tensed up state of the examiner and so the also hard features nearly sprang into his trained eyes, easily spotted by an ex-SFU-member. Whatever Orochimaru had discovered, it wasn’t something he would want to hear.

The other male clicked his tongue, more innerved than anything else. “I guess I can tell you too. In the end it also involves you and…” Orochimaru awkwardly grimaced, a motion Kakashi never saw on him. Was it maybe… pity in the cold snake-eyes?

“Listen Hatake,” started the examiner with a sigh, “we found something. Something relevant. The last corpse had some foreign DNA on her, hidden and maybe undetected by the killer, because he was in some kind of frenzy when he killed her. And on top of that it was enough to get a sufficient profile.”

Orochimaru shook his head. “At this point of the investigation we -and you have to agree- need to follow every clue, no matter how irritating it can be. Right?”

Kakashi nodded slowly, not sure where this conversation would go. “Right…”

“I have no idea why this is on the body,” continued the male and a dark premonition crawled into the back of Kakashi’s back, “but the fingerprints and belonging DNA are from one of the officers of the KPD. Directly on the body and circling the wounds. Estimated by the angle and place I found the traces, I have no other choice but to believe the colleague is the one who killed the last corpse and also the two others. And this special officer wasn’t once in the near proximity of the corpse to contaminate the case, not one second, I can swear on my certification as a medical examiner.”

“Who was it?” growled Kakashi deep in the back of his throat. He wouldn’t like to hear the name of the officer, but everything was better than listening to the ominous vague sentences of the snake-lover.

Orochimaru told him. The detective shook his head and laughed out loud, not believing what he heard. A joke, that’s what it was. A huge bad cruel joke. Then the pale male showed him the diagrams, the comparisons of the fingerprints, the strings of the DNA, encoded and deciphered again and Kakashi snorted, but more out of despair than out of unbelief. There was proof. Solid rock-hard proof. Taking the sheets of paper into his own hands, his eyes raked again and again over the lines, spelling the name of his vanished girlfriend clearly out and marking her as the murderer. He had no other choice but to believe in the evidence, because when he couldn’t believe in them anymore, in which thing in this goddamn world he could actually dare to believe? Kakashi crumbled the paper lightly in his clenched hands, but turned around to report to Nagato. It was his job after all. His heavy heart had no place here. Nonetheless it shattered with every step he took a bit more, nonetheless the betrayal raged with every second and burnt his insides to ash.

            ‘Hiko… What have you done?’

 

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

She hadn’t slept at night. Sure, she found a safe place to stay for the time being and made some new friends on the way –the homeless people maybe missed a few teeth, but not their manners, especially as Hiko tugged some eatable goods out and distributed them- and was huddled up in a warm sleeping bag she got from one of her new friends, the merciful curtain wouldn’t come over her. Too bright was the silky voice in her mind, too confused Hiko was by the sudden overthrow of her life.

Why was Kabuto in Konoha? And considering the easy way how he mentioned placing false proof on the corpses of the serial killer (from a rapist to a death-bringer, no big surprise on her part), her ex was convinced the chase and the following accuses on her name would lead Hiko into his arms, willingly and with tears in her eyes, begging for forgiveness. But why?

“I still miss pieces to this puzzle.” she murmured absent-minded and snuggled deeper into the fleece fabric of the blue sleeping bag.

One of the older people in her proximity, a guy without his incisors and greasy brown hair turned around and smiled toothily. “Whadda’ya mean, lil’ missy?”

Hiko waved at him and forced a smile on her cold face. “No need to worry. Just some talking to myself. Sometimes I have to talk to someone intelligent.” she joked and was rewarded with a widening of the man’s grin.

“No problems missy,” another male joined the conversation while ordering his belongings in the scrapped and rusty shopping cart, “We all talk to ourselves from time to time. Do you have still some apples?”

Nodding, Hiko reached into her backpack and threw one of the red fruits towards to Masao, who was obviously overjoyed. His rough face lit up and he devoured the apple in less than a minute and she couldn’t help herself but to chuckle at his eagerness. Ikkaku, the first man grumbled something incoherent into his dirty beard.

Hiko was glad she found them. It was a small group, mostly containing of five people. Currently the only other female Azarni, a rather normal-looking young woman (with expressive gold colored eyes though), was out in the cold with the other two men, searching for food in the dumpsters of restaurants and supermarkets around. To protect their hiding spot and look out for possible thieves, Ikkaku and Masao stayed back in the worn-down house. No one else lived here, the ceiling was partly destroyed and the floor creaked under each step like it wanted to give in any moment, but it was some kind of protection against the harshly blowing wind and the cold. A fire, feed by newspapers and rest of chairs and tables flickered in one corner and spend light and deeply needed warmth.

 

Masao mumbled something around the last bits of the apple and Hiko grimaced. “Come on,” she said and cocked her head at the man, “I can’t decipher such a code.”

The sturdy man swallowed and grinned, before going back to rummage through his shopping cart. Instead Ikkaku answered, scratching over his head and rearranging his black ear muffs. “He said ‘t was the best apple he ‘ad over the whole year. And he thank’d ya.” His rough voice, coming from years of chain-smoking and a life on the street was one of the deepest the woman ever witnessed. But it fit his gruff body, bend by sixty years, if she had to evaluate his age.

But just as she wanted to retort something witty, Ikkaku spoke up again and surprised her.

“Lil’ missy… I didn’ wanna ask, but ya only recently join’d our club, eh?”

Warily Hiko raised an eyebrow at the sudden question. She didn’t expect one of them to worry for her sake, but assumed it was only natural to be interested into the new addition of the circle.

“Yeah.” she croaked, still trying to put a puzzled smile on her lips.

“Why? Ya don’t seem like someone to run away from ya problems.”

“There are… circumstances.”

The caterpillar-eyebrows, big, long and fuzzy creased in suspicion. “Look, I don’t wanna intervener, it’s not my shit, but ya know… Sometimes it’s better to talk with ya family abou’ ya differences.”

Hiko sighed. “Ikkaku, this is not about my family. My parents… are out of the quotation. They don’t matter. The only persons I can count on are my friends and…” She paused, shook her head to get rid of the shame and doubt clouding her mind and continued, hastily stumbling over words and syllables. “Believe me, I ran away to get some things straight, not to flee from them. They are my most important people in the world and hurting them is the last thing I want to do.”

“But aren’t ya hurtin’ them by leavin’?” asked Ikkaku.

“Probably.” the brunette admitted weakly and pulled her knees to her chest. His words seemed accusing, like the old man wanted to blame her for turning her back to the people she loved.

“Then why not goin’ back?”

“I…” Before Hiko could answer, Masao interrupted with a deep guttural grump.

“Look!” His big index finger pointed out of the window and the troll-man turned, obviously overjoyed the shorty and the old companion. “It’s the nice dolphin!”

Ikkaku shrugged and Masao giggled quite affectionate for someone who could work in a haunted house to earn a living (according to Ikkaku, Masao really did work once in such an attraction), but Hiko was utterly confused. “The nice… dolphin?” she said and turned the sentence into a question.

 

Masao nodded wildly, while scrambling through his shopping cart. In the process, some tiny things fell through the mesh, but he quickly bend down and threw them on the pile again, all the while he hobbled up and down. “He’s a nice person. Brings from time to time food and other goods of different kinds. Says he’s a private tutor for problem kids, but still has time for the likes of us.”

“Woah.” Hiko whistled impressed. Carefully she got out of her sleeping bag, rolled the fabric to a pack and moved beside Masao to look also out of the window. Shards of glass were still present as she peeked out, the wind burning coldly on her face. Almost instantly her nose started to run and the shorty sniveled, but kept her eyes fixed on the figure which walked, packed with three big plastic bags towards the broken house, only barely noticeable in the already creeping up darkness. “Why is he doing this?”

In her behind Ikkaku shuffled on his feet. The floor creaked loudly and Hiko flinched at the surprising sound. “Doesn’t matter. He brings food.”

The “nice dolphin” was now near enough for Hiko to make out more details. He was… pretty normal though, just like her. Brown hair, drawn into a high ponytail. Nice clothes, but as he fought his way over the iced street walk, she noticed the crumpled and wrinkled dress pants. Maybe a job interview gone wrong.

“I’ll open the door.” Hiko murmured and crossed the room until she got to the previous entrance area, a long floor, reaching almost through the whole house. Thankfully the ruin still had a door, a pitiful rest of a once mighty gate and the joints squeaked loudly when Hiko pulled with all her might at the handle, but piece by piece the entrance opened for the male, who just had raised his hand to knock. His friendly brown eyes turned down to look at Hiko, then he scratched with an embarrassed smile his cheek. “I see… A new addition to Ikkaku’s circle. What’s your name?”

While opening the door wider, Hiko gestured the man to come in. He seemed a bit younger than her, but the scar crossing the bridge of his nose made him look like a rascal. “Hiko.”

“Just Hiko?” His voice was also nice. Fitting to be a teacher. Calm, collected and somehow she got the feeling it could turn stern any moment.

“Just Hiko.” the shorty answered. “And yours?”

“Iruka Umino.” Iruka wiped some wetness off his shoulders, then settled with a grunt the plastic bags to the ground. Then he stretched his hand out, still wearing the same kind of sheepish grin on his face. “Nice to meet you, Just Hiko.”

That was it. Chuckling lightly, the shorty avoided to shake his hand and gestured over to the bags. “Do you need help? They look pretty heavy to me.”

“Yes, that would be nice.”

“Tough day, huh?” Hiko pointed at the wrinkled clothes while picking up two bags, what left the remaining one for the teacher. Once more she analyzed his posture and noticed the slightly crestfallen frame and eyes. Probably the job interview didn’t go as well as he hoped.

 

“Uhm… yes, you’re right. Tough day and such.” Iruka answered and sighed weakly.

“Job interview?”

“Yes. At the local High School. You see, I managed to live until now by giving supplementary lessons, but recently I had the feeling that isn’t enough… And it was always my dream to become a real teacher, so I thought I could persuade my dreams.”

“Then why letting yourself so down? Maybe it went well.”

To her surprise (when the female thought closely about it, she shouldn’t get agitated over such things anymore, honestly) the brunet shook with a smile his head, even when he was only seconds ago somehow depressed. “Maybe it went well, maybe not. Yeah, you’re right. They still haven’t given me their answer, so I can still get the job. Thanks.”

Together they dragged the groceries into the living room. Masao immediately started to follow the bags with his eyes. He looked like a hungry bear in front of a honey mug, what caused Hiko to throw a quick look at her backpack.

Still untouched. Just to be sure. In the end there was still one remaining apple.

Ikkaku had turned to the fire and settled down in a dirty old armchair. The furniture threatened to collapse any moment, with every little motion it creaked and groaned under the weight of the old man. He had turned his palms towards the flames, rubbing them together to create more warmth.

Iruka walked over and tugged some cigarettes out of the bag. Reaching them out to Ikkaku, the teacher still wore his gentle smile while talking to the other. “Hello. Got your cough better?”

“Worrywart.” Ikkaku snatched the package away and stuffed them quite rudely into the inner pocket of his worn-out brown coat.

“My offer is still open. You shouldn’t be in the cold when you’re sick.”

“It’s not your business.”

For the first time Hiko heard Ikkaku talk not like he was born on the street, but like a decent person. Out of the corner of her vision the woman watched how the two interacted, how Ikkaku grumpily let Iruka groom him like a pet, pressed different things onto the old man and all in all cared for him, not like a mere stranger with a generosity complex, but like…

Hiko snickered weakly into the open space and shook her head while scrambling through the bags, in her mind already pre-ordering them to the inhabitants of the house, excluding herself from the mass. She didn’t intend to stay for long anyway.

 

“Here.” She shoved a pile full of fruits over to Masao, who happily stuffed all the food into his shopping cart, right between the nasty extra-clothes and a pair of stinking boots. Her face was completely neutral, but inwardly Hiko cringed at the treatment. Hopefully he wouldn’t forget them in there.

“Sorry,” the brunet was done talking with his father and came over, crouching down by her side, “I haven’t got anything for you. But if we split the part of Azarni and-!”

“Forget it,” said Hiko and raised an eyebrow at the flabbergasted expression, “You did nothing wrong. You had no idea I was here, so I won’t complain about being left out, got it? And no splitting, I don’t want to rob the others from their food. Do you know how late it is?”

“Around 4 p.m. Why? Do you need somewhere to be?”

Hiko groaned. “Really, 4 already? Did I sleep that long?” A personal joke, just for herself. She knew what she had to do and thought the whole night about the matter, but the shorty saw no way out of this scenario without involving some of her friends.

 _People_ , she corrected her own thoughts.

The last two people who would believe her, because they never talked face to face.

That had to change, unfortunately.

 

strikingSWORDs and GinGerGeneral. Her hacking buddies. But she had to contact them somehow, over the same program they used all the time.

Her brain wandered to her laptop, safely secured inside her backpack. Yeah, she had the tools, but no safe connection into the World Wide Web. And here, in the outskirts of Konoha was nothing. Some trees and the forest which surrounded the city, but nothing else. No chance to get a signal. And to avert the cameras around here, she travelled with her scarf covering her face and mostly through thin alleys and shady streets, where she totally knew there was no street camera waiting for any suspicious behavior. Hiko needed to vanish, like a ghost. Thus she avoided to leave any traces behind. Only at night it was possible to wander undetected through the streets, hidden in between the drunkards who didn’t mind a small woman in manly clothing, with glasses and covered from head to toe.

“Well, then I will take my leave.” Yawning and not even trying to conceal it, Hiko got up and winked full of amusement at Iruka, who was just as confused as Ikkaku at her sudden eagerness to walk out into the harsh cold winter weather. The old man looked over his shoulder, saw she had already packed all her things and grunted, before waving dismissingly over his shoulder.

“Good luck on the streets, lil’ missy. I knew you wouldn’t stay for long. And think about what I told you.”

For a second her brain revolted and the walls she built to protect herself from the pain piercing her heart wavered. Tears dwelled and threatened to spill, but with a quick sharp bite into her tongue Hiko controlled the innerving urge to cry her fears out. For now she only suppressed her emotions, tried to mask them with forced happiness and witty comments, but the bond between father and son right in front of her eyes was weakening her defenses. Another good enough reason to leave. Her hands, covered in the fingerless gloves trembled as she grabbed the straps of her bag and as she hauled the package over her shoulders and fumbled with the other to slip in, a stupid sting in her nose made her snivel once more.

“I will think about it if you do the same.” she retorted finally and more harshly than she intended. Out of the corner of her eyes she noticed Iruka flinched a bit at her tone, but Hiko had no time to deal with the hurt feelings of a brunet teacher. She had other things, more important, _life threatening_ things to do and avoid. Adjusting the scarf over nose and the wool hat over her scalp, Hiko tugged her ruffled braided hair out and turned to the present men.

 

In the meantime Iruka overcame his shock and stood again, in his hands a packed bag with sandwiches and a bottle with water. “Here,” he said and shoved the two things into her gloved hands, “It’s harsh out there. Do you have a place to stay?”

Thankfully nodding, the woman accepted the food. As their fingers brushed in a short contact, she hastily flinched backwards, away from the foreign man. “Not yet, but I’m creative. And really, I’m so small even a… Oh.”

A single brow was raised. “What?”

“Just a stupid idea of mine, nothing serious.” Hiko nodded at Iruka. Indeed there was already a perfect location in her curious mind. Sure, it was probably a bit risky and even dangerous to go _there_ , but she knew the password for the internet, had a safe place and the opportunity to contact in peace the other hackers. It was somehow secret and nobody would expect her to camp in the garden of the father of one of their officers.  

She had to find Kabuto and gather proof to counter his false trails leading in her direction.

Until midnight, when all of the other homeless were dead asleep and Hiko was the only one watching over the fire, she found her courage again.

Yes, the situation was bad. By now K… the police surely found the plagiarism, or whatever Kabuto decided was worthy to be placed by Ryuzetsu’s side and would search for her, with every possible cop who was in Konoha and could walk. And hadn’t Nagato held one or two interviews with journalists, regarding the time of the murders? Hundreds of fake evidence would be gathered in the next days, not only the one from her ex, but also some of the good natured civilians who wanted to help. Not out of ill intention, hell no. However, the human brain was a fascinating thing, Hiko read countless books and informal texts about the matter. Suddenly they all would remember seeing someone similar to Hiko in every corner of Konoha and favorable also at the same time. A brain wrecking chaos for the police, some irritating help for her.

 

Not only the cameras would become a problem to move through the city unseen, also the daily shifts and controls on the different parts of the village provided Hiko much thinking and desperately trying to find a safe place for her. But she had some advantages.

First, thanks to her occupation, she vaguely knew about the positions of the cameras and which areas she should avoid by all costs. And even when she needed to go through a crowded and watched place, she knew how to confuse the tools and let her face slip through the markers of the face-recognition-program and in this season it was also not suspicious to tug a scarf over your lower face. Another point for Hiko.

Second, due to her interest and fascination to new topics and the need to prepare herself for a hunt, Hiko constantly had learned about everything that seemed possibly useful in a fight/flight/search. Doing judo and getting lessons on a shooting range were only the tip of the mountain. Also hours of spending in the local library and reading about literally anything which seemed useful for her came in cellphone. Plus the countless little depots of money and other things over the city, she had contacts to many people, may it be through her job or because the brunette had been nice enough to help some people with a problem, everything with the intention to build one of the biggest networks in Konoha. Like a spider she had webbed her net and now she was ready to pull on some strings to call in debts. Hiko’s lips curled unbeknownst to her in a little smile.

The officers wouldn’t understand what would come over them if they tried to approach her directly.

And third and that was maybe the most important, neither side, was it the police or Kabuto, thought she would have companions. But if Hiko managed to contact SWORDs and GinGer, she had two other hackers on her side, two people who were hopefully willing to listen and understand her predicament.

Towards Ikkaku the shorty saluted mockingly, her index and middle finger touching the temple and the edge of her wool hat.

“Thanks for letting me stay for the night. Please tell Azarni she has my gratitude for not believing I was some kind of lost schoolgirl. And you’re a hell of a hypocrite, old man.”

Ikkaku only raised a bushy eyebrow and for a second the brunette asked herself how he would look like after a long bath with steel sponge and at least a kilo of soap. Would he look more like the proper Iruka, who scratched the scar over his nose? Or still like the grumpy old man he was on the inside? Nevertheless he should try to get some proper meals, after all winter was coming (she rolled inwardly her eyes at the joke).

 

“Fancy meeting you, Iruka. And you too, Masao. Aah, before I forget…” Before she could really think about her own behavior, she had scrambled the last apple out of her backpack and threw it into the direction of the sturdy male. He stretched and catched the fruit before it could meet the floor, a happy smile on his fat lips. “Thanks missy.” he grunted and started to devour his snack.

‘If everything could be as easy as it is for Masao. When he has an apple, he eats it. When he has more food than he can eat, he stores them in his shopping cart. And when the shopping cart is overloaded, he eats some of his load and his happy again. Unfortunately life isn’t working quite the same for me as for him.’

“Hiko-san…”

Just when Hiko wanted to push the door open to exit the building, her uncovered fingers already freezing in the cold weather, Iruka appeared in her behind and touched her shoulder. At the cautious touch the woman tensed automatically and fought the urge to grip into the appendage and throw the man over her hip. Scowling at the teacher, even when he couldn’t see it under her improvised mask, she spun around and raised an eyebrow at the nervous expression the teacher wore.

“I just wanted to ask… if I’m allowed to… why you’re living on the streets?”

He wasn’t asking for himself. Maybe Ikkaku couldn’t held back his curiosity anymore and send his son forward, maybe Masao asked him. It didn’t really matter to Hiko. With a shrug she waved at the younger male, just as much dismissing as assuring.

“I don’t understand myself how I got into this,” she bend her neck from left to right until the joints cracked, “but I will make the best out of the situation. I have to.”

“Isn’t it lonely?”

“My, my… Are you interested in joining your father?”

An adorable blush spread over his face. “No! That’s not it! It’s just… You’re not like the others here. You don’t seem to have a gambling or drug problem, you’re not poor or a sickness forced you to drop out of your job. Not like my father.”

Again Hiko shrugged. Harsh winds tugged at her clothes, claimed single locks of her hair and let them flutter in the breeze and the coldness already started to seep into her bones and flesh. She needed to move forward. But Iruka seemed to her like a little child: curious and at the same time able to cause a ruckus if his crave for info wasn’t satisfied.

So Hiko turned a bit, searching for words and fiddling with the strings of her backpack. “I have my own problems. And this special problem…” Her shoulders sank down. “Came back to bite into my ankles, I guess. I tried to ignore it, tried to fight, but the thorn which was the reason for my… infection was always out of my reach… Until now. I’m just going to solve this little problem and then I will try to repair the shards I left in the lives of my dear ones.”

“I’m not going to get more out of you, am I?”

Hiko shook her head and waved one more time, a lazy gesture in comparison to her usual vivid demeanor. “Nope. But thanks for your concern. Better get going, the weather will only become harsher.” she said after a quick look at the quickly diminishing light and started her walk across Konoha, to get finally into contact with her online-friends.

‘Kakashi, I’m sorry. But the only thing I can do now is keep going until I’m out of fuel. Hopefully you are willing to listen when this hell is over. Please wait for me, even when you have no reason to believe I will ever come back.

Please.’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And all the love and cookies to Miss-Fandoms-Shakespeare. Thanks for putting up with my sorry ass t.t


	49. When the glue is gone

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kakashi tries to wrap his head around the idea of Hiko being a killer and gets into a heated argument with Obito. All the while the shorty settles down in her place for the night and contacts her online friends, hoping they will believe her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just wanted to share this with you guys, because I'm simply happy about this: I'm finally free! (From my bachelor thesis) It's all done and finished, written and now gets judged, but foremost I'm delirious about that because now I have again time to write fanfiction T.T  
> Anyway, enough of me, enjoy the new chapter ^-^

Kakashi didn’t listen to the explanations of Orochimaru. Mindless he stared at the feet of the mighty desk of his superior, hands entwined in his lower back, while the medical examiner pinpointed the DNA and fingerprints of his… of Hiko out, which he found on the corpse.

What made her now a suspect.

The main suspect.

When did this happen? When got his life so out of hand? The day before yesterday morning he had been happy, he had woken up in the bed he shared with the woman he loved, he had hugged her, kissed her on the nose what drew the sweet little wrinkles out, they ate breakfast together and took the bus to reach the police station, always walking hand in hand.

When did this happen? Kakashi was confused. Snippets of memories flew through his mind, twirling and spinning, crashing together in a wild mess until he didn’t know anymore where left and right was.

Hiko a psychopath? Someone who sedated cold-blooded her victims and strapped them to a table? Her fingers wandering over a tablet, halting above a slender scalpel, then turning with a sadistic grin to the slowly awakening person? Ignoring the trashes and muffled pleads, shoving the knife into the chest, drawing precise lines out of flesh and blood? And then washing all the blood and intestines off when the human stopped his breathing, putting a mask on and coming back to him, searching for comfort and love?

Hiko wasn’t like this. Kakashi couldn’t mix the heartless killer with the friendly brunette. There was simply nothing in common!

But the proof. Her fingerprints, deeply engraved in the cold flesh of the last woman and her DNA, one of her brown hairs buried in the pile of organs. How was that possible if she wasn’t the killer? There was simply no other possibility to interpret the clues. The only things which needed to be cleared were the reason and the location of the shorty.

“…have no other way but to assume Kobayashi-san is responsible.” finished Orochimaru his report and shuffled with the clipboard. From his position Kakashi noticed the hard grip, turning the knuckles of the other even paler than usual, an unhealthy yellowish white.

The whole time Nagato sat behind his massive desk, fingers entwined before his mouth and quietly listened. No reaction was shown on his face, a feat Kakashi wouldn’t be able to copy today. Today he was thankful for the mask he wore. Today the barrier had proven to be useful. No one should see his utter confusion, his raw _despair_ at the reality crashing into him.

 

“One of my officers is the butcher, who terrorizes the whole town.” summarized the chief. “And you want to say that Kobayashi-san, the only person in this building who can’t look over a counter to order some drinks properly, is the one who ripped three people apart? God fucking dammit.”

It was the first time Kakashi heard the chief curse strongly and on top of that in the presence of others. But today was a special day, he assumed calmly and continued to stare at the texture of the wood.

“Good.” he huffed after some reconciliation. The redhead moved upwards and started to pace up and down, face wrenched in concentration. At the window leading to the main office the man paused and looked outside, the arms crossed in his back just like Kakashi did. A heavy sigh meet his ears. “Do we know her current location?”

Obviously the question was meant for him. So Kakashi answered automatically, even when all he wanted was to crawl back into bed and forget about this day in his entirety. “She vanished yesterday from her flat. There… there was no reason to believe another reason beside personal problems were responsible to chase her away.”

“No clues where she went?”

“Unfortunately not.” Otherwise he had already set off and tried to search for the brunette.  “Hatake-san, due to the progression of the case, I will remove you from the active investigation.”

“What?” A spark of life moved inside him. Irritated Kakashi looked at his chef, not seeing the point of removing one of the best officers the redhead had from the attention-seeking case in a whole decade. “Why? Is it because of Hiko? I can still investigate, I can talk to witnesses, I can-!”

“You are too immersed,” interrupted Nagato with a harsh flick of his wrist, “too emotionally involved. Your judgement is clouded by the close proximity you have to the main suspect. I have no other choice but to give the case to Gai, who is the other leading officer.”

Kakashi nearly hissed. “No matter who the suspect is, it doesn’t affect my work!” Agitated he stepped forward, hands clenched and anger taking over his brain. It was his case, his work, his responsibility to catch the criminal!

“It isn’t only about you here, Hatake!”

He fell silent at the sharp words. His hands unclenched when he saw how roughed up Nagato really was. The shoulders of the tensed-up man sank slightly down like he bore the weight of a whole world and Kakashi felt actually good not to be in the same tight spot the chief was now in. Stuck between a rock and a hard place. Choosing between the loss of a good officer and the chance to capture the killer. Leaning his forehead against the cold glass, the redhead sighed, obviously exhausted beyond the point where a strong coffee would help.

“I will also reduce the influence of the Uchihas on the case.” he mumbled absent-minded. “But I can’t call Itachi completely away. Hyuuga and Aburame are too young and inexperienced to handle that. Hatake, I also said you were removed from the _active_ part of the investigation. After we announced the new main suspect, you will belong temporarily to the IT-office and help wherever you can. I have to call in some bureaus and the police academy of Suna, they have to send in the files concerning Kobayashi. When there’s nothing to do, you will create a psychological profile on her.”

Kakashi lowered his head, grateful not to be completely exiled. “Thank you chief.”

Nagato snorted. “Don’t thank me yet. You’re only doing this because I know out of your files you had some lessons in psychological mapping under Morino. He’s the best in that specific topic. So I expect only the best results, understood?”

“Yes chief.”

At least he was still allowed to work. Like that he could feel some kind of connection to the female, maybe find out the reason behind all this acting, even when in the back of his mind some guilt spread, born out of the need to crave for some messages from Hiko. A criminal. A murderer.

 

The announcement was blurry to him. A curtain had closed before his mind and apathetic Kakashi observed the reactions of the people in the main office. Some of them didn’t show any reaction, for example Asuma and Sasuke, but most of the officers went pale or their jaws dropped to the ground. And now Kakashi felt the pitying glances on his figure. They burned him, tortured him with their overly shown sympathy and their brief condolences, sentences like “I’m sorry for your loss,” or a simple “Sorry man.” killed him on the inside.

Nobody died, except for the still nameless woman down under. But somehow it felt like a burial with every colleague who came up to him, may it be alone or with a partner like Kotetsu and Izumo. Side by side they fidgeted around, until the brunet bought out: “I’m sorry, Kakashi-senpai. No one had thought…”

Thankfully he left the sentence unfinished and just shook his head, maybe to accentuate his own shock. Kotetsu said nothing, just nodded sharply.

Yeah, no one had thought one of them would be able to kill somebody. And no one, especially the silver haired detective himself, would have thought the short brunette hid a monster under her witty comments and harsh behavior towards others.

“Hey.”

Kakashi jerked away from the ginger hand grabbing his shoulder. Obito looked just as lost as he felt, the black eyes emotionless and empty. For a moment their eyes met and Kakashi cringed under the same pain the other radiated; the same kind of pain he went through right now. But then he averted Obito’s look. He couldn’t stand another one, even when he shared the same injury as himself.

“Can we talk for a moment?” Obito murmured, half-whispering. “Only… we alone?”

Not waiting for an answer, the Uchiha dragged Kakashi into the small break room with the big coffee machine and the brownish spot on the opposite wall.

The same situation, but with different feelings. Back then he had felt delirious, overjoyed and inwardly jitterish at the feelings he bore. Love and tender care, deeply harbored for the brunette. Now… he didn’t know how he should feel.

“Do you believe this shit?” Obito was like always straightforward. The rough voice trembled as he spoke and when Kakashi didn’t answer immediately, the raven slammed his palms onto the counter. “Come on! Wake up, goddammit! There’s no way Hiko is a murderer!”

“There’s…proof.” His mouth tasted foul as he said that.

“What?” Furiously the other man started to rummage through the cupboards. The porcelain clinked loudly and with each clink the silver haired man flinched a little bit. “You can’t tell me you believe this! Hiko despises violence, no matter which kind!”

“Maybe we will never know what was going on behind her walls.”

“My sister isn’t a psychopath! Your girlfriend isn’t a psychopath! We both know the same person, we both know her more than anyone else! Hell, you know her probably even more than me!”

“Didn’t matter in the end. She left me and apparently she killed people.”

“Why can’t you believe in-!”

 

Kakashi snapped. _Believe_. The Uchiha didn’t know how much he had bound himself to the small spark of hope and how much it hurt to feel how it shattered into tiny shards, scraping on his insides and ripping countless little holes into his chest.

“Because she left me,” he snarled, “Because her fingerprints are on a corpse. Because her DNA is on the body of a dead woman. Because there’s someone who captured her interest and called her, telling me sexual innuendo over sexual innuendo! I can’t just dismiss those things, Obito. I can’t!”

“She’s Hiko, dammit! Not just some hillbilly from the streets, she’s Hiko, the same woman who laughed with us, who cooked food, who is _in love with you_ , you blockhead!”

“Do you know,” with a hiss Kakashi stepped closer and grabbed roughly the collar of his friend, “do you actually know how much I try to tell myself she loves me? But I can’t believe it any longer, not when she first left me for a complete asshole and now proof for her involvement in one of the cruelest homicides I’ve ever seen appears! Do you understand how I feel? Do you understand how someone feels who gets betrayed and betrayed, again and again until there’s not an ounce of trust left? I gave her my whole heart and only she has the potential to hurt me like this and she fucking did the job very well!”

He yanked Obito forward. Nose to nose the two men stood, but there was no intimacy between them. Anger thickened the air and filled Kakashi’s lungs, let the emotions ruling him like he never let before.

“I try really hard to _believe_ , but after all what happened I can’t just accept that outcome. For now I only have hard facts to rely on and that’s what I will do. Rely on the facts. Only the goddamn reality.” he growled.

Obito growled back. It was the sound of a frustrated dog, ready to bark and also bite. “When you have no faith in Hiko, then you have no faith in yourself.” With more force than needed the raven pushed Kakashi off, the eyes dangerously squinted and mouth twisted into a disgusted scowl. The detective stumbled backwards, but caught his balance before he could crash into the opposite wall. His friend watched the efforts and clicked his tongue in the end, the arms crossed over his chest and chin lowered.

“Man, and I thought you were the one for my sister. Looks like I was wrong. There’s no way someone like you,” at this point the scowl turned into a glare, “is worthy of being with Hiko.”

Kakashi suppressed the pain racing through him. He didn’t want all this. He didn’t want to be left by the shorty, he didn’t want to discover she apparently was the killer, he didn’t want to fight with Obito. Kakashi didn’t want all this, but it was brutal reality. He couldn’t change a thing about that.

“I’m sorry.” he mumbled mindless and shook his head. “It’s just…”

“Don’t be sorry for me,” hissed the raven back and interrupted him, “be sorry for the woman who would need your help! The one who _apparently_ needs you and your faith, but is left alone out there with someone who staged this! Because there’s no way that my little sister is a killer!”

 

With that being said, Obito stormed furiously out of the room and left Kakashi to himself.

Inhale. Exhale. Pushing the bad thoughts aside. His life crumbled around him and it showed no sign of stopping so soon, all of this chaos caused by Hiko’s flight. Reconciling. Inhale. Exhale. Getting your shit together.

With a shaky grunt Kakashi forced himself out of the room. One look at Obito, who stood at his own desk and ignored the advances of Kiba and Kakashi knew they wouldn’t talk for a while. The Uchiha still fumed, if the rough handling of the stapler was an indicator.

What had the short woman done? Not only with her crimes, but with her prompt vanishing as well. She shattered his trust, his belief and the relationship he had with Obito until now. Would be Kisame and Itachi the same as the loud-mouth? Would they also stick with Hiko and believe in her innocence, while Kakashi would be the only one standing at the other side? Would he lose everything what they had built over the last months?

It was worse than with Hanare. Before the male hadn’t had any friends to lose. Now Kakashi knew the feeling of close friendship, the unconditional trust in each other. That this could be so easily destroyed was weakening him more than he wanted to admit.

He didn’t want to be alone again.

“Hatake-san, in my bureau.”

He followed the command of his boss and when he stood in front of the desk once more for today, he felt like a schoolkid who was sent into the hallway under the fierce look of his boss. Nagato sighed after a while, then started to fill out some documents. “Your… _talk_ with Uchiha was loud enough for the whole office to hear. For today you go home. Calm yourself down. Tomorrow we will see how your state will be.”

“Yes chief.”

There was nothing left to say. Originally the detective hadn’t wanted to be here in the first place, he had favored searching Konoha’s streets up and down to look for a small body, chocolate brown hair and ice blue eyes, hidden behind fogged glasses.

Kakashi couldn’t keep his eyelids from falling as he mindlessly exited the building. The harsh cold prickled on his skin and the wind ruffled through his hair as he walked over to the bus station, hands buried in the pockets of his coat and the already partly covered face even more hidden in between the wrinkles of his green scarf. Winds ripped sometimes weakly, then abruptly strong at his feet, trying to send him into submission to the elementals, but steady he made his way over through the small amount of people who crossed his path.

Then a wet drop landed on his upper part of the nose and rested for a moment there, only to turn into water and sink into the rough fabric of the flu mask.

            ‘Wait… What?’

Confused he gazed upwards. Snowflakes sailed down, not more than tiny little scraps of white in a deep grey ocean of clouds. But as the silent fall continued, the snow started to crowd into bigger flakes, until the ground was covered by a thin sheet of the frozen water. Kakashi watched how the snow settled on the earth, melancholy washing over him.

_“I really like snow.” Her laugh was a bit embarrassed, but when she ruffled through her hair and turned again to the window, where rain pattered against the glass, he could see the little grin tugging at the corners of her lips._

_Hiko stretched her hand out. The tips of her fingers brushed over the cold glass, leaving little fingerprints there. “Snow… connects people. When it starts to snow, I get the feeling everyone around me turns silent for a second, just to adore the flakes falling. All the people look up into the sky, watch and are just… amazed, I guess.”_

_Kakashi liked the expression the brunette wore while she looked outside. Her eyes were dazed but focused on the rain, the dreamy grin on her lips was so sweet he felt his heart picking up the pace and the way the woman rested her chin in the palm of her hand could be straight out of a movie. She wasn’t even aware of the effect she had on him. Hiko was… strangely pure._

Out of instinct, Kakashi looked around and scanned the people surrounding him. And he couldn’t help himself but to smile poorly at the sight of the children pointing full of amazement at the sky, the adults laughing and secretly also throwing mesmerized gazes upwards, just like Hiko described.

He was able to see now why she liked snow so much and somehow, he also agreed. It was fun seeing all the different people being connected in their fascination with the white mass falling down from the sky and Kakashi actually felt lighter than before. Not fully recovered, the man sighed out and started to walk into the direction of the city center. He wasn’t in the mood to sit in a bus full of loud people only to enter his own empty home. His father would have to bear his negative mind and rantings. Maybe tonight he would even sleep there.

 

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

Hiko shuddered in her clothes and cursed herself for not packing more socks into her backpack. With fastly clicking teeth she reached into said bag and drew the last of her three pairs out and fumbled with the zipper of the sleeping bag, where her ice cold toes were already packed into two socks per foot plus the boots.

“Coldest fucking November ever.” she grumbled, squirming all the while into the next protective layer.

Even inside the big dog house with a trap like some people installed it for their cats in the front door, the cold from the outside invaded every inch of her body. Hiko jittered in her sleeping bag and breathed into her palms to warm them up. By raising her gloved hands to her face, the familiar musky smell of Kakashi trailed into her nose. Unconsciously she had to smile, but then she bought her fingers again to the keyboard in her lap and loaded the hacking tool anew, hoping to see two nicknames appearing at the chat list and her thoughts wandered again into darker directions. Her weak smile dropped just as fast as it had been created.

The brunette sat with her back against the wall inside the big dog house. Due to her size she was able to sit normally, but there was not much air left between her covered scalp and the ceiling of the wooden little cabin.

Since hours she waited now for strikingSWORDs and GinGerGeneral, but the two hackers seemed to be occupied otherwise. Her eyes behind her glasses hurt slightly from the intently staring at the dimly lit screen. During the waiting time Hiko tried to find out if the police already leaked some of the information about her, but Itachi or someone else had been so clever and inactivated her account. The logical step would’ve been hacking, if Hiko hadn’t been so eager to make the firewall of the KPD one of the most heavily guarded of the country. With her current equipment and intel tRuthseekEr maybe would be able to sneak into a mere supermarket and disable the cameras there, but not into the servers of the police.

To fight the boringness and the already growing negative thoughts, Hiko threw from time to time a quick glance outside.

Sakumo was a lively old man. The first time she looked at the winter garden, he sat there and read newspapers while drinking coffee, the second he had done some training, push-ups and such. She could see from which part of his parents Kakashi got his diligent training regimen and the female seriously had to fight a little blush creeping over neck and cheeks when the father (get a grip of yourself!) of her silver haired love got out of his shirt and displayed a body every man would get slightly jealous over. Everytime it got darker outside and when the sun sank down and made space for the moon, Hiko was surprised when she stuck her nose once more outside and felt some cold flakes falling into her face.

A memory came to life, just as happy as overbearing sad…

 

_“I really like snow.”_

_To admit her love for the white season wasn’t embarrassing, no, it was the asking stare Kakashi gave her. Hiko turned again to the window and watched how rain droplets hit the cold glass. Warily she followed one of them with her index finger until the single trail vanished into another one. Meanwhile she spoke softly, feeling almost how her love moved his attention completely towards her. “Snow… connects people. When it starts to snow, I get the feeling everyone around me turns silent for a second, just to adore the flakes falling. All the people look up into the sky, watch and are just… amazed, I guess.”_

_“I never saw it like this,” he answered, moved up from the couch and slung his arms around her. “For me snow and ice were always hindrances or hurdles to overcome.” Smiling she leaned into his chest and felt how it raised and lowered in the rhythm of his breathings._

_“Think about all the evenings and mornings you can spend lazily in bed, sharing warmth and watching the snowflakes falling down…” she mumbled into the silence and was rewarded with a warm snicker._

_“Without getting thrown out?”_

_“No violence involved. Or the Christmas markets which will open. Walking hand in hand through all the small booths, all the smells, the sights, the ice rink. All the yummy treats, candied apples, hot chocolate, crepes…”_

_“This seriously sends shivers down my spine.”_

_“Woops. Sorry. Guess that was my wish.” Hiko laughed as Kakashi started to tickle her, but he didn’t really get started with the punishment. Instead the male revealed the skin of her waist and flanks to his curious fingers and turned the teasing ministration into an intimate hug, his hands lying possessively at her bare stomach._

_“I have also one or two ideas on my own.” he whispered huskily into her ear and Hiko shivered. This man, with his voice and his hands and his…_

_“Picking out a Christmas tree.” Kakashi nipped at her neck, the little weak bites slowly turning more into kisses, which followed the line of the juncture downwards. “Hiding presents from each other.” His fingers drew circles on her sensitive skin and made her breath hitch. “Watching silly movies, for example Agatha Christie or such, hurdled up under your blanket and searching for some contact…”_

_“Somehow I can’t wait for winter to come.” Hiko whispered out and let her head lol backwards under his ministrations._

_“Me neither.” he chuckled and ended his teasing. Together with Hiko Kakashi stared through the window and watched the rain drops platter against the cold glass, a little smile on his face._

 

“And now I’m here, in a dog house,” the brunette pushed her glasses up while staring into the sky, “on one side is my abusive ex, on the other the police. I wait for my hacker friends to come online and have to use my food supplies wisely. At least I got some money.”

On her walk from the north to Sakumo’s house she stopped at the train station, avoiding the cameras and security guards who were trained to remember suspicious people and emptied the safe-deposit box. A thick bundle of money came out of it, some more clothing (practical, warm) and thankfully another little blanket, which served now as a pillow in her back.

But money didn’t made her happy nor warm, so Hiko rubbed again her hands and blew into them, then adjusted her braid once more. The long braided tail curled uncomfortably around her neck and unnerved she tugged the annoying hair out of the way. “When this is over, I definitely need a cut.” she grumbled.

A motion on the black and green colored screen catched her attention.

Finally. At least one of them was online.

 

_strikingSWORDs: maaaaaan! Big T! long time no see!_

_tRuthseekEr: finally. Goddammit, whenever I need one of you, you tend to be absent for an awful lot of time!_

_tRuthseekEr: okay, doesn’t matter anymore. Just listen to me FOR ONCE_

_strikingSWORDs: what what what?? Truth, what the actual fuck is going on?_

_tRuthseekEr: I don’t have much time. The police hunts me down. They believe I murdered three people, but I didn’t do it! I know who the killer is, but I have no proof! Swords, I need your help and GinGers too! Please!_

_strikingSWORDs: WTH? Truth, that isn’t funny!_

_tRuthseekEr: I’M NOT JOKING, there’s no way I would joke about something like this!! We need to meet up, in real life!!_

_tRuthseekEr: Please. Please, I beg you. I have no one else besides you two. Swords, I’m fucking scared. I don’t know what to do, I’m all alone, my friends probably think I lied to them, you are the only people I can rely on! I need your help._

_You know I wouldn’t ask if it isn’t absolutely necessary. But… just please. Please help me._

 

Hiko bit into her lower lip. Frustration and panic fought inside her mind, frustration because SWORDs though this was a joke and panic because her time run out. If the KPD followed the usual procedure, Nagato surely requested a search warrant for her flat. And they would find a lot of things, from the files of her torture to the knives, the hidden stag of certificates under her bed… Especially that stag would held one or two surprises for the officers.

Hiko chuckled actually a bit when she thought about the shocked faces of Izumo and Kotetsu if they would look through the thick bind, filled with papers and info material about this and that. It took her years to get this far, emotionally and in knowledge.

Another motion at the laptop. She threw a quick glance at the text messages and sighed out in relief when she fully assessed what stood there.

 

_strikingSWORDs: woah, keep calm! It’s okay, I believe you! You’re my senpai in the world of hacking, I know you wouldn’t tell lies like that._

_strikingSWORDs: meeting up real life? Really? That will be awesome, man! But where? And we need a sign, something like a sticker or a flower, like in one of the cheesy romance movies!_

 

Hiko hid her happy smile behind her folded hands. Swords believed her. “Thank god,” she murmured and chuckled weakly, “thank god I have at least you.” Then her fingers returned to the keyboard and flew over the buttons, typing fast like a machine gun.

 

_tRuthseekEr: thank you very much_

_tRuthseekEr: you can’t know how relieved I’m to hear this._

_strikingSWORDs: where are you now? Where is a place for a falsely accused criminal to be?_

_tRuthseekEr: would you believe me if I said, I’m currently sleeping in a dog house?_

_strikingSWORDs: … you’re kidding me. Tonight it’s going to be -10 Celsius! You can’t sleep outside!_

_tRuthseekEr: I have no other choice. Besides, it isn’t too bad. By now it’s pretty warm in here._

_strikingSWORDs: maaaaan, that’s some fucked up shit. Anyway, where are we going to meet? Are you maybe somewhere around Konoha? That would be for the best cause I have someone to take care of, so I can’t stay out for too long._

“No way! He’s also in Konoha?”

 

_tRuthseekEr: Konoha is fine, more than this! Do you know the bar “Jashin’s chamber”? It’s in the western district. Everyone there knows it, you can’t miss the location._

_strikingSWORDs: yeah yeah, know it. Isn’t it some really shady place to be?_

_tRuthseekEr: indeed, but tomorrow is Saturday. A lot of people will come and celebrate the free weekend and if we add the Happy Hour in the quotation…_

_tRuthseekEr: perfect privacy in the deepest stage of hell._

_strikingSWORDs: so 18:00? I believe I can make it until then._

_strikingSWORDs: and what’s with GinGer? We should invite him too._

_tRuthseekEr: we will talk about him and what we will do when we meet. I will be waiting directly at the bar, I have a black backpack, black jacket, a blue wool hat and green scarf. And glasses. And a sleeping bag. Literally I’m looking like a tramper._

_strikingSWORDs: ok, ok ok ok. I think I got it. A tramper is what I’m searching then for. Anything else?_

_tRuthseekEr: if you could bring a burner phone with you that would be great, but no worries when not. I have already the structure of a rough plan, but nothing clear. As I said we will talk about this and that tomorrow. Until then swords._

_strikingSWORDs: may the force be with you, big t._

 

A Star Wars reference. “Really?” Hiko shook her head und shifted in her warmed up sleeping bag. “You could be a bigger movie geek than me.”

With a deep, but relieved sigh she shut the laptop off and stuffed the device back in her backpack. Slowly she also started to feel like a tramper, nowhere to go, and nowhere to be and always on the road. Only two days made her feel like that. Incredible. Once more the shorty snuggled deeper into the fleece fabric and allowed herself to drift off a bit, but the whole night she wasn’t really asleep. Dreams, good and bad, vivid and distant kept her awake. Around 1 a.m. she decided it would be good to look once more into the silent garden while she nibbled on some of the sandwiches she got from Iruka and noticed with some light surprise the windows of Sakumo’s kitchen were still illuminated.

Had he also to fight insomnia?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to Miss-Fandoms-Shakespeare, because she does amazing work for me :) You're awesome, as simple as that.


	50. Father knows best

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Seeking for advice Kakashi visits his father, not knowing Hiko is closer than he believes...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm soooo sorry! I'm tempted to mention the Avatar-opening because I vanished without a sign "when the world needed me the most" (to post a new chapter *cough*)... Again, I apologize for the sudden pause, hopefully the chapter will make up for it (at least a tiny bit) :'(

A cup with steaming coffee was placed before him, black and strong, just like he preferred it. Kakashi nodded weakly at his father. “Thanks.”

Absent minded he patted Pakkun, who had curled up his small body in his lap, all the while Bull strolled around the clean and neat kitchen and sniveled around, maybe on the search for something his tidy master missed to clean up.

“You’re welcome.” With a groan Sakumo sank on his own chair, a cup with the official Konoha logo printed on it in his hands, a red leaf-like abstract drawing. Maybe his leg hurt today, an old injury from one of the last missions in the SFU. He still had a long scar proving the accident which caused that and on especially cold days and when a storm was coming, the old wound would start to pain his old man.

Kakashi lowered his chin at the point where the injured leg should be under the table. “Do you take the painkillers?”

His father ruffled with a sheepish smile over the back of his neck. “Somehow I forgot where they are, so… No, I’m afraid not.”

“You keep them usually in your nightstand.” answered Kakashi, lifted his flu mask for a second and took a sip. “When they are not there, try the bathroom.”

Somehow the coffee didn’t taste right.

For a while the two Hatake’s only sat in silence. In the distance he heard the weak ticking of a clock, announcing with every tick that another second went by. Sometime Pakkun yawned loudly and struggled away. His claws clicked on the white tiles as the pug vanished into the direction of the warmer living room and Sakumo raised his eyes from the table.

“Why are you here? Not that I want to complain, it’s just unusual for you to show up in the middle of the night, nearly frozen and looking like you walked all day around town.”

Kakashi kept his mouth tightly shut. Not even the coffee could tempt him to open up, even when the caffeine would do a wonder against the sleepiness which enveloped his mind by now. Sakumo was right; he did walk all day around town. Not caring about the coldness and the snow falling on his shoulders and hair, Kakashi wandered through the streets of Konoha, his eyes raking over signs, street lamps and casually also crossing places which Hiko especially liked, for example the shop for sweets where they sold her favorite kind of chocolate or the small garden at the university. The students had planted various colorful plants there and now in the last days of November, some of the young people had tried to decorate the garden with red and green garlands or silly Santa Claus puppets.

 

Hiko would’ve laughed about the fat obscenity greeting everyone who entered the calm paradise. She would have loved the tiny Christmas trees and the bright red Christmas stars, would have cared about the boy who cut his finger on one of the garlands and would have gifted him with a band aid out of her magical bag, which seemed to contain everything needed to survive an apocalypse.

“And now you’re smiling.”

Kakashi flinched surprised and looked into the familiar eyes of his father, who grinned full of glee at him. Right now he didn’t seem like a man in his fifties, but like a little child on the schoolyard who just smuggled a cockroach into the bag of the girl he liked. The smile of the other widened as Kakashi averted the stare and lowered his head. “Did you have a little fight with Hiko-san? What was it about? I’m sure you can make up after a while. I remember one time, your mother was-!”

“We broke up.”

Sakumo abruptly fell silent. The younger silver head stared blankly at the brown table with the simple white linen draped over the top, followed the structure of the wood and stopped at his own entangled fingers. Cupping the mug, they were a bit red, maybe overthrown by the heat the coffee emitted. Carefully he loosened his grip around the porcelain and felt the cooler air rush in and lying over the heated areas.

“I…” Sakumo began, but then paused and shook his head, obviously too shocked by the declaration to say anything.

His father was speechless. That Kakashi was able to experience this for once was a little miracle, but he wasn’t in the mood to point that out. After some minutes, meanwhile the younger dropped his flu mask fully and emptied half of the mug, his father regained some of his composure.

“Why? Wasn’t everything alright? The last time we spoke both of you sounded happy.” he asked, forearms flat on the table and leaning slightly forward.

“We were happy.” said Kakashi and slammed the mug with more force than needed down. The porcelain clinked too loud in the sudden silence and Bulls massive skull jerked around, obviously trying to spot if one of his favorite humans dropped a little snack for him. The detective shook frustrated his head. “But apparently that wasn’t enough. It never is.” he added bitterly.

“Kakashi…”

“She left me, just to write that down. Seems my unlucky history is repeating itself. What am I doing that I can’t hold a single woman in my life? What am I doing wrong? Because I had the feeling we were fine, more than this! She opened up to me, spoke about her past even when she had problems before. Sure, there was stress at work with the murder case and such… Aah, naturally I forgot something. The best out of those, actually.” The younger man clicked his tongue. “The medical department found DNA and fingerprints at the last corpse. And it even happens to be Hiko’s.”

“Maybe contamination?”

 

“No. Orochimaru swears she wasn’t in the near proximity of the corpses, except the one she found. And even at that body wasn’t as much DNA to proof anything, just the last!” grunted Kakashi back. Then he stood up and opened the fridge, just to do _something_ and not sit with no movement around. “And we have a witness,” he thought loudly and stared into the depths of the furniture, eyes raking over different food and shortly pausing at a half filled bottle of wine, “who saw someone resembling Hiko draping the last corpse at the crime scene. I still have to fill a report for this out.”

“Only resembling Hiko? Explain.”

“The same height and her tattoo at the forearm. Right, you don’t saw it.” The younger man shoved the sleeve of his pullover up and revealed the pale skin of his own left forearm while not turning to his father. Drawing the lines of the loopy words on his appendage, Kakashi explained further. “On her twentieth birthday Hiko gifted herself with a tattoo, some lines of her favorite song. When she showed and told me what meaning they had…”

His father’s voice was overbearing soft. “It became important to you, just like herself.”

“I showed her mine in return.”

That day there was nothing between them yet. They barely knew each other, the incident where he stole the shorty’s food had been just a few days ago. Despite her obvious hesitation to invite Kakashi into her home, Hiko forced herself to let him in and quickly got accustomed to his presence. And how much he enjoyed their meaningless banter and joking around that day. The start of everything.

Unsatisfied, Kakashi shut the fridge close. Bull strolled around his legs and rubbed the big head against his knees and when he started to stroke the black fur, the mastiff growled lowly in bliss.

“Anything else until now what connects her to the crime?” asked Sakumo.

“Not yet. And I don’t even want to think about the chance of Hiko being…” Kakashi paused, then shook his head. Bull grumbled because he also stopped his ministrations, but when he picked them up again, the dog moved until his stomach was exposed and snorkeled loudly. “I can’t think of her as a murderer,” he admitted, “Not after all the time we spent together. I want to do my job properly, but I can’t when a part of myself isn’t convinced enough to follow the main suspect with everything I have.”

“So you don’t believe she killed somebody. Why?”

“She… She endured so much in her life. She knows what it feels like to be a victim, she knows how hopeless such a situation is. Hiko dislikes violence, but also knows sometimes there’s no other way to get into another person’s head but beating it into them. My god, she tried to kill herself! How can a person like her who thinks more of others than herself kill somebody?” Kakashi looked up to his dad, eyes burning. “Obito was right. I can’t believe in the proof, not when I’m still head over heels for Hiko.”

Sakumo propped his chin into the palm of his head and returned the stare. His serious black eyes, similar to his own were calm as they met, but also somehow full of sympathy. “Then act according to your feelings.”

“How?”

The other smiled and tilted his head. “Do your job Kakashi. Search for clues and traces for both possibilities. Try to prove her innocence as much as you can, but if the impossible may come true…” He left the sentence unfinished.

He had no idea what he would do if that possibility broke the blissful walls of his illusions down. If Hiko would confess to be the killer, admitted she vivisected three people and practically bathed in their blood, Kakashi wasn’t sure how he would react. His feelings already were confusing him to the point of just wanting to dive into bed and hide himself underneath the thick and merciful darkness of the blankets. He didn’t want to think anymore. Kakashi just wanted Hiko back and the fact he craved for her presence despite the evidence against her was driving the male even more confused.

 

His old man fell silent. Throughout the outstretched wordless phase Kakashi sank with his back still pressed to the fridge to the white walls below. Immediately Bull moved his heavy body into his form and snorkeled loudly in admiration. Underneath the cold ground, behind him a steady wall, in his lap a squirming dog.

His fingers combed the a bit longer winter fur of the mastiff, from time to time his fingernails scratched over little crumbs or scrubs of dried earth or single leaves from outside. Everytime Kakashi noticed one, he carefully picked the disturbance up and simply let it drop to the tiles. Dark little spots on the perfect white underground.

A sacrilege for his father, however he didn’t care much right now. Kakashi needed something to focus his mind on and the simple work, picking earth and dirt out of Bulls fur, was his way of distracting his overly confused mind, to put him again into the shoes of the man he was before Hiko barged into his life, kicked the doors and walls down and dragged him out of his self-indulgent solitude.

Calm. Tardy, to the point of reading porn in broad daylight. Not at all emotional, not at all doubting his decisions or _himself_ , not at all… never thinking about what-ifs or another possible path he could have chosen to make a better present.

“Did she”, Sakumo sighed out and glared at the slowly piling up mess in his previously spotless kitchen, “ever acted strange? Was she away prior to the time of the murders, does she have any alibis? Is there anything which could lift the weight of the found evidence?”

“I don’t know.”

“About Hiko acting questionable or further proof?”

Kakashi shook his head, his fingers still combing the now silky short fur of the mastiff. A deep growl of satisfaction came from the dog and Bull went even as far to lick the hands which treated him so nicely over the last ten minutes. “The latter. Lately Hiko was… grumpy. I don’t have another word for her state. I pushed her mood on the case, the fact she found the second corpse, but now…” His shoulders raised into a shrug, only to drop fastly. “Now I don’t know anymore.”

Was everything faked? Every little gesture, every small touch, every smile and declaration of her love?

“Think a bit more. Is there a reason for her to do this? Come on Kakashi, don’t let the situation get to your head.” Sakumo moved out of his chair and crouched down beside his son. One of his calloused hands settled at Bulls uncovered stomach and stroked the fur softly, but his eyes were locked with Kakashi’s, intently telling him to _not give up_. “It must be hard and no one can verify how you feel, but you have to do a job. Your job. The same job I did with every ounce of passion that is in this old body, the job you were so fascinated with that you bragged all day in kindergarten about me and my occupation and that you also wanted to be a policeman.”

Kakashi didn’t dare to answer. Somewhere deep inside, a mighty unnamed emotion rose in him and muffled his own voice. Like a travel through time, the adult man felt again like he was only fifteen years old and failed again to ask the girl out he crushed on. He felt so incredible annoyingly young once more.

“You have two options,” said his father calmly, hands trailing over the snorkeling dog, “One: you cut every connection to the case and leave Hiko to the rest of the police staff.”

Automatically Kakashi shook his head, his vision transfixed on his father’s hands, who had started to massage Bull thoroughly. The mastiff wriggled under the ministrations and squealed almost with his tongue hanging out of his maw, until a grumpy Pakkun came back to the kitchen and barked harshly.

Faster than a flash Bull followed the order of his alpha and ran claws ticking on the white tiles out of the kitchen.

 

Sakumo watched his two companions for a second, before the friendly black eyes returned to Kakashi. “Then there would be option two. Be a professional and do your work. Try to find evidence for her innocence or try to underline the current situation. Try to show the others what you can see in her and what your friends can see. Turn every stone three times, don’t be too sure about the stand of the investigations, go farther than the others in your attempts to solve the crime. Because when Hiko didn’t kill the people…”

“Someone else was clever enough to place fake proof and blame her.” he joined weakly in.

Sakumo nodded. “Exactly. So what I’m asking you to do isn’t to run blindly around. It’s to search into every direction.” His old man squeezed in sympathy his shoulder, then stood up, the same half-moon smile on his face Kakashi inherited from him.

Surely it wasn’t the easy way out he had hoped for. However, the detective knew in the deepest circles of his mind there was hardly a way out of the accusations, not to talk about an easy one. Murder was the heaviest crime of all. And such brutal and ruthless ones were even posted in newspapers in other countries, the social media was full of panicked posts and guides to get safely through the city and tomorrow Hiko’s face would greet everyone who bought a magazine, together with the call to inform the police about every place where the brunette was spotted.

He wouldn’t be one of the officers to write down all the info. No, Nagato placed him between Itachi and the two young cops and practically told him to keep a low profile after the fight he and Obito loudly shared with the whole office.

Another thing he had to clear up.

So… It was in the end the best thing his father could tell him.

Kakashi smiled warily. “Thanks dad. I will try.”

He let Sakumo drag him back on his feet and even allowed his old man to draw his unresponsive figure into a short but caring hug; an action neither of the two men usually indulged to. Only the one woman in their household had hugged them on a regular base and now for Kakashi Hiko had taken over that long neglected part of his life more than willingly.

His shoulders dropped. Maybe he would never again have the chance to cradle the female in his arms.

“Hey.”

Kakashi was ripped out of his newly awoken misery and locked eyes with Sakumo, who gestured warily over to the waiting dogs. Both had their heads stuck into the kitchen, Pakkun with the two leashes hanging out of his maw, an almost judging look in his wrinkled face. Obviously an order for his humans to get the fuck out with them and take some fresh air when they were too active for their own good.

“Sure.”

Taking a walk with the dogs and his father around two in the morning was always better than grieving the rest of the night in bed and asking himself if he should have noticed the possible crimes of his girlfriend.

 

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_His voice brushed like oil over her skin, engulfed her whole body and drowned her own. Hiko screamed, but nothing but blood filled her mouth, meanwhile Kabuto continued to whisper into her ear, the single syllables echoing through her brain. An arm, thin and nevertheless strong was slung around her neck, his body frame pressed into her back and Hiko could feel his mouth moving when he leaned closer, teeth gracing barely the sensitive surface._

_“You will come to me baby. You will crawl on your knees and beg for my hands, for my forgiveness. You belong to me.”_

_Ice cold fingers touched one of her various scars, traced the rough hill and retreated slightly, until only the pads were resting on her quivering form, gasping for air and tasting nothing but the metallic crimson liquid._

_“You know, I said you were a failure, but truth is, you were my perfect possession. The others couldn’t cry so beautiful like you, their tears didn’t taste the same, their skin wasn’t so soft…”_

_She wanted to cry out, to scream into the darkness and beg for help, for someone who would hear her suffering, but no sound left her throat._

_He chuckled and cold breath ghosted over her sweat stained neck. “Such a naughty girl. Begging for help? Maybe your little dirty mutt? He thinks you betrayed him. He believes you killed three humans, a thing he can’t accept. And soon he will hunt you down, if he didn’t go insane over the thought of sharing his blanket with a bloodthirsty killer…”_

_Desperate she shook her head, tried to escape, but Kabuto only tightened his grip around her neck and forced her to stay still. “My, my,” he licked over the edges of her ear and chuckled at her trembling, “you can’t escape from me. Never. And I will be inside you again.”_

 

Hiko shot upwards. Heavily panting she fisted the thick material of her sleeping bag and stared blindly around, not sure if this was reality or still her horrible dream. Was her room always this cold? Had Kakashi again lowered the temperature of the heater? The sneaky bastard.

White clouds emerged from her mouth as she breathed out. Wide eyed Hiko watched them and as she looked at the low ceiling and the see-through plastic trap, the white chaos outside of her wooden doghouse and noticed the coldness resided even deep inside her bones now, the memories came with all their might back. Morning light creeped over the scenery just as faint as the low fog covering the ground and the part of the street the woman could spot from her position.

The last frail depths of sleep were washed away by the dawning realization. But the shorty had no time for the tears which threatened to surface or the paralyzing pain clenching her heart.

Never would she have believed pure feelings could force her organs to rebel against the natural order. She wasn’t sick, never had problems with her heart before, but now mere fleeting emotions made the lump of flesh and muscles crack and break, forcing the woman to lift her hand and grip into her jacket.

At least it felt like her heart was breaking.

“No time for crying,” Hiko murmured under her breath, “You have to find out how late it is. Yeah. That’s important now.”

At six tRuthseekEr and strikingSWORDs would meet in “Jashin’s chamber” to further evaluate the upcoming events. And she needed to be there, unnoticed by the cameras and other people… A pain in the ass (and Hiko tried to see the whole thing positive).

Still a bit shaking she tugged her green scarf over mouth and nose. And instantly sighed out, due to the fogging of her glasses.

One night wasn’t much time to spread her few belongings all over the ground, so Hiko was quick in packing them back into her backpack. Only the sleeping bag needed some persuasion, but even this matter was solved in the end.

On the outside a door was opened and Hiko suddenly stopped all her movements. Frozen in panic she listened to the soft murmur of a deep voice, underlined by Pakkun and Bull. The dogs barked in happiness, then a high yelp followed, maybe out of surprise that the fluffy white mass was cold as fuck on their sensitive feet.

Sakumo’s laugh echoed through the garden, together with his mused “Be careful Pakkun.” Hiko was paralyzed. Then she closed her eyes and did something she had never done before: she prayed to whoever was responsible for runaways and hackers to let Sakumo just stay oblivious to the fact she was here.

 

But naturally the shorty had no such luck. Just when she thought Sakumo and his pack were gone, a massive skull shoved himself into the warmed up dog house. Suddenly face to face with a drooling mastiff, Hiko couldn’t suppress a silly little yelp, just like Bull couldn’t stop himself and flung his heavy body onto his favorite female with a loud bark.

“Get off of me, you-!” Hiko hissed, desperately trying to fight the advances of Bull, who was excited to see the woman sleeping in his second home. Yipping and snorkeling he announced his happiness, until his master called him back with a harsh voice.

“Bull. Out.”

The cold tone send immediately guilt into her stomach. Cringing Hiko scrambled further into the darkness. She knew both options, if now staying in the dog house or trying to run away from the male were bad choices. But in her situation it wasn’t about selecting the best out of all things, but the one thing with the least bad outcome.

Right before the entrance two legs stood in the piles of snow and didn’t move one inch from their position. Her breathing ragged liked thunder between the walls and biting her lower lip in frustration, Hiko hid her face in her palms.

Sakumo was a former police officer and SFU-member. Surely he could put two and two together and come to the right conclusion that she was currently not the most innocent human out there, at least not innocent enough to be carefree and parade around town without a worry. And measured at his harsh bark, Kakashi told him already everything.

Her escape.

The evidence.

Her breaking-up with his son, the cold note, her vanishing, only to camp in his garden, right under his nose with a boldness only young teens and suicidal ones displayed.

The word shame wasn’t appropriate enough to describe the wave crashing against the rock hard walls of her resolution to make sure Kakashi was safe until Hiko had enough proof to step into the light once more. Unable to say anything, she only shook her head, tears pricking in her canthus.

“Maybe on my old days I’m getting paranoid,” Sakumo exclaimed into the silence of the winter garden, “but surely it can’t be a certain short brunette in my dog house. Because if she was in there, I must had to question her motive for leaving my son heartbroken without an explanation or maybe even more important, for killing and displaying three people like some disturbing kind of art.”

“Sir, I-!”

The teachers at the police academy in Suna had the same tone while speaking, or more like screaming at the students. But Sakumo had the uncommon talent even when he wasn’t screaming to make Hiko insecure and panicked like the other teachers back then had. So the unconscious slip of “Sir” into her weak defense was understandable.

“I advise the one in there not to speak now, ‘cause then I can still believe it’s a fresh breeze which caught my attention earlier. All I want to say is, when there’s really the person who loves dogs just as much as I and who made my son happy, then I would want to tell her to vanish in the next ten minutes, then I can forget about her presence immediately. In the meantime I’m going to talk with the one she left behind and came to me tonight and occupy him for this timespan, but not any longer.”

“Th-thank you, sir.”

Sakumo sighed heavily out. “Commands aren’t your thing, eh? So…” The man crouched down and glanced into the dog house. His attentive eyes spotted the backpack, the sleeping bag, the thick clothes, then slid over the edges of the laptop and over her clothed hands.

“Those are Kakashi’s.”

She nodded slowly.

 

His familiar eyes squinted. “Why would have a cold-blooded killer the gloves of my son?”

Hiko peeked through her fingers at Sakumo and saw the unusual spark of seriousness in his face. It wasn’t just a question about her motive. He asked her just as much why she left Kakashi just as making sure to verify if she actually did all those things or not, echoing through his simple question.

Sniveling the shorty lowered her hands and fisted them into the thick material of her jacket. “Because… I… I still love him.” she whispered.

“And then why did you leave?”

“To protect him.”

Kakashi’s father stared intently into her eyes, the eyebrows wrinkled and a serious expression on his features.

“You didn’t kill anyone. Before I had only a hunch, but now I’m sure.” he stated after a significant pause and abruptly stood up. Hiko flinched at the sudden movement. “But that makes it only harder for me to understand why it’s necessary to pain my own flesh and blood like that, someone who doesn’t deserves to be betrayed. Fix this, whatever it is, then get clear with Kakashi. That is all I’m asking from you.”

Hiko nodded. “Yes sir.” she bought out and swallowed the mighty sob ripping at her lungs.

Again steps scrunched in the fresh snow and the loud barks of Bull resounded in the garden, then the door was getting unlocked and closed again, leaving her in the silence of a cold morning.

Hiko didn’t understand why Sakumo let her run away once more, but she also didn’t want to find out what he was capable of if she wouldn’t flee. Only two minutes after the silver haired man closed the door behind him, the brunette was again on the streets, the wool hat covering her forehead and the scarf tugged over the rest of her face.

 

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As Kakashi left Sakumo’s house, he first didn’t even notice the trail of deep steps in the otherwise virgin snow. The path leading around the building into the garden of his father only caught his eyes while he buttoned the rest of his coat up, all the while letting his vision restless slide over the near environment.

“Father?” he asked and stopped every motion.

Sakumo hummed in response.

“Do you know about someone camping in your garden?”

Just in time Kakashi turned fully to the other man to see the slightly concerned gaze towards the traces, but then happy nonchalance laid upon his features. “Must be a homeless person who has searched for refuge from the snow. Nowadays they get more and more desperate when the winter comes.” Sakumo answered and shrugged.

“He must be still there.”

There was only one trail. And if the homeless guy didn’t carefully placed his feet into each of his own footprints, the stranger was still in the garden.

Sakumo shook slightly smiling his head. “Or he came before the snowfall and left early this morning. Don’t worry,” his father patted Bulls head and grinned, “I can protect myself from a scrawny stray.”

His old man had a point. Two, to be exact. Even when he was nearing his late fifties, Sakumo was more than able to at least cripple the poor guy who tried to surprise him in his own home. Eased, Kakashi finished his preparations to face the harsh weather outside.

One last curious look at the holes in the white deity covering the streets and ground, then he waved lazily at the other male. “Thanks for tonight.”

Sakumo still smiled and waved back. “No problem. You’re my son. I’m only doing what’s the best for you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kudos for the brave soul Miss-Fandoms-Shakespeare, who has time besides her own writing to check also mine. You're awesome and I admire you, honestly.


	51. Who is Hiko?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The closer one looks, the more uncomfortable truth may come to light. The KPD searches through Hiko's flat and Itachi has a long needed talk with Kakashi.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Uuurgh... I'm a bit ashamed... Again two weeks between the updates. I can only apologize. :'(   
> (In the meantime I even aged a year. One of my reasons why I couldn't post. Sorry again.)

Kakashi never believed to see Hiko’s apartment filled with her colleagues from the police station. She put so much effort into being an enigma to the other officers, hiding her address, creating her harpy fits in front of them and cutting every connection, so the male was strangely hurt to see so many people invading her personal space.

He wandered into the bedroom and caught Kiba and Naruto rummaging through her wardrobe, obviously not only interested in finding further evidence, but more into the basket with womanly underwear. With a sharp hiss Kakashi ordered them out, shooting the two young cops dangerous glares and gestured instead Tenten to go through Hiko’s clothes.

The brunette first hesitated before she started to order the different articles of clothing and from time to time her brown eyes wandered over to Kakashi, who stood lost in thought leaned against the doorframe.

“Kakashi-sensei?” she asked after a full minute of blind staring on his part and nervous fidgeting on hers.

“Hm?”

“The way you stand there… It’s almost as if you’re controlling me and it’s not that I’m tensed or such, but your presence isn’t making the task easier…”

He blinked, then realized the younger cop was a bit fazed by his intimidating presence. “Sorry, sorry. I leave you alone.” Kakashi said and turned his back to the female. Maybe his mind played pranks on him, but wasn’t that a weak sigh of relief coming from her as he exited the bedroom?

Tiredness was still residing in his body from a day and night of constant walking. With a light grimace he massaged an aching muscle in his right thigh, meanwhile Asuma nodded in the entrance area at him, face obviously forced to display an unemotional mask. Nevertheless the clouds hanging over his head were chased away, still lingering in some distance, but through the words and reassurances of his father and the clear night air an invisible barrier was now between the logic and the storm.

A quick gaze into the living room left Kakashi again uneasy. While Itachi tried to get the hard drive out of the PC, Naruto went over to look through the shelves and tugged the various books out, Kiba could be now heard in the kitchen, maybe rummaging through the cupboards (if one of the cups was broken by him, Kakashi would personally make sure the kid would write parking tickets for the next months) and Asuma, still adorned with a stern look, covered the bathroom.

“Kakashi…” Swiftly the silver haired detective turned to Kurenai. The brunette smiled apologetic at him, then raised lightly a notepad into his face. “You know how those things go, so I have to ask…”

Naturally. As one of the closest people to Hiko, as her boyfriend and neighbor, Kakashi had to be questioned about her whereabouts. So he nodded only.

The woman calmed visibly down at his reaction. “Good,” she tugged a pencil out, “then could you state when you have seen the suspect for the last time?”

“The evening before she vanished. We went together to bed and in the next morning the chief called her early to get results from the other side of town, so she left before me. Then she called in sick, so I heard.”

“Anything strange about her lately? Was Kobayashi maybe more tensed or did she seem like she hid something?”

“Yes, a bit,” Kakashi paused as he saw Naruto reaching farther into the shelf than he ever did, surprise clear on his features, “but I thought the constant late-nighters and the calls of Nagato in the early morning were the reason.”

Kurenais forehead wrinkled. “Late-nighters? Early mornings?”

“Yes.” said Kakashi.

“But… There’s nothing like that written in her presence schedule. I know because I checked beforehand.”

“Really? Then I must have dreamed all the times I woke up from an unnerving call in the middle of the night.” He didn’t notice his tone grew the slightest bit harsh, but the male was occupied with watching the blond student who he nearly adopted throughout the year and he didn’t like much what he saw.

Kurenais pen slid over the notepad, hastily scribbling the new info down. “I will check that, but as I said,” the woman lifted her red eyes from her notes and glanced quickly upwards, “there was nothing listed for her those times. Not even reports about additional tasks.”

“I know she wrote them, I was present while she did.”

“But Kakashi, when there’s nothing in the system, there’s-!”

“WOAH!”

All present officers spun to Naruto. His blue eyes were widened and a slightly sick shadow laid upon the otherwise grinning features as the young cop pulled his arm back, gloved fingers firmly closed around an object. From his position Kakashi couldn’t see what exactly the thing was, but alone Naruto’s face awoke once more the insecurities he barely managed to keep at bay lately.

Kakashi wouldn’t like what Naruto found. A premonition, mighty and dawning on him like the sun creeped every morning at the sky let goose bumps run over his back and arms, all the while he stepped nearer to his younger colleague, eyes intently set on the mysterious object. Naruto seemed troubled and as he unclenched his hand, Kakashi understood clearly why the azure eyes were full of doubt and hesitant grief.

A knife. His instincts kicked in and wordless the male demanded some plastic gloves from Asuma, the sight filled with the weapon, previously hidden in between the books of his girlfriend and now presented by the happy-go-lucky blond.

He saw a lot of knives and other weaponry during his time in the SFU. Kakashi himself used them for his assassinations or infiltration missions. In an appropriate size, knives could be hidden nearly anywhere, in pockets, sleeves of a long shirt, the shaft of a heavy boot and could be the winning point in a close combat fight. Mostly he encountered butterfly knives, wielded by street gangsters who thought they could make a difference with clumsy movements and exaggerated swings which were easy to dodge, but also some uncommon kinds of the same weapon Kakashi saw over the years and to see one of them in Hiko’s flat, where he had spent much time and relaxed totally, made the man very uncomfortable. He had seen blades like that before.

“It’s a hunting knife.”

Kiba stared for a moment longer at the weapon, then shrugged lazily when the present officers turned to him. “What?” he asked and scratched one of the red triangles on his cheeks, “My mom has almost enough of those to arm an army. She owns the only hunting store at the eastern outskirts and countless heads of deer hang from the walls. I have polished them as punishment.”

The dog-lover was right. But Kakashi’s trained eyes noticed even more things. The handle was durable, the metal itself well-polished and a groove travelled along the sharp side, meant for blood to be easier removed. The knife didn’t show any signs of usage, so either it was well-kept or waited until today in the shelves to be used. It wasn’t one of the longest knives he had seen until now, only ten centimeters if Kakashi had to estimate, but judging by the place where the weapon was found, Hiko had a more sneaky purpose in mind while hiding it. And those hunting knives were perfect for ripping a few organs out of bodies.

“We will continue our conversation at the station,” murmured Kakashi absent-minded towards Kurenai, while he placed the hunting knife in a plastic bag and labelled it carefully, “now I have a job to do.”

Nagato had talked to him before a squad of cops set off to turn Hiko’s flat upside down. Kakashi wasn’t there to act as a detective in charge, but as a witness and the boyfriend of the main suspect. That meant he wouldn’t interfere with the investigations.

However, how could he possibly stand still while the youngsters and people who were never allowed by the woman to properly look at her and the personality she hid underneath all her protective layers scrambled through her and his belongings? Determined Kakashi nodded at his colleagues, ready to discover more about the woman he had let into his life.

They found four other hunting knives around the flat, hidden so well not a random person was able find them. Only throughout an investigation through the police unraveled the weapons. And that wasn’t the last surprise.

“Kurenai-sensei? I found something!”

Tenten sounded more than shocked. Following the brunette officer into the bedroom, Kakashi tried to prepare himself for any other unpleasant surprises, but nothing could prepare him for the neatly ordered pile of files which peeked out from under Hiko’s bed. Tenten shuffled through a bright red one, her lips forming in silence the different words she read, then she looked up. Single tresses had slipped from her usual buns and let her look just as shaken like Kakashi felt.

Kurenai gestured to the spread out papers. “What is this?”

“That…” The girl shook slowly her head, “Is absolutely insane.” Waving with the red order she had in her hands, Tenten left the impression of a slightly crazy teacher, absolutely overthrown by the discovery she just made. “If only half of the certifications are not faked, then Kobayashi-san will be a real challenge to catch. Here,” she presented Kurenai and Kakashi the papers, “certifications about different additional lessons she took during her academy time. Undercover work, forensic, disguises and camouflage, all of them with top marks! Then more lessons about this and that, from the Konoha community college!”

Kurenai bend down to inspect what Tenten held out, all the while Kakashi couldn’t believe his eyes. Over and over he raked over the various orders on the ground, which previously were hidden underneath Hiko’s bed.

The bed where he and Hiko slept more than once. Where they had cuddled. Where they…

Pained he tried to keep his focus. This couldn’t be right now a home to him. It had to become a crime scene. Kakashi had to ignore the fact that his smell clung to the set of bed sheets at the right side, he had to ignore that his clothes were sprawled over the chair in the corner and that his morning coat was draped over his side of the bed. Calmly the detective clasped a file in his fingers which looked a lot like it could belong to a police station and opened it.

The simple headline on the first page caught his mind ice cold.

_ Case 2034 – T13 _

_ Victim: Hiko Kobayashi _

_ Reported crimes: Drug misuse, heavy freedom liberation, heavy mayhem, rape _

A bright red  _ UNRESOLVED  _ was placed above the neutral black letters, but Kakashi’s stomach did a barrel roll when the realization what exactly he held in his hands fell over him. The slightly worn-out edges and the faint yellow color of the pages caught his eye and only underlined the hunch.

Sickness spread, like a curtain lying merciless over heart and brain. The file was thicker than any other file Kakashi ever laid his eyes upon, countless of loose sheets of papers peeked out of the bind and based on the well-read state the file was in, the brunette spend hours, maybe days going through the report about her…

“And what do we have here?”

There wasn’t an ounce of ill intent in Kurenais voice, but Kakashi jerked back from her presence like she tried to threaten him. In the process he closed the file.

There was no way he would reveal Hiko’s past to someone else, not without her consent. Strange. He had a job. She was apparently a killer. And still there was a part of Kakashi who tried to protect the shorty with every fiber of his being. His fingers jittered as he clutched her file in his hands.

“Nothing important,” Kakashi heard himself say. “Just… just another file.”

“Really?” Kurenai didn’t seem convinced, however thankfully let him be and instead gestured over to the other certifications. “Tenten is right. Kobayashi-san must have spent years to get this far. She might be a greater challenge than we calculated.”

“Info sheets for survival in the wilderness…” Concentrated the younger brunette shuffled through the surrounding papers, “first aid, advanced first aid, licenses for cars, trucks and boats, an attempted try for a flying license…”

Kurenai shook in disbelief her head.

“Psychological studies to psychopaths, she took lessons in different languages for example French and German, distinctions for programs she wrote, judo certifications, shooting certificate, parkour lessons…”

Pained Kakashi closed his eyes. So much secrets and Hiko never made the effort to tell him anything, not to speak about the knowledge she gathered. The insights which came to light were ripping at the last defenses he build for the protection of the innocent picture he had of his shorty. Now there was reality trashing them down.

Nagato had been right. He shouldn’t be here and look at the officers which overturned Hiko’s personal life and his belongings. To watch this was torture, shards digging deeper and deeper into his flesh. Still clutching Hiko’s case file between his fingers, Kakashi stood up and nearly stumbled out of the bedroom, not hearing the sentences Kurenai said in his behind.

“I’m leaving.” he said to Asuma, who watched him in badly hidden sympathy, then nodded. Kakashi was thankful the bearded man didn’t ask and absent-minded waved at everyone present, before he wrestled a bit with his black coat and scarf.

“Kakashi.”

Itachi appeared out of the living room, already clothed and prepared to face the harsh winds and coldness. A bulge in his jacket told where the hard-drive of Hiko’s PC was being kept. “I’m accompanying you back.” the raven continued and placed his hand above the hard-drive. “This thing here will not decipher himself.”

“Itachi, I’m not in the mood for another-!””

“You will come with me.”

Itachi was faster gone than Kakashi could realize he had been practically ordered to follow the Uchiha, leaving him in the entrance area like a bothersome hindrance. Grimacing underneath his flu mask, the silver haired detective slipped finally into coat and shoes, Hiko’s file still pressed to his side and hiding it from the other officers.

The sky was painted in grey as he stepped outside and harsh breezes moved the rims of his scarf and threatened to rip the white flu mask away, but the strings didn’t move an inch from their belonging place. Kakashi looked for a moment up to the clouds, allowing himself to dwell a bit in misery at the discoveries in Hiko’s home.

‘This isn’t looking good for you, Firefly. Sure, the knives are clean, but finding them in your flat is already enough in this special situation. And the different certifications don’t help you either. Nagato will close the haven and the nearest airport for sure when he hears this.

My god, why didn’t you tell me anything about yourself?’

Hopefully there was nothing on the hard-drive. Hopefully Itachi would find the reports for the tasks Hiko filled in and hopefully it was just contamination which bought her DNA to the last, still nameless corpse. But deep inside Kakashi knew there was something shadier going on.

Why, if she didn’t feel guilty, should Hiko vanish with an empty apology and a cold note? From his point of view, the brunette took the easiest way out and was now on the run from the law.

Kakashi sighed heavily out and let his vision drop to the ground. A quick solution of this whole mess wouldn’t be found, that much he could assume. Automatically he checked his cell phone for a possible message, but almost mocking the screen lit up only to reveal no text, no life-sign of the shorty.

Itachi already waited in his luxurious car. “Took you a long time.” Was the only comment the raven made, then he pulled out of the parking space, not even waiting for the silver haired man to buckle up.

Kakashi quickly let the bond snap into place. He never experienced Itachi’s driving skills until now, but the self-suicidal speed was surely scraping at the upper tempo limits.

“Slow down.” he murmured before a yellow light, but Itachi only speed up and crossed the crossing without looking left or right.

What scared Kakashi slightly wasn’t the insane speed they now had, not even the wild honks before and behind them. No, it was the dangerous expression on Itachi’s face, cold and measuring their surroundings. He was reminded of a SFU-member who he had known, who had the same crazy expression on his face shortly before he threw himself into a rain of bullets between their squad and some mafia minions. Afterwards he breathed, but only barely and with the help of wires and a machine.

“Itachi. Slow. Down.”

The speed only lessened for a sliver.

“Itachi. Now.”

With a grunt the raven stepped on the brakes and bought the vehicle to an abrupt halt before he could oversee the next red light. Kakashi suppressed the relieved exhale rippling in his chest and loosened the death grip around his seat.

‘Thank god.’

For a while no one said anything. At least they didn’t move with lightning speed anymore, so Kakashi could at least a bit relax and prepare himself for the next interrogation of another Uchiha, but the talk wasn’t like he expected it.

“I don’t know what I will find.”

“Huh?”

Itachi snorted, more desperate than amused. “I said, I don’t know what I will find. And for the first time in years, I don’t want to check a hard-drive and find what I’m supposed to find. I don’t want to see any evidence for the guilt of my sister. However… it’s my duty.” He threw a look at the detective. “Just as it’s your duty to investigate. Whether she’s guilty or not, we have a job and our personal feelings shouldn’t hinder us from getting in the way. Right?”

The insecure question, muffled and embarrassed was almost too weak to be heard underneath the rattles of the car. But Kakashi caught the single word nevertheless and like never before he realized that Itachi  _ was younger than him _ . The icy Uchiha always acted so high and mighty someone wouldn’t think so, but several years parted Kakashi and Itachi. And everybody who was born and lived in Konoha for a few years knew what happened to the Uchihas, a wealthy and renowned family with one of the most prosperous companies. Itachi’s and Sasuke’s parents died when they were young and Itachi fought long and hard to get accepted by the law and take the guardianship for his younger brother.

Itachi couldn’t rely on anyone right now. Not on Obito, his older cousin, not on Kisame, who was also on Hiko’s side. He had only Kakashi, an emotionally crippled detective who had just as much trouble to believe into the mere situation.

“Right,” Kakashi rasped, “It’s our job.”

The slender fingers around the wheel turned white as Itachi gripped harder into the leather. “Just to state that Kakashi, since Hiko was raped, she wasn’t the same I knew. Obito thought she slowly turned back to her old self, but I could see the differences. She became harder, colder, cynical. She wasn’t a child anymore and didn’t think everything could be solved peacefully. There were times she scared me and times were I thought,” the raven snorted in disgust, “she could be able to kill somebody. Kisame and Obito don’t want to believe me, but I know the truth.”

The intense onyx eyes turned to Kakashi. “I just want to say there’s a chance she did it. And even when Obito wants to hide in his blissful illusion and believe, I’m a realist. I think Hiko would be able to commit murder, maybe not under the same circumstances we have now, but I truly think so. I will not judge you for doing your job, because I will do my own with every ounce of will I have in me. Thanks to your assurance.”

He shouldn’t feel relieved, not over having a comrade. Their group was split in the middle now, Obito and Kisame standing firm on the one side, while Kakashi and Itachi struggled on the other, torn between their duty and their feelings. But nevertheless he couldn’t help but to smile weakly at the thought of someone who understood to some point, who had the same difficulties lying in front of him.

“No thanks needed.” Kakashi retorted and loosened the belt.

“They are. It’s not self-evident.”

“Is your marriage still…?”

The raven sighed. “Still up? Yes. But with each day the investigation prolongs the date will more and more crumble. I never expected Hiko to be one of the reasons we would break up, but…”

He didn’t had to finish. Kakashi grimaced, knowing how fiercely Kisame defended his beloved Hi-chan in front of Itachi. Someone could get the wrong impression and think the blue-skinned giant was the actual boyfriend of the brunette, but in reality it was only a really strong bond of siblingship between her and Kisame.

“Hopefully we can solve this quickly,” he murmured, more to himself than the cold Uchiha, “For your sake and for hers.”

“And what’s with yours?”

Before Kakashi could react to the startling question, Itachi jumped out of the car and left him on his own, not waiting to close the vehicle properly or minding the now stronger wind ripping at his jacket. With tensed-up shoulders he made his way over to the police office, all the while the silver haired detective could only stare blindly at the console, his mind running circles around the uttered words.

_ And what’s with yours? _

His sake. His health. His emotional state.

For a brief second his heart clenched like never before. Raw pain flashed through his body, hurting more than a knife to the side he took once, more than the bullet meant for his cheating comrade, more than the realization Hiko was gone.

His sake. Kakashi laughed bitterly and buried his face in the palms of his hands. Putting his sake aside, he just wanted to return to the peaceful times before. To the times where he woke up to the hasty footsteps of the shorty, to her strong curses when he managed to set their bell to a later time, when they ate breakfast together and she teased him about his bed hair or praised the food he prepared with a slightly surprised expression on her features. Kakashi would give almost everything to return to those times, to let this scenario of Hiko being a killer a merciful dream. But no matter how fast he could solve riddles, no matter how many enemies he had defeated over the years and no matter how much he begged for it, there would be no redemption from this nightmare.

Kakashi wouldn’t wake up. There was no light in the darkness.

Only shadows.

After some more minutes, the male had collected his previously cracked unemotional mask again and stepped into the atrium of the KPD, wiping some lost snowflakes off his forearms and making a list what had to be done, but a rumor startled his concentration and partly curious, partly annoyed he automatically wanted to glare at the loud visitors. However, the crowd gathering around the secretaries and screaming bloody murder didn’t catch his interest.

It was a solemn brunet man with a scar crossing the bridge of his nose. He seemed a little bit lost at the utter chaos reigning the wide room and tried to stand on his toes to look over the heads of various people, maybe to check how long the queue still was. In his fingers the male clutched obviously the newspapers from today (Kakashi grimaced underneath his mask at the memory of the short article and the phantom picture about their new main suspect and the task for the citizens to report every suspicious behavior to the police) and as he turned and let his eyes rake over the interior, they fell also on Kakashi.

Recognition lit up. Instantly the brunet left the crowd and walked over, scratching a bit embarrassed his left cheek, with a just as embarrassed grin on his face.

“Perhaps you may be Kakashi Hatake?” he asked the instant he was close enough.

“And who wants to know that?” Kakashi asked back, banning the harsh undertone only barely out of his voice.

Instead of answering directly, the other man stretched his hand out. “Sorry, that was a bit straightforward. But Naruto told me so much about his instructors at the police station and especially about the infamous “Kakashi-sensei” ,” the grin widened a bit, “that I have the feeling I know you distantly. My name is Iruka Umino. Pleased to meet you.”

Finally Kakashi took pity in the other and shook the outstretched hand, only to get totally overrun by his next exclamation.

Iruka turned to look a bit flabbergasted over his shoulder and inspecting the now louder going queue behind him. The poor secretaries had trouble to keep the money-hungry people under control, until Izumo and Kotetsu breached out of the main office and tried to bring some order into the wild citizens.

“If I would have known so many people want to make a report about the butcher –excuse me, Hiko Kobayashi- then I would have pushed my own to a later time. Sure, there’s some money involved, but isn’t it our duty as citizens to provide our protectors with the right information they need?”

“What?” Kakashi rasped strained out.

Iruka didn’t even notice the predicament he threw Kakashi in with his words. The attentive deep brown eyes watched instead the raging crowd, arms hanging loosely at his sides. “Yeah,” the brunet nodded slowly, “Our duty as citizens. You as policemen swore to protect us and so I believe our duty towards you is to answer your questions.”

“No, not that. You have a report about Hi… Kobayashi-san?”

“Yes. I saw her yesterday afternoon, only for a short time though. But as we talked-!”

“You talked? How was she? Did she look fine?” The staccato questions flew faster out of his mouth than Kakashi could really think about them. The worry, dulled by hours not thinking about the shorty in a loving way instantly flamed up as Iruka mentioned he actually talked with Hiko.

Same man looked utterly confused at the not-so-professional words. “Well… Depending on the circumstances, good, I guess…?”

“Did she say anything? Anything important?”

“Yeah. You see, I met her due to some personal business with a group of homeless people…”

Kakashi’s stomach turned upside down. She slept outside? In the middle of a nearing winter storm, inclusive harsh snowfall, sharp wind and temperatures beyond the freezing point?

“Unfortunately I didn’t suspect at all she was a criminal, so I only asked her how she got on the streets. She was very vague about her motive, said her past was getting in her way once more and that she wanted to solve a little problem and afterwards repair the shards she left for her loved ones.” said the brunet.

Wait. Stop.

‘That makes no sense. A cold-blooded psychopath or at least a sociopath should realize what he has done and the following consequences would be grave. There’s no return into a normal life, Hiko would had to live a life as a run-away, always looking over her shoulder and suspicious of everyone around her. But to “fix a problem” and “return into her previous life”…

That didn’t sound like she tried to get out of Konoha. More like the brunette intended to stay.

“Are you sure she said that?” verified Kakashi, inwardly shaking in hopeful excitement. “Are you completely sure she intended to say that?”

And as Iruka nodded, now fully confused by his questions, Kakashi felt how the cards on the field became newly arranged. If the shorty didn’t want to run away, if she really wanted to fix whatever she meant with her cryptic words, then that would resolute into more chances to capture her without a commotion.

And the little spark of relief, caused by someone who really talked and saw her, who actually had contact to Hiko was sweeping Kakashi nearly off his feet. She was fine and somehow healthy, despite sleeping out in the open and in the harsh weather. Nearly the same instant he doubted his own judgement, being happy about the well-being of a searched-after murderer.

But it was Hiko they talked about.

“However…” Iruka sighed aspirated out. There was something in his face telling about discomfort and something else. Something Kakashi couldn’t name exactly, but it gave him hope and also a sick feeling of having made a deep mistake. “Are you sure Hiko-san is a criminal?”

“All of the evidence points at her.”

The brunet shrugged first, then shook slowly his head, the clear eyes suddenly glazed over. “It’s just… She encouraged me to try again. Job interview,” he explained after Kakashi gave him a clueless look, “I was a bit down after I came back from the meeting, but she instantly noticed and tried to cheer me up, I believe. Even when we meet only minutes ago. Would a killer do that?”

No. No, a killer wouldn’t do that, especially not the one they were chasing after. But it was just like Hiko to do such a thing: trying to cheer someone up when she had bigger problems in her back. A dry chuckle escaped Kakashi as the thought crossed his mind and he only shook his head when a strange look was given to his attics.

“Nothing,” he assured Iruka while he finally tugged his scarf down, “But would you be so kind and give your report to one of the other officers too? And more detailed. Her clothes, the things she had with her, everything you can remember. Kotetsu here,” Kakashi waved to the cop and nodded when he pointed at himself, “will take your report. Fancy meeting you Umino-san, but work is waiting.”

“Interesting. She said nearly the same thing to me.” snickered Iruka back.

But the brunet was clever and didn’t pry deeper into territory where he wasn’t wanted, instead he started to chat immediately with Kotetsu when the black haired cop made his way over and picked their guest up. Kakashi watched the two blindly, then he sighed deeply (a sound he was making far too often in the last two days) and unbuttoned his coat. In the time Iruka talked to him, the warmth of the building entirely enveloped his body and made him almost sweat, the heat emitted by the loud crowd in front of him wasn’t helping either. With a little grumble the silver haired detective made his way over to the door and corridor he knew well from all the times he visited his girlfriend in the IT-labs.

Would it be from now on always like this, he searching for excuses to sneak one or two questions about Hiko into every conversation he joined and his mood dropping whenever the other stared confused at him, not knowing about whom he talked about? Or even worse, when a glint of knowledge flashed over the face of the conversation partner and he trustingly leaned closer and dared to throw some pitiful crumbs before Kakashi’s feet, who hungered after the tiniest bit of intel about the brunette he could get like a sea lion begging for some fish?

Thankfully Kakashi encountered nobody who would disrupt his deep thinking and like that, undisturbed, but also not ripped out of his dark thoughts, he entered the IT-bureau, in his right hand still clutched the file which he didn’t plan to read anytime soon. He was welcomed by Hinata, who immediately stood up and lowered her head, the dark bangs falling around her face and hands neatly folded.

“Nice to s-see y-you, Hatake-san,” she said in her silent voice. “It will be a p-pleasure to w-work with y-you.”

“Maa,” he waved dismissingly with the file, realized  _ with what  _ he waved and quickly let the file sink again, “there’s no need to be so formal. We’re colleagues, right?”

“R-Right.”

Shino adjusted the sunglasses resting on the bridge of his nose, the hood in place despite the comfortable warmth in the room. “Uchiha-san said you should take the workplace over there…” He pointed at a desk near the windows, only a small path parted the place from Hiko’s abandoned PC. “If you have any questions regarding the programs and order we have, please do not hesitate to ask us.”

“Sure.” The detective mumbled back and retreated to his appointed destination, relieved Itachi didn’t went as far as giving him Hiko’s desk. Even the look across the room was hurting Kakashi slightly, when his coal eyes caught sight of the little personal items the brunette had placed here and there to make the place more comfy: a picture of Hiko surrounded by her brothers, framed and right beside the monitor, one of the biggest cups he had ever seen, some post-its glued to the top of the workplace, hastily written and often decorated by smileys or little doodles. More than once he had found a little scarecrow in one corner of a grocery list or on a post-it whenever Hiko had to leave early in the morning, mostly glued to a cup of coffee, resting innocently at the nightstand.

But the thing which pierced his heart like someone fired a harpoon at him was a photo she pinned somehow to the top edge of her monitor, only slightly blocking the view. It was a photo of him,  _ only  _ him, like she wanted to remind herself why she even went to work. In the picture Kakashi was sitting on her comfy couch, the eyes closed, with his mask on and in his lap an open book. His chin had sunken to his chest and some of his silver strands dangled into his forehead, however even in his sleep a finger secured the page he left when he had fallen into the merciful darkness.

To see himself at Hiko’s working place was confusing. Abstract. Strangely comforting and making Kakashi believe that at least her feelings for him weren’t an act, that she wasn’t one of the best actors he had ever seen and slept with.

With an inward sigh Kakashi turned the computer on his own desk on and waited for the device to become fully useable. Meanwhile he listened to a little chat between Shino and Hinata, but unfortunately he only understood every third or fourth word.

‘Hiko could join the conversation.’

His thoughts wandered again around and landed at the message she left him. The note was now a proof and safely secured in a plastic bag to check upon, but he didn’t need to see the letters to recite the words without a mistake. The message was branded into his brain, like nothing else ever managed in the same time span.

_ I’m leaving you. There’s someone else. Please don’t look for me and make this even more complicated than it already is. _

_ I’m sorry. _

Now, after Kakashi could analyze the words without a distraction, some questions popped up and he disliked the fact they were so prominent. Who was the “someone else”? Why was it complicated? Why was she sorry for leaving and not for killing three people? Why was she sorry for leaving, when an option could have been to wait for him and talk whatever was going on out?

Who was the smooth voice who made mysterious and two-sided comments like he knew more about the situation than Kakashi? What was the choice Hiko had to make, why knew the other party so much about his personal life, like the fact he was a detective, the special nickname he gave Hiko or how she sounded when she was reaching her climax? He couldn’t know about those things, only when someone had told him.

Kakashi shortly scrubbed over his face. Hiko must have spilled everything. His heart sunk down at the realization. There was simply no other explanation for the wide knowledge.

Blindly the silver haired man stared at the monitor where different icons blinked into his face.

Only two days. Hiko was now a goner for mere two days and Kakashi didn’t dare to imagine the state of his emotional world in two more days. So many questions torturing him, so many things left to unravel and confusing him more, so many things Hiko apparently didn’t want to trust him with. A muscle in his cheek twitched at the thought. But then how was it possible to break the information of being a cold-blooded killer to a former SFU-member and currently hard-working cop? Over dinner, a hidden message between meat and peas?

Restless his fingers wandered over the keyboard in front of him, getting accustomed to the keys and buttons. It wasn’t his first time at a computer, only the technical knowledge was missing. And even that could be helped. From time to time the shorty had taken some moments to explain her actions and the different programs of the KPD to him, whenever Kakashi had looked over her shoulder at her flat or came to visit her down here, with her usual enthusiasm and liveliness Kakashi missed greatly. So he was actually not as clueless as Shino and Hinata thought and started, slowly picking up the pace, to dig through the already digitalized testimonies from all the good-willed citizens. One in particular irked him to read all over.

Kakashi didn’t notice Itachi enter the bureau, but when the raven tried to grab the file which he discarded closely by his side, his hands automatically snapped forward and pulled the papers back. Thankfully Itachi didn’t struggle much as he tugged at the file, only a single eyebrow was raised at his sudden movement.

“Sorry.” muttered Kakashi, but guilt wasn’t part of the feelings raging inside his body.

Itachi shrugged, obviously not repelled and smoothly went over to explain the mysterious doings of the device in front of him. After a while, Kakashi just got the gist of the whole concept in its entirety, his friend nodded satisfied and gave him the first task.

“I want you to check the security cameras downtown.” Itachi pointed at one of the programs. “Hinatas shift ends in two minutes, then you will take over for a while. After the first reports and a useful description of our current target,” the charcoal eyes darkened until they seemed to glim red under the light, “we have now the chance to scan the crowd properly, not like before.”

“What was before?”

“We could only watch out for a dwarf with a backpack.”

“Well,” Kakashi switched tabs and scanned Irukas testimony for the description of Hiko’s clothing, “now you have a decent picture.”

Black jacket, jeans, blue wool hat, green scarf. Heavy boots and her usual glasses sitting at her nose. A pair of fingerless gloves and a black backpack, a sleeping bag strapped to it. Practical and durable in the harsh winds which threatened to turn into a full-grown storm. He expected nothing less from his girlfr-…

Inwardly the silver haired man growled frustrated at the slip of his thoughts. He couldn’t allow his stray thoughts to wander around and believe into an illusion. Right now Hiko was nothing more than a criminal on the run – had to be. Otherwise the chief could overthink the current situation and take even the last pieces of responsibility from him.

And that Kakashi couldn’t allow.

He needed to be connected to the case. There was no other explanation, his inner world desperately clawing into every little thing he could discover or unravel about Hiko, whatever it would cost.

It wasn’t hard work, but a tiring one. No wonder Hinata instantly turned the coffeemaker on as soon as Kakashi took over, her pale eyes following intently the stream of brown ambrosia spilling into a simple white porcelain mug. Watching countless people streaming over the streets of Konohagakure, knowing there were still hours over hours coming after this second was draining any will to keep watching from Kakashi, but he kept focused. Pushed himself to look closer, to rewind and look once more, again and again, until he checked even the single last person in the camera angle. Just for a sliver of rich chocolate brown hair, a hint of blue and green mixed, fogged glasses or a head barely visible in between the crowd, creating a little bump in the otherwise smooth surface.

A cup of coffee was the minimum Kakashi would need at the end of his shift.

Meanwhile Itachi, as the head of the IT department, went over to check and decipher the hard drive he got out of Hiko’s PC. Some in the main office talked in badly concealed admiration of the skills the raven hid all day, so the detective thought Hiko and her brother must have been on par all the time. But he was wrong.

A loud gasp woke Kakashi out of his bored daze.

“What is…?” Then Itachi hammered on his keyboard like a mad man, obvious panic standing on his face, lips curling around unspoken curses.

Unconsciously everyone present understood not to disturb the silence and Itachi’s concentration, so they stopped every moment and even tried to control their breathing to the minimum level. The hard-drive  _ did  _ something; something which Itachi clearly didn’t expect or thought of and that meant Hiko  _ did  _ something.

Something which needed to be a secret. Something the woman wanted to hide from the world. Kakashi’s stomach turned around. He knew the discovery Itachi was going to make wouldn’t please him nor lift the accusation on the brunette. He just… knew.

The hooded male was the first to speak, pushing the sunglasses up the bridge of his nose, but his fingers trembled faintly. “Uchiha-san. What is going on?”

Itachi ignored the question of his subordinate and if it was even possible, the typing accelerated into new heights. Resembling thunderclaps in Kakashi’s head, rolling and thundering and announcing yet unknown secrets with an intensity he hated.

There was sweat on his forehead, clearly visible due to the light of the PC.

Itachi didn’t sweat. He was never nervous, never looked so vulnerable before. Slowly the realization dawned on the silver haired man that Hiko not only managed to shaken his world up, but also the world of her brothers, quite brutal, if he might add.

Then Itachi grunted. “Thank god…” He slumped down in his seat, arms hanging nimbly over the armrests and sighed loudly. “That was way too close.”

Hinata settled her coffee on the desk and folded her hands in her lap. “The hard-drive? Was there a t-trap?”

“Yes. A self-destruction mechanism, set for any intruders.”

“Did she s-set a p-password?”

Itachi waved in a dismissing way, eyes closed and exhausted beyond measure from such a short span of stress. “Yes. God, yes. One of the hardest ones I ever saw, but I remembered some lectures she loved to give about this special code. Otherwise the hard-drive would have erased itself into oblivion. And when I look at the first data…” Shaking his head, the Uchiha scrolled a bit down, then quickly looked at each present officer. “It’s crazy. Totally crazy. I don’t think she expected someone to ever come this far, so there’s no encoding present, I believe.“ he added after a few seconds.

Without a word Kakashi hauled himself out of the wheelchair and made his way towards Itachi, trying to build at least some resistance up for the impact. The younger cops watched him, he felt their stares at his flank and back as Kakashi turned around to look at the screen, not without a quick inhale to brace his mind.

His first thought went to the same list Hiko send to the whole office, regarding the companies and people tRuthseekEr hacked. The structure was the same, the tabs were the same, neatly ordered and easy to understand. Also the first few names were similar to the list, however as Kakashi noticed the last tab and read the first unfamiliar name of a relatively famous company on the list, his heart sank down, heavy and hurting with every beat.

_ SharinganSupplies GmbH -> Status: Clear _

_ Hyuuga&Co KG -> Status: Clear _

_ 24/7 Mu Buys -> Status: Tax evasion, Info send to the authorities _

_ Hozuki Market -> Status: CEO an abusive piece of shit, Info send to the authorities _

_ Sabaku Savings -> Status: Clear _

“Is it what I believe it is?” Kakashi murmured, aware of the piercing stares he got from the youngsters.

“I think so, if we think the same. And there’s more.” Needless to say, the list seemed endless. Countless names flashed by Kakashi’s vision, some of them were familiar, some others not, but they all shared one trait: apparently Hiko invaded their secrets, bought some of them to light and left some others alone, all under one nickname.

One nickname which was also on the whiteboard in the main office. One nickname she defended harshly. One nickname which was a part of her.

Hiko was tRuthseekEr.

A strange emotion rose inside and Kakashi needed a second to identify the sliver of the unknown. Only when the first giggle rippled at his lungs and forced his lips to perk upwards, the male knew what it was, however shoved the despair and crave for a good laugh away. Now Hiko was also a hacker, apart from being a murderer?

“Actually that makes a lot more sense than her killing someone.”

Kakashi snorted at the others words, but kept his thoughts to himself. There was no point in sharing his wounded mind with someone. There was no point in opening to anyone. If the result was living with a hacker and brutal murderer, if his opening up to another human being resulted in a bloody crime case, then there was simply no sense in that concept. His agitation barely keeping at bay, Kakashi moved upwards and wished his shift for the camera monitoring would be over right now. Because he wished for nothing else but a holy training dummy and hours of punching the sand out of the practicing target.

Because Hiko wasn’t what she claimed to be. Never was.

The whole time, she lied. She lied into his face, everytime they spoke about the hacker…

_ “Investigations I did. The hacker you speak about… tRuthseekEr is a coryphaei. For years around. He doesn’t hijack companies or such, he doesn’t steal money or information, he tries to be a good guy. Like warning Namikaze about a complot against him. That’s what I heard.” _

_ “Not even mitigating circumstances?” _

_ “That’s pretty… fair. However… I believe he does the right thing.” _

Sure. Naturally Hiko thought ‘he’ did the right thing. Naturally she hoped for mitigating circumstances, naturally she would believe she was the savior of hundreds of people, but blissfully ignoring the suffering of thousands of others.

“I have work to do.” Kakashi said coldly and bated Itachi or one of the other present people not one eye anymore. And it was true anyway. He had work to do.

Trying to rip the last months and feelings out of his memories.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Unfortunately this chapter isn't proofread, so forgive me please for any mistakes which will occur >.<


	52. Rendezvous under the moonlight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hiko wants to meet up with strikingSWORDs, meets instead a cruel reminder of her mistakes and is surprised when she finally gets to know the face behind the anonymous nickname of her online friend.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My apologies. Being late becomes somehow second nature for me. But I have a good apology this time, yesterday I spent half of my day in trains and running to said trains! I was dead tired when I came home, so... Yeah, that's it.  
> Sorry again.

A fancy drink was placed in front of Hiko. The liquid was of a poisonous green color, absolutely hideous and when she found the courage to actually touch the glass, she felt some left-over grime under her fingertips.

Yeah, “ _ Jashin’s chamber _ ” wasn’t one of the cleanest bars around Konoha.

“From the guy over there.” The bartender, a sturdy bald guy with tattoos raking all over the shoulders and upper arms, jerked his head sharply to the right. Hiko was reminded of a bird as he did that, but followed the little motion nonetheless.

Her blue eyes wandered once more over the worn-down interior of the room, over the dark walls, covered with faded posters of pin-up girls, over creaking stools and dirty tables, over booths were more than one couple let their tongues engage, only to settle on a white haired old man. He waved somehow excited when he noticed her gaze and pointed at himself with his other hand, like Hiko was too dumb to realize he was the one who bought a drink for her.

Not like she needed one.

She pushed the tall glass away. “Tell him I appreciate his gesture, but I’m not searching for any company tonight. If he wants to do me a favor, he can keep the drink and give me the money instead.”

The bartender shrugged and took the drink back, much to Hiko’s relief. Out of instinct she rebuilt her previous posture she held up since entering the bar around afternoon, one hand cupping a glass of pure water, the other arm flat on the smooth surface of the bar. Her backpack was leaning against the stool she was sitting at, her feet safely secured on the rest at the middle of the chair. And once more her eyes slid over the other customers, scanning them for the little signs she waited for.

A curious glance around.

Happy anxiety.

The little signs which would give away who was her fellow hacker strikingSWORDs.

No one caught her eye, no one showed the signs. Hiko sighed loudly and threw another short glance at the just dirty clock hanging just above her head. Half past six. They agreed to meet at six, the start of the happy hour. Around her, the old bar buzzed in the nightlife. The air was heavy and smelled of a lot of different moistures and cheap deodorants mixed together, interrupted by loud laughter and clanking of beer mugs. Hiko had never been one for bars or clubs, she preferred the calmness of a nice secret restaurant or a familiar pub and everything she disliked about the first two establishments was thrown together in one building.

Hiko tried to avert it, but her eyes were restless and strived once more to the clock. Two minutes gone by and still no SWORDs.

The bartender came back and the dim light was reflected by his shiny bald head as he picked his earlier task up and wiped one dirty glass with a just as dirty rag. Apparently even the man who worked here didn’t really care about health standards.

“He said your rejection hurt his heart, but he will survive somehow.” he rasped and actually  _ spit _ into the beer mug, before trying to wipe the mug clean.

A muscle in her cheek twitched in disgust. “Wouldn’t it be better to use water?”

“What?”

“I said, wouldn’t water be-?”

He spat once more into the mug.

“Nevermind.”

Hiko rolled her eyes when the bartender turned into another direction. The noise was getting on her nerves and after a day of not much to eat she was already near the edge to snap at someone. Her stomach hurt from a missed breakfast and a missed lunch. Only now Hiko dared to eat something and nibbled from time to time at the bread she purchased in a not monitored small shop in the outskirts of Konoha. Usually she liked bread; especially this kind of bread, a little bit sweet, but overall fluffy and easy to chug down, but now despite the piercing flash throughout her whole body from the lack of food, the treat didn’t want to taste right. Hiko forced the next bite down, grimacing around the taste of dry sawdust.

Why didn’t the bread taste right? Annoyed by herself she placed the piece of bread again on a plate she ordered (and wiped it secretly clean) and felt in the movement the weight of her small 9mm gun pressing to her left hip. Six shots were waiting to be fired at Kabuto’s sadistic grin and her hands twitched at the image of a begging and sobbing glassed guy in front of her feet, maybe even a puddle of piss staining his jeans.

Yeah, she didn’t like violence at all, but for one or two people out there she would make gladly an exception and the first on the list was definitely her ex-boyfriend. Then her thoughts returned to the KPD and their surely on-going investigation.

‘Maybe they went today to my apartment. Maybe they found the knives I hid. Maybe Itachi extracted my hard-drive and even dislodged the password I set. Maybe they are currently sitting in their cozy warm building and think about the locations where I could be. Maybe Kakashi…’

The female quickly took a sip from her water. Since this morning she tried to avert the issue at hand and  _ think _ about the ones she left behind, since Sakumo told her to “fix her problems”. Only later, when she had made her way through the snow, Hiko had the time to wrap her head around the problems she needed to fix. And nearly faltered at the sheer mass of them.

There were questions to be answered, for example how exactly Kabuto managed to place fake evidence. How did he found out about her? Why killing three people? Why was tRuthseekEr one of the main suspects, how was her alter ego connected to all that shit? How did Kabuto find out she was tRuthseekEr? Why did he ask her to break up with…?

No, that was actually an easy question. Simple, he didn’t want to share Hiko with another man. Kabuto always had been jealous beyond imagination. Even his taste in clothing for the short woman showed that. No revealing tops, no skinny jeans, sleeves reaching to her wrists and for the sake of heaven,  _ wear your goddamn glasses _ ! Back then it hadn’t felt like he was jealous, but more like he wanted to underline his ownership rights on her person and to hide her individuality from potential threats. But now...

Now he wanted to punish both, Hiko and Ka- the other male in this. Hiko for having the guts to take another guy in and her silver haired love for daring to lay a single finger on her. In a way, her ex still wanted to prove she belonged to him,  _ only him _ .

Hiko didn’t think her mood could drop any lower, but then this particular thought entered her mind. Automatically her lips turned into a disgusted scowl and the brunette sipped again at her water, to get rid of the foul taste in her mouth.

Suddenly a big hand entered her field of vision and dropped three ten dollar bills on the counter.

“Here. But I still think the drink would have been a better option.”

The white haired old man. Up to close he was even taller than she imagined, at least three heads. Even from her slightly heightened position Hiko had to lay her head backwards to look into the wrinkled face. Only now she could see that his hair was bound into a long,  _ very long _ pony tail and that he had blood red marks underneath his eyes, marking his cheeks like tears. A single wart sat beside his nose and as his grin widened a bit, the wart moved with the upwards perk of his mouth.

“Ya know, you look like you could need some good company.”

Why could some people not accept a ‘no’?

“Thanks, but NO thanks.” Hiko snarled and turned away from the disturbance.

Without asking the man sat down at the stool to her right and waved at the barkeeper to give him another cup of intoxicating liquor. The closeness between them unnerved Hiko. Her right side started to itch uncomfortable, like hundreds of ants crawled just inside the tiniest of blood vessels. Not a pleasant feeling.

The man wasn’t one bit fazed by her obvious dislike of his presence, instead he calmly sipped occasionally at his beer and sneaked glances at her silhouette. Until he spoke up.

“So, what does a lady at a Friday night in such a run-down bar when she doesn’t drown her worries in the blissful depths of drinks?”

“I don’t talk to strangers.”

“Oh well, my name is Jirayia.” He smirked into his beer mug while he said that. “And if I may say so, your figure is quite outstanding.”

“What?” Unconsciously Hiko felt for her loose jacket, not sure if she had opened the zipper or not and also not sure if she just correctly heard what the old man just said. Did he just made an unbelievable bold move on her?

The jacket was closed, scarf despite the unbearable warmth inside the room still around her neck and the wool hat only slightly revealing some of her tousled hair. Jirayia chuckled at the self-conscious gesture and gestured with his beer mug towards her.

“Don’t sweat it. With age comes wisdom and also some insight. Not to mention I have collected some material over the years!”

Hiko didn’t want to know what kind of materials he collected. And somehow his name rang a bell in the back of her mind, but she couldn’t place her fingers on it. Frustrated she nibbled at her lower lip, before taking another tasteless bite of the bread to swallow her fastly growing anxiety.

He was simply too close, invaded her space with his mere presence and his words. Since months Hiko hadn’t flinched away from an unsuspected movement, but as Jirayia suddenly raised his hand to greet someone in a wide wave, the woman nearly fell down from her stool in her hurry to get away.

How quickly she reverted to her old habits of becoming the harpy. How quickly she adjusted to this new lifestyle, being homeless, being a run-away, always on edge and prepared to flee. Even now Hiko felt the urge to check her surroundings for unwanted spectators, for threats which could be directed at her person and how sharp her senses had become once more.

Hiko was pulled out of her ruminative thoughts by the persistent flirt, who pushed the still present dollar bills towards her.

“I said you can take them. You didn’t say anything about receiving things from barely strangers, right?”

Hiko slapped her hand on the green papers and shoved them rudely into her pockets, grunting in the process a “Thanks.”

Jirayia laughed into his glass, what spilled some of the beer onto the bar. His words were slightly blurred, may it be from too much alcohol or too much other drugs he may or may not took. “You remind me of another woman in my life. Grumpy, feisty and cold as ice towards me.” Another sip from his beverage. “And the package she got… Exquisite. Simply exquisite. Breasts you want to bury your face in and some absolute killer curves."

He wouldn’t leave her alone. So the brunette went along with his drunken rambling, knowing out of her own experience drunk people tend to ignore the common sense and spilled their private life into everyone’s face.

“And what is she for you?”

“Right now? My ex.”

Hiko grimaced uncomfortable. “Sorry.”

Laughing he shook his head, the white hair slapping accidently the person behind him. “No, we’re in this special relationship where we get together, fight, break-up, only to realize we can’t live without the other and try again. The spice of my life, you know? And the make-up sex is everytime worth the wait.”

“I don’t want to imagine that.”

The perverted old male lost himself in a barely audible description about the assets of his on-off relationship and chuckled from time to time into the constantly draining beer, meanwhile Hiko used the chance to check his frame for any clue about his background, anything which could help her to conclude what his hidden intentions could be.

Just as stated, he was one of the biggest people she ever met. But that didn’t mean anything, because everyone who at least managed to top her height by ten centimeters was a giant for the woman. But on top of being tall, Jirayia wore apparently expensive clothing, from head to toe clothed only in branded fabric. Her hunch was proven right when her eyes spotted various label names on little slips of papers sticking out, even though they were kind of dirty at the elbows and also strangely at the end of the sleeves.

Jirayia swayed from the left to the right on his stool, now the same kind of poisonous green drink in front of him which he wanted to give Hiko before. Wildly he gestured around and tried to pat her back, but Hiko quickly brushed his hands away, getting more and more irritated with his behavior and rambling. “As a writer, I’m taking  _ all  _ my inspiration of her! Our fights, our banters, her appearance… She’s one of the most gorgeous woman I’ve ever seen, even when she’s quite ferocious sometimes. Doesn’t believe I would never cheat on her. Yeah, sometimes I have to go out and make some research for my books, but I always come home at the end of the day. And I don’t sleep around, would never. She would kill me for sure if I did that. Nearly did one time when she thought I did.”

Books…

The combination of the name Jirayia and books in general rang a bell in Hiko’s head. But only when she allowed herself to think shortly about Kakashi and his obsession with a special series, the bell became a big fat coin which dropped loudly on the concrete floor.

“You wrote the Icha-Icha-series?” the brunette asked and looked for the first time closely into the drunken writers face.

He raised surprised an eyebrow. “A woman who knows my books? You’re full of surprises.”

“They’re good, for written romantic comedies. Usually they only work on TV or movies.”

“So, you’re a fan?”

“No, but my boyfriend is.” Hiko noticed only moments later what she just said and bit her lip out of frustration. Too much. She said too much. Not because of the one beside her, no. The pure words made her remember better things and times, the time before the threat of Kabuto looming over her head and things she wished – _ craved _ \- desperately for right now.

Like a gentle presence in her back, reassuring the female without a word.

Like someone who was willing to listen even when she tried to push him away with all her might.

A simple contact, a hug, a hand skidding over the back of her own, fingertips brushing over skin in a familiar way, searching just as much as giving an anchor during hard times.

A lump assembled in the pit of her stomach and tightened, until Hiko doubled a bit over to lessen the cramps from the guilt she felt. The bread she just ate was a stone, weighing her down and burning her guts like lava.

“Naturally a looker is already gone from the market.”

Jirayia murmured and blurred words snapped Hiko out of her daze. There was nothing in his movements which told about the various beers and other drinks he had as he moved down from the stool, but as the tall man towered over Hiko and smiled a bit drunkenly at her, she couldn’t help herself but to feel like the author was some kind of sick reminder of her betrayal at Kakashi. Because there couldn’t be another explanation to the simply impossible meeting by chance in a dirty bar while she was on the run and currently waiting for SWORDs and  _ goddamn, where was that brat when he was needed? _

Uncomfortable Hiko shifted on her seat as Jirayia stood in her back. Nervously she bit her lips, her feet tapped in an uncertain rhythm and when she heard the shuffling of his clothes behind her, it made the brunette wanting to snap around and snarl at him, but she controlled the urge barely.

Instead Hiko settled for a tired glare and some sighed words. “Weren’t you going to say goodbye? I’m not in the mood for a deep conversation.”

He wasn’t repelled by her light insult. “Aah, there is the tiger. I knew from the moment you declined my drink you weren’t someone to talk after my mouth. Your boyfriend is one hell of a lucky bastard, but what can I say? Naturally his taste into the fine things in life is superb, after all he’s a fan of my series.” Jirayia laughed loudly, what earned him some cheers and cat-calls from the other drunk people around him. “Well then, ferocious lady, it was a pleasure to meet you in this epitome of manly customers.”

“And I’m amazed by the fact you’re still able to talk so big while you’re drunk.”

“Years of experience.”

With that the strange author turned away and went to his original table, where some shady and busty women in spare and skinny dresses waited for him while he chatted with Hiko. The brunette used the moment to breathe properly and the smell of cigarettes and too much alcohol instantly flooded her brain. She hated herself for her weakness, but when the tattooed bartender was near, she gestured him over and ordered a strong whiskey. Not that she had the money to spare, however her brain needed something to occupy himself with, even when it was just a poisonous intoxication of drinks.

To her dismay her body was able to handle something like the too-weak-for-her-liking whiskey without a second thought and growling lowly Hiko ordered another one – with the thirty dollars she just earned out of nowhere of course.

The hour passed by, and only the steadily growing staple of mugs and small shots kept the brunette some company. Around her the flow of people changed constantly, new faces merged into the next, a swarm of humans Hiko didn’t want to meet, but she had no other choice but to hold out and wait. With every drink and every satisfying burning trail down her throat Hiko felt how the alcohol did what she originally wanted: finally the memories weren’t so hard to suppress anymore, finally she could allow herself some peace and freedom from the guilt and shame.

It was around midnight and Hiko smiled weakly at a guy who dropped totally drunk on the ground, when a new customer came in and she couldn’t be more surprised at the familiar face which peeked through the door, showing the exact signs the woman had searched the whole evening.

The intense purple eyes carefully scanned the bar, analyzed everyone who sat there from head to toe, measured, calculated, declined and then fell upon her. Hiko returned the stare and slowly, oh so slowly recognition lit up in the others face. It was like watching the sunrise, minus the beauty and majesty.

The man –youngster- edged closer. Hiko didn’t need to be a mind reader to decrypt the expression on his face. He was wary, not sure if this was a joke or not and if he could believe her to be the one who he was searching for. So the brunette had no other choice but to nod at the raised eyebrow, short and determined.

Like they were strangers, the male slid upon the seat Jirayia occupied a few hours ago and Hiko returned to her drink, this time a strange combination of Tequila, Vodka and orange juice, topped with lots and lots of sugar. The bartender called it “Sweet Dreams”.

Hiko could need some sweet dreams.

SWORDs ordered a beer, not showing one bit he recognized Hiko from somewhere, even when she was one of his best customers. Only as the beer stood in a rather dirty glass before him and she felt the asking glances he threw at her from time to time, Hiko pushed her glasses upwards and sipped at her drink.

“You’re late.”

He flinched, but didn’t say anything. Maybe he wasn’t still sure if she was now tRuthseekEr or not. Hiko sighed deeply and sipped once more at the sweet burning liquid, downed nearly half of it in one go. The pleasant buzz in her head wasn’t for her comfort strong enough.

“I remember writing we would meet up at six. Happy hour. Now it is, what… Twelve? Six hours I’ve waited for one of my fellow… companions and he couldn’t even come here punctual.”

“Sorry.”

“As I said, I don’t have much time. I already stayed too long in one place and I can’t depend on the alcohol to fog all memories about me tonight. So, you know what’s going on?”

The white haired boy threw another glance at the side of her face. Hiko refused to look at the other, refused to acknowledge anything by now. Her blue eyes were set on the strange mix of orange in front of her, her fingers clamping around the glass sometimes tight, sometimes so insignificant she only felt the slight cool brush of glass at her fingertips.

Nodding he emptied his beer far too fast, before shoving the mug over the counter into her direction. “Newspapers. Internet. Currently there’s nothing more interesting than the female who mislead over years her colleagues and killed three people. Even the TV send some extra shows.”

“Anything heard from our other friend?”

“Not yet. But I got the thing you asked for.” Secretly he shuffled through his pockets, then placed carefully a slightly older model of a smart phone on the wooden countertop. Hiko looked at the touch screen, captured for a moment at the light reflecting itself in the shiny surface, only to shake her silly and woozy head.

Maybe it had been bit too much alcohol.

“Thanks.” Hiko buried the cell phone in her right pocket, making sure the zipper of the little compartment was closed before resting her forearms once more at the bar. “You know, you don’t have to help me. Those are my problems, my past to take care of. You have your own live, your own problems and I don’t want to add to your burdens.”

He laughed bitterly. “Since yesterday I’m part of this. You’re my senpai, man. And honestly,” he gestured warily, “it’s you, not some stranger. You out of all people. Still can’t really believe it.”

She chuckled dryly. “Never thought so either. That we were actually so close…”

“World’s small.”

“It is.”

“Are you sure about your hunch?”

“100%.”

Hiko felt the purple eyes shifting around. He was nervous, sure. She could give him that. After all he could get in trouble for merely talking with her, if he didn’t report that immediately. And now knowing who he was, where he worked, what pet he had, Hiko couldn’t think about anything else but his future when this whole shit went down the drain.

What would happen?

What would happen to his job in the little café he worked at?

What would happen to the jet black kitten he rescued,  _ they  _ rescued together?

“Listen, Suigetsu…”

He raised abruptly his hand. “Na, don’t mention it. I’m doing this because I want to, not because I feel obliged or any other sappy feelings. And finally being able to put a face on my senpai who preached everyday “Anonymity is security” and other shit, is only adding to my pleasure. Can’t wait to rub it under Ginger’s nose.”

At Suigetsu’s words relief washed over her; mighty sheer relief and a tiny sliver of hope, as delusional and idiotic it seemed at the moment. There was nothing to be relieved over. Suigetsu was until now innocent, he wasn’t involved. But now Hiko dragged him down into a maelstrom where she didn’t know the depth or width, not sure where she would come out, hell, even not knowing how she could start to make things go right again. And Hiko was going to involve Ginger too, another innocent person.

“Thanks,” she whispered, “Thanks for believing me.”

Suigetsu shrugged her words away. “Don’t get so emotional. You need to be brutal, a force to be reckoned with. No place for soft feelings. What are we going to do first?”

Yeah. He was right. Hiko needed to be brutal. She needed to become the harpy fully, embrace that part of her, sharpening her fangs and baring her teeth. But her fangs and teeth were currently dull and only partly dangerous, so she needed some things before throwing herself full force into battle.

“Thanks to this,” the shorty patted the bump where the cell phone was, “I can call some friends of mine, friends who owe me favors. They won’t ask questions. I need a full PC, something which can handle the tasks I will throw at him foremost built up from scratch to avoid discovery from the police force. My laptop isn’t enough. Next thing, I need a secret connection to the KPD, to check upon their state and the stand of the investigation. I also need the information they gather upon the case. Maybe there’s something what they overlooked somehow and maybe they get some new info while we are talking. But it will be hard to get in.”

“But you work for them!”

“Exactly. My superior knows me and surely blocked my account, so no easy way in. And you know what I did to the firewalls where I visited. Now multiply that with 10 and add lasers.”

The young man whistled. “That’s one hell of a firewall. No wonder you warned me to even try.”

Finishing her drink, Hiko nodded slowly. Her head was now pleasantly buzzed and as she slammed some bills down on the bar counter, her brain swam in the delirious carousel. “Yep. One good deed per day, as they say.” she murmured and jumped down from the high chair. Her knees were a bit weak, but nothing she couldn’t handle and as she bend down to grab her backpack, Suigetsu also slid down from his stool. Her ears caught the rumors and weakening noises around the bar, the soft clinking of glasses and the hisses of beers which the bartender poured to the last guests, the quiet talks and the not so quiet talks, laughter and drunken singing.

Typical nightlife.

And for a short moment her mind returned to Kakashi and a special memory which Hiko kept alive until now, because it was dear to her and everytime she reminded the little moment, her heart grew all warm and fuzzy.

_ Lying in bed at a Sunday morning was pretty good. Hiko had to suppress a childish coo at the sight greeting her first when she woke up today and had to keep her hands by herself. Tugging one strand of her hair behind her ear, the female carefully inched closer, knowing Kakashi was a light sleeper in the mornings and she didn’t want to miss the chance to watch him sleep for once, not the other way around. _

_ He was really a sight for sore eyes like that. Sleeping on his stomach, his face was entirely relaxed, lips slightly parted and the silver disheveled hair sprawled out on the pillow. In their sleep they had kept close contact, their flanks touching even when Kakashi had not laid his arms around her. Hiko let her eyes wander over his naked upper body, scarred just like her own, but each of the ragged or crooked marks displaying how devoted the detective was. _

_ She loved every single one of those scars. _

_ Her mouth curled into a smile as Kakashi grumped in his sleep, low and deep and snuggled a bit more into the cushions, in the process skid his face closer to Hiko’s, until the woman could feel his breath ghost in regular waves over her skin. She was reminded of a dog as he did so, nuzzling and searching for contact. Her eyes continued their journey over the peacefully closed eyelids, the silver eyebrows, lowering slowly to the nose and how the nostrils flared whenever he took a breath in, until she settled at the parted lips, revealing the tiniest bit of teeth and accompanied by the black mole she loved. _

_ “Is watching me this entertaining?” _

_ Startled Hiko flinched at the sudden hoarse voice, but her smile didn’t falter one bit. “You’re a sneaky idiot. Surprising me like that.” she murmured and moved her lips to meet his for a second. As she retreated, a lazy grin had spread on Kakashi’s face and he raised one eyebrow, cocky and self-confident like second to none. _

_ “An idiot, huh?” A low chuckle escaped his mouth. “Now I’m really really hurt.” _

_ “You had it coming. I always say that to you when you scare me.” _

_ “Scared you? How should I feel when you watch me so closely?” _

_ Hiko pressed her hip into his flank, a little reminder of the fact she was lying bare beside him, caused by their activities late at night. In his coal eyes lit a knowing light up at the teasing ministration and he returned the short pressure in the same moment Hiko lessened hers. _

_ “Don’t know. Maybe threatened, or rendered helpless under my hawk eyes.” _

_ “Hawk eyes?” he snorted, “Do you want to make me laugh so desperately?” _

_ “Idiot,” she mumbled and pursed her lips into a pout. “You could at least try to conceal your mocking to a minimum.” Still fake-pouting the shorty rolled around until she faced the ceiling and raised her own covers to her neck, inwardly smirking and knowing Kakashi wouldn’t let things be as they were now. _

_ But she still gasped when the silver haired man lifted his blanket only to slip under hers, pressing his front to her side and clearly showing how lively he was, despite the early morning and his usual love for lazing around in bed. _

_ “I don’t want to hide anything.” he mumbled into her ear and kissed the soft skin there. The spot tickled slightly and Hiko felt how a blush forced its way onto her cheeks. “’Cause I love you, my little Firefly. I don’t want to hide myself from you. And I like it when you squint your eyes to see my face clearly. You’re cute when you do that.” _

_ “Kakashi!” Partly embarrassed, partly happy about his compliments the brunette squealed out, but accepted the hand which stealthily glided over her hips and thighs, up and down, teasingly drawing circles and figures on her skin nevertheless. In return the female let her own fingers dance over his torso, discovered the abs, the wide chest and neck, stroking, teasing, loving. _

_ “You’re such a sweet-talker. Your tongue is just as silver as your hair.” _

_ “At least you don’t say grey anymore. I’m not that old.” _

_ “Mhmm. Oji-san…” _

_ “Hiko…” _

_ “Alright, alright. My love.” _

“Hey. Hey, Big T. Still with me?”

Suigetsu warily touched her shoulder. Hiko, surprised by the unexpected hand softly tugging at her clothes flinched, then reconciled and swatted the curious hand away, without getting violent like her instincts told her.

“Yes,” she murmured and realized with an inward giggle that her voice was slurring, “I’m still here. Don’ worry, ’m okay.”

One feet after another. One feet after the next. Hiko breathed in and walked out of “Jashin’s chamber” on staggering heels, noticing Suigetsu was closely following her out into the cold night. When the first breeze hit her rosy and flushed cheeks, Hiko tugged the green scarf over mouth and nose. Sadly the gesture became all too familiar in the last days to the woman. Hiding, ducking away and avoiding the light of the street lamps.

“You have a car?” she asked her companion and changed her backpack to her left shoulder, only to realize that her bag had two straps. While she fiddled quite clumsily with the second one to slip into, SWORDs answered, a bit shuddering in his thin jacket and chucks.

“Na. I’m just a barista, not a millionaire. I’m afraid we have to take the bus.”

“You don’ take the bus ‘n Konoha very often, huh? They aren’ drivin’ anymore.”

“What? What is this shit?”

“ ‘t’s after midnight. The drivers also have som’ kin’ of social life, or so I heard.”

Suigetsu snorted. “They should try hacking. That destroys your social life, not bus driving.”

“Nex’ time I can go ‘n the streets and talk to people withou’ gettin’ thrown into prison I will tell them.” the brunette said. Warily she gestured to Suigetsu to lead the way, drowning herself in the simple rhythm of steps and the dull slow movements of walking around Konoha during the night. One look to the sky and the moon got reflected in her glasses, a full round moon, shining on the snow covered streets and illuminating the skyline of the city around them.

Almost like a dreamland. A nightmare-land.

Until the nightmare-land got disrupted.

Hiko just passed by a dark alley, Suigetsu silently following her every move when she heard the voices echoing through the night.

“Gimme your wallet!”

“My humble apologies, but to my dismay I have spent all my money tonight on lovely ladies, so I’m afraid I don’t have currently any-!”

“Oh com’on! Ya all talk! I heard ya bragging to the girls about ya account, just gimme ya wallet and everythin’ is fine!”

Hiko adjusted her glasses. She could imagine very well who the victim was, but the internal struggle to step in for the perverted author still kept place inside her. She recognized those pompous words instantly, she listened to similar ones only hours ago.

“Stay here.” she murmured finally to Suigetsu, let her bag drop to the ground and reached for the gun in her jacket. The small arm felt like an extension of her hand as she closed her fingers around the handle. Not caring if the young hacker followed her advice, the woman strode deeper into the alley, walking around piles of trash and any disturbance which could alert the burglar.

Her eyes missed the light of the streetlamps for some seconds, but thanks to Jirayia’s white hair Hiko couldn’t miss the exact place where the author stood, the hands raised into the air and grinning sheepishly at the young thief, wielding a knife which made Hiko almost laugh at the sloppiness the boy displayed. He had no experience with actually attacking someone with the metal, maybe never mugged someone before, but her patience for the evening was drained.

Just when the burglar opened his mouth to hurry Jirayia up, Hiko stepped closer and raised her trusty gun, making sure to be as intimidating as a small woman could.

“Weapon down!” she yelled. Thankfully the slur didn’t obscure her words. Too much.

The thief spun around, so did Jirayia. First both men were shocked, but then two things happened. First, the big male lowered his hands, smiling brightly. Second, the thief bend over to have a good, hearty laugh, inclusive the obligatory wiping of his eyes to show how amused he was.

“And what has a kiddo like ya to do here at a time like that?” he asked mockingly, knife waving around and too full of false confidence.

Hiko had no patience left. And so she did the thing she should have probably done the very first second she placed her foot into the alley.

She shoot. The bullet flew past the thief, close enough to let him feel the air pressure of the missile. Loudly the crack of a fired gun echoed through the thin alley and the thief reacted far too late, all the while the shorty pointed her gun once more into his direction, this time directly aiming at the leg of the boy.

“Tonight’s a bad night for crime.” she mumbled. Hiko knew the words were slurred, but couldn’t care less at the moment. “I’m pretty pissed, but I’m gen’rous. Leave, right now,” she nodded at the street behind her, never letting her eyes stray from the burglar, “and I will refrain from making you a c-cripple.”

“But-!”

“Are you really talkin’ back? I have a fuckin’ gun, you have a fuckin’ knife. Learn the diff’rence loser and get the fuck out of here.”

“But-!”

Another shot. The thief and Jirayia flinched heavily after the bullet vanished in the night, Hiko was the only one to be unaffected by the surprising hard sound.

“Shut up,” she growled, “Just shut the fuck up. My mood isn’ the best and I have no nerve to argue with lowlifes like you who thin’ they are the kings of the world. So leave, take your thin’s, just leave. Return to your pitiful life and let me and the poor soul there liv’ our own. Otherwise I’ll aim just righ’ the nex’ time.”

He was faster out of the valley as the brunette could tug her gun back into her jacket.

A slow clap was the only thing which kept her from immediately running away from the small drama she created just now.

“That was fantastic,” Jirayia said, “And absolutely inspiring. Say, is it a modern custom for woman to carry firearms with them for a drinking night?”

“Not as far as I’m conce’ned, but it’s always good to be p’epared.”

“What caliber?”

“9mm.”

The man laughed softly and reached into his jacket. Instantly Hiko imitated his gesture, but relaxed when she saw him tugging out a thin notebook and a pen. Still chuckling Jirayia scribbled something down, looked to Hiko, shook his head and scribbled a bit more. Then he pointed with the end of the pen towards her, a warm light shining out of his eyes.

“You just gave me the idea for a new book. A mysterious woman, looking defenseless but with unexpected tricks coming out of her sleeves, saves a man and vanishes again into the night. They meet again and again and everytime she saves him, until he can’t take it anymore and asks for her name. What would your name be?”

“Shouldn’t there be a secon’ and third meetin’ according to you’ story?”

“That’s already our second meeting.”

“I don’ really care.”

“And feisty too!” Shaking his head, the author again scribbled notes down, hasty and not caring about the missing light. “Tonight is pure gold for my inspiration! First the body of the busty raven, incredible sinful and sexy, then our little talk at the bar and now this! An attempted attack on my person and a rescue from a beautiful woman. Wonderful, just wonderful.”

Hiko snarled in disgust. What was going on inside this dumbass’ head to just make her story into a book? And he hadn’t even the decency to ask for her insight! Maybe she worried about the wrong things, but as Jirayia attempted to write the next inspiring idea, the brunette stepped forward and ripped the notebook out of the big hands. “Are you fuckin’ kiddin’ me?” she asked, flabbergasted just as angry, “That’s my fuckin’ life here and you have no idea what’s going on righ’ now! My life is a ruin! A goddamn ruin! You have no right to make a story out of it!”

“Then why not giving me some input?”

“Input?  _ Input? _ I will give you input! My crazy ex-boyfriend tries to make m’ look like a criminal, I broke up with my curren’ boyfriend to protect him and the whole city search’s for me because everyone thinks I kill’d three people! I don’ know what my friends think about me, I don’ know how my love thinks about our relationship, I don’ even know if he still wants to continue livin’ with me after all that shit!”

Breathing in exaggerated breaths Hiko just stood in that dirty alley, until her consciousness began to break through the alcohol-induced rage and anger. After some moments, Jirayia didn’t do anything in the meantime, she sighed weakly out and waved just as weak with the stolen booklet.

“Sorry,” Hiko reached his notes to the author, “it’s been… a stressful week.”

Her voice was tired and crocking. Even the female herself couldn’t decide if out of sadness or hopelessness, but in the end, both feelings lead to the same result. So did it really matter if she was now drying effortless her tears or giving up in front of the mountain she was forced to climb?

Jirayia took his notebook back, but the whole time Hiko felt his eyes looking her up and down. Not in a perverted sense of way, but more like he was really interested in her background story.

The shorty flinched as he abruptly ripped a page out of his booklet and scribbled something down. “Well,” he grinned and offered Hiko the page with a wide gesture, “Why not telling me the whole story when you have the time? I must say, your short introduction made me curious. Sounds like an even better idea for a new book.”

Hiko needed a few seconds to realize that the line of numbers on the lily-white paper was actually a cell phone-number.

“And I owe you one, in fact you saved me right here,” Jirayia admitted, “even when I was quite fine… Anyway, see it as a way of repaying you for your rescue. One favor from a famous author and a respected son of the city Konohagakure. Quite valuable, if I may say so.”

The unspoken “You are a searched-after criminal and can need every help you can get.” rung within his words. Hiko needed no tip to notice. Wary of every movement she accepted the slip of paper, folded it neatly and carefully placed it inside a pocket over her heart, never leaving Jirayia out of sight, who watched her with just as much curiosity and wariness.

“Thanks.” Hiko said, fiddled with the ends of her sleeves, then swiftly turned away.

In her back the male once more opened his notebook, muttering to himself as he wrote and Hiko’s heart clenched at the words she had to hear:

“A boyfriend and her ex fighting over her. Excellent. Drama, emotions, pain. What will be the end, I ask myself?”

Where would be her end? And more important, would there be an end? Or was the shorty cursed to flee from one place to the next, doomed to leave Konohagakure forever and tramping around the country, always watching out for the police, always on the run, always, always, always running away?

Rapidly blinking Hiko walked into the light of the street lamps, where a nervous Suigetsu waited.

“Big T? I was worried! There were gun shoots and someone with a knife…”

“It’s me who fired. Don’ worry, nobody was hurt.” Harshly she shoved the young hacker aside and grabbed her bag. The brunette felt dirty; dirty and powerless and strangely tired. A restless energy burned in her body, but so did her eyelids. Hiko wanted to do something, wanted to start things, however at the same time, she craved for nothing more than a good night full of undisturbed sleep.

Her feet crunched in the snow, harsh and loud in the silence of the night. Behind her Suigetsu followed, Hiko caught his steps without a problem. Together they walked down into the night, the female not mentioning what happened in the alley and the white haired boy not asking.

He was a clever one.

(…)

Suigetsu talked a lot, but somewhere along the way Hiko just switched to let his blabbering drown out in her depressed thoughts. She wasn’t one of the people who got all funny and bubbly when they were buzzed, instead she reminisced in her past, replayed it over and over and today, her mind intended to remember her about the worst years she had to live through.

Her childhood in a loveless home.

Hiko didn’t try to think much about those years. They were a part of her, but she was done with that, made her peace with the deceased and tried to live her life without letting them influence her. But no matter what, sometimes like today, she couldn’t help herself but to believe she could’ve done better.

That she could’ve satisfied somehow her demanding, overbearing strict father and her cold, distant mother. That one of the tests she aced in middle or high school miraculously changed their stubborn mindsets, that one of her childish drawings would make them love and see the small scrawny child she had been. That they could be a real family, like the girls in Hiko’s school, who talked so happy about their loving mothers, which braided their hair for them or about their doting fathers, who played games with their daughters.

Then, after some time of trying to get the attention of the people in the house where Hiko lived in, the shorty realized two things. First, no matter how much effort she put into the relationship to her parents, there was simply no use. They weren’t interested into their short daughter with the brown hair of her mother and the same ice blue eyes her father had.

And second, if they didn’t care, then she could do what she wanted, without fearing any consequences.

From that point onward, Hiko only stayed for the sleeping hours at her home. She got a part-time job, went to the library and drowned herself in books, read as much as she could, wandered around Konohagakure and later around Sunagakure, played with the Uchiha cousins when they were free and otherwise, to put it simple, did everything to avoid meeting her parents. Other children would have used the opportunity and would have done everything slightly forbidden, from trying drugs or underage smoking to an early first time, but Hiko was even back then not the most social person, so her exploits of the newfound freedom were prudish and almost boring. Due to not spending any real time with her parents, the shorty knew nothing about them and never bothered to learn something new. They weren’t interested in her, so she was going to ignore them as much as they did.

That behavior lasted until today and not even their accidental death, a car crash into a big tree could change that.

On their way they passed the Konohagakure graveyard and Hiko’s thoughts shortly drifted to the part where her parents were buried, side by side, underneath a wide oak tree. No personal words were edged into their stones, no flowers were lowered at the day of their deaths or their birthdays. Hiko was sure nobody visited them. They were never the types to be friendly to neighbors and when Hiko was living with them on a daily base, she never saw any friends visiting her old man and woman.

“Do you have friends lying there?” asked Suigetsu suddenly as he noticed her deep stare towards the dark and eerily silent rows of graves.

“No ‘ne I know.” Hiko answered after some moments. Determined she shoved those depressive thoughts away and concentrated on the task at hand: to get her life back under her control. “Do you hav’ a safe place where I can stay, somewhere with ele’tricity and a spot to build a PC?”

He chuckled and in the dim light of the full moon Hiko could see the sharp teeth glistening. “My humble flat is always open for you, Big T. There’s a nice comfy couch, an empty spot beside my own PC and enough junk food to last for weeks.”

“Suigetsu…”

“No mushy things, I can’t stand that. Just accept and be grateful.”

“You were always a cocky basta’d.”

Another quick look down the dark graveyard, not more than a flash of her eyes, before the shorty sighed out. Her exhale flew upwards, a see-through white cloud. “Thanks Swords.”

The youngster had the decency not to touch her, but his voice grew even cockier than his mere posture betrayed. “I know I’m great. Now hurry up, I’m fucking freezing.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I tried to proofread a bit, but... well... see for yourself if I managed to find all my mistakes :'')


	53. Luck is an unpredicatable lady

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kakashi has to deal with the aftermath of the revelation. All the while Hiko finds her second online-friend, but has to talk with him beforehand.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm punctual! o.O   
> That this happens is a miracle in itself... :'D

Left, right, left.

The sand bag swung into his jabs, escaped, but Kakashi jumped after his target, jaw clenched to stop the steadily growing anger from coming out. Dodging swiftly the man stepped to the right and hit the bag two more times.

The skin around his knuckles had begun to bleed some time ago. Now there were countless little red spots on the beige fabric of the practice target, lingering like his anger and no matter how many times he had wiped them away, sometime they would again appear, so Kakashi had simply given up and continued to punch.

He couldn’t feel his hands anymore. He didn’t want to feel them. He didn’t want to feel anything, but there was still something left; a flash of pain through his head, a sting in his side, a twist of his guts, a memory coming back…

And with each happy memory of the last year came a sarcastic voice, cooing and happily snickering over the pictures of Hiko, how she stood in the kitchen and cooked his favorite meal, how the female grinned brightly, how she laid in bed and only watched him, her face totally relaxed and her iceblue eyes shining…

_See? You’ve been betrayed again. How many times this thing has to happen for you to understand?_

Kakashi growled deep in his throat. Sweat poured down his neck and chest as he continued to forcefully trying to pound those memories and this leering voice, _those_ feelings out of his body.

Left hook. Right jab. A new cut opened. He didn’t stop, only doubled his efforts. To sink deeper into the dull pain, to forget more, to completely erase the pain, the betrayal...

To the rhythm of his thoughts Kakashi threw wild punches at the sand bag.

_‘She betrayed me. She lied to me. She left me. She betrayed me. She lied to me. She left me. She betrayed me, she lied to me, she left me, she hurts me, she makes me feel and I don’t want that, I don’t want, I don’t want, I don’t want, I don’t-!’_

“Kakashi!”

Ignoring the booming voice he tried to chase after the sandbag, tried to make those emotions disappear, but a strong hand got a hold of his wrist. With a snarl Kakashi wanted to shove the intruder off and as he spun around and looked into the concerned eyes of Gai, he barked hoarsely.

“It’s none of your concern.”

Kakashi tried to escape. He threw himself into the other direction, tried to break the grip, though nothing changed. Gai only stood there, in a green t-shirt and an equally green sweat pants, worry for Kakashi clearly edged into his features.

He couldn’t stand the worry. He didn’t want to see the innerving sympathy, he didn’t want to hear useless empty words. Words were lies, actions were lies, everything everyone did was lying into his face.

“Kakashi.” said Gai and gently captured the other wrist. Despite the soft tone he used, like he talked to a nervous horse, his hands were pure steel. Kakashi had seen how his partner was able to catch criminals twice his size without breaking a sweat. When Gai had taken a hold of something, he wouldn’t let go, no matter how much the other party struggled.

 

“Let go,” Kakashi snarled nevertheless, “and go _away_.”

“No. You need a friend.”

“Gai, just leave me alone.”

“No.”

There was no other way of explaining his outburst. Kakashi snapped at his partner, not even anymore trying to ban the poison out of his words. “ _Fuck off_. I don’t need consolation! I don’t need anyone telling me how sorry he is, how much of a shock it must be, how great their own was when the chief announced Hiko is a killer AND a hacker; was for years and even manipulated an investigation right under my nose! I don’t need to hear that, I know already, because I should have noticed! I should have noticed all those things, I should have seen those little signs, but I was blinded by my feelings and thus, I failed, okay? I! Failed!”

“No. You didn’t fail.” Unmoved by the outburst of his partner, Gai still held onto Kakashi’s shaking wrists, unmovable like a rock in the stormy sea. The two pairs of dark eyes locked, in one of them was self-hate and undeniable despair, the other was calm and mustered full of real sympathy the breaking down in front of him. “It’s not your fault.”

Finally Gai released him, too sudden for the silver haired detective. He tumbled, but caught his balance before he could meet harshly the ground. He had no time to argue. Gai turned to a shelf with different bandages, mostly used before someone was able to hurt himself and came back to his partner with two lily-white straps.

“We have known her for years. Years, Kakashi,” continued the other male, “Years of her fits and her work and no one noticed. Not even Obito and Itachi. You only know her for a year.”

“But no one came as close as me.” he retorted instantly.

Gai took a hold of Kakashi’s shoulder, not in a death grip like before, but only a light guiding touch and lead him over to a low seat right beside the wall. Kakashi didn’t resist anymore. Dully he allowed Gai to settle him on the chair and even stayed still when the man started to examine the bruises and little cuts at his knuckles. With each weak touch a short sting flashed through flesh and bones, but Kakashi just blindly stared down onto his knees, not daring to raise his head and look at the small drops of blood oozing out.

“That may be true. However, you’re not at fault. Nobody is.”

“I should have seen.” he protested weakly.

Gai let Kakashi’s right sink down and unfolded the first bandage. The energetic man was strangely calm for his usual loud and obnoxious happy self, almost meditating in the treating of the wounds. Carefully he began to wrap the bandage around Kakashi’s fingers, round and round, covering palm and the back of the hand until only the white of the fabric was visible. His low voice wasn’t disturbing Kakashi’s misery nor did his words do much to ease his suffering.

 

“The one closest to us will always be the most mysterious. No matter how many words we share, there will be a side about the youthful other we will never know. Your feelings aren’t wrong.”

The bandage was finished. Quickly Gai switched to the left hand and repeated the process just as careful and ginger as before. “Love is never wrong. It’s youthful and scary, takes you up for a ride and drops you in the middle of a loop, but never wrong. You did _nothing_ wrong, my rival.”

Slowly Kakashi shook his head. Gai wasn’t right, he should have noticed Hiko’s crimes, he should have noticed something about her technical expertise and experience was off. Now he could see clear and connected the points.

Naturally the list with the achievements of tRuthseekEr came a bit too early. She already had the list prepared for herself to know which companies she didn’t attack yet. The only thing the shorty had to do was sorting them out, one after another to give the police a limited insight into her doings as a hacker.

His stomach turned around and twisted painfully. But that could also come from the fact that Kakashi refused to eat anything since the cruel discovery. Alone the thought of eating made the detective sick and so he just ignored all day the rumbling and begging of his stomach to fill him up.

Gai stopped the treatment and raised one caterpillar-eyebrow. “Not eaten anything today, my rival? Not very youthful.”

Kakashi decided not to answer. It wasn’t worth the hassle. He only shrugged and continued to stare down at his thighs, cladded into a black sweat pants and just as drenched in sweat as his grey t-shirt with the sign of the KPD printed on both sleeves.

How long he was now in the training room and punched the sand out of the sandbag? Since his official shift ended and that had been… A quick glance at the clock above the door and Kakashi knew he spend four hours in here. Four hours of keeping his mind as occupied as possible by beating his own knuckles to a bloody pulp. At least the outer pain was conquering his inner pain for mere seconds, but then Hiko’s worried expression when he had trained too much before came back and Kakashi cursed under his breath.

_‘Her big blue eyes, darkening in her emotions. Her soft voice, asking about his state and assuring him. Her offer, announced in a gentle tone and making Kakashi giddy for a whole different reason than the shower he just had. Her small hands at his back, kneading, caressing and treating him like he was really precious to her.’_

Stretching his fingers resulted in another wave of pain and another diversity from the memories. So Kakashi wriggled the bruised and bandaged hands again, until even the last remnants of the evening of Hiko’s massage faded away.

 

“My rival…”

“What?”

Gai stood up, dragging Kakashi in the movement also upwards. The silver haired man refused to show any sign of discomfort at the tug at his hands of shining through, just adjusted the flu mask over his lower face before slowly making his way over to the showers. Maybe there was an open bed in one of the resting rooms. Maybe he could sneak into the kitchen and get some of the food there, maybe he didn’t have to face a nightmare today. But with his disturbed mind being in an uproar, Kakashi had no hope of getting a nighttime of refreshing sleep. Either there would be no sleep at all or hours of napping and waking up.

His loud partner stopped Kakashi shortly before he could flee from the scene.

“If you need someone to talk to, I’ll be there to listen.”

Without another word Kakashi vanished inside the showers, not really caring about those words, but as he let the water rain down on him, they wouldn’t vanish. Instead they kept running around.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

Wordless Hiko mustered her provisory bed. There was nothing wrong with it. The couch looked comfy, with two pillows, a soft blanket and as Suigetsu started to unfold the sitting space and made room for her, the woman had the chance to look underneath the furniture. There was a half empty chips bag, but her own room during the police academy days had looked worse than this.

The younger hacker grunted lowly while the cushions fell into place, making the previous already good sleeping space even bigger. “So, you got a blanket, pillows, fridge is filled with sodas and such, food consists mostly of packed things, wifi-password…”

“It’s okay Suigetsu. I’m fine.”

“Just let me be a good barista and kouhai, man!”

Hiko suppressed a sigh and patted instead the back of Suigetsu. But she avoided any eye contact when the male straightened himself out, suddenly too tired to deal with any human any longer.

Suigetsu’s flat was smaller than hers. The living room barely managed to fit two small armchairs inside, nevertheless he somehow crammed a wide desk and an enormous PC inclusive a monitor bigger than hers into a corner. A quick look into the kitchen and Hiko’s worst fears were answered. No fresh food, but piles of cup noodles and junk food like chips and soda. Yes, to an extent she liked chips and she absolutely digged her lemon limo, but no way she could live off chips all day!

Hiko thought for a short second about the fastly dwindling state of her reserves, then shook her head. At least for a few days she could manage.

“Thank you,” she repeated tiredly and suppressed a big yawn, “but didn’t you mention you have work tomorrow? Actually today.” Hiko added after a glance out of the window. Due to the slowly dawning winter, darkness still reigned outside, but when they made their way through the snow, no cars could be seen. Now sometimes lights of vehicles flickered by and glistened in the glass of the windows of the small worn-down second-level apartment Suigetsu owned.

At first it looked like she never would get some minutes for herself. Suigetsu had overcome the shock of learning Hiko was tRuthseekEr and started to talk endlessly and didn’t even calm down after her announcement of being “shit-faced tired”. Only with a more or less concealed threat of destroying his well-arranged computer the young man let him realize she was still the bloodthirsty harpy and he excused himself quickly. Fiddling with her backpack, the shorty sat down on her makeshift bed and listened to the hasty sounds, opened and closed doors, the drumming steps and finally a hushed “Good night,” through the doorframe, then silence settled down.

 

“Finally.”

Behind her glasses, her eyes hurt from the time she spent being awake. Her first action after Suigetsu left her in the living room alone was getting rid of them and gently placing them on the black bag, filled with her clothes and laptop. Hiko massaged the bridge of her nose, her forearms resting at her thighs and sitting indian-style in between the blanket and pillows.

Her mind was strangely awake, despite her body screaming for a rest. The alcohol was now out of her system and after she moved again upwards and poured herself a glass of water, the brunette got rid of the dry throat and the beginning headache she felt in her left temple.

While sipping occasionally on her water, Hiko allowed her thoughts to wander a bit, but not let the leash too loose. If her mind would wander off into _his_ direction, then there would be no stop to her tears.

Strange. Two men with silver hair in her life and now only one of them was able to make her cry by mere thinking about him.

‘Is he in his flat? Has he eaten anything yet or tries to sleep desperately? Maybe he had no problems at all, I never noticed any problems, but maybe, only maybe… Is that sadistic I wish him to be sleepless because of me? Is he worried, is he sad? Or the worst, is he angry because I hid a part of me the whole time?’

Hiko rubbed her palms harshly over her face, up, down, up and down. “Don’t think about it. Don’t think. Just do something.”

What needed to be done? Her “dealers” of technology weren’t awake yet or not available at the moment, most of them were themselves part of the hacker community and worked in the early mornings. So no building of a computer or at least ordering the single parts. Inwardly Hiko already listed the items she needed and started to mindlessly write them on a sheet of paper while thinking about her next objective, finding and meeting GinGerGeneral. Together they could start to think about a way to enter the servers of the KPD, to have an access to the wide pool of information. Not only the forensic reports, also testimonies of the citizens, pictures, simply everything Hiko could need to make her own puzzle out of the pieces. Hopefully arranging them right.

The minutes ticked by. Hiko couldn’t tell how many passed and how long she just sat on the provisory bed and stared into the air, not seeing or noticing around her, the pen still between her fingers and the list slightly crumbling in her lap. Only when a car honked loudly just below the window, Hiko jerked into awareness of her surroundings again.

“I’m too tired for my own good.” she mumbled to herself and wished shortly for a hot coffee. But then there were her panic attacks and the increasing possibility of catching one, so Hiko let the wish be an illusion, instead sipping once more at the water. She grimaced, but kept her eyes looked on the list.

 

Hiko needed three times to check the list properly. Her thoughts got at an alarming pace woozy, not the kind of woozy she experienced earlier and could control. Tiredness washed over her, crashing and swallowing more and more of her brain until Hiko had to pinch her own flesh only to stay barely awake.

“One last look into the chat,” the shorty yawned once more as she mumbled that,” then I will try to nap.”

Later she would think that luck was the most unpredictable component which existed in the universe. Without a warning luck could fuck you over like a truck or give you the right push into the right direction – out of the way of the truck coming closer at a frightening pace. Hiko experienced both faces of the element and had a clear opinion.

Sometimes luck was a pain in the ass, but most of the time you can be goddamn grateful when you have a lucky streak.

When the nickname of GinGer blinked on the screen, Hiko released the breath she didn’t realize she was holding in. Finally. The second of her online-friends. Her fingers flew over the keyboard, hastily erasing a spelling mistake, then sending the private message. Her stomach twisted around the bread she had finished eating on the way while Hiko waited.

 

             _tRuthseekEr: GinGer? Are you there?_

_GinGerGeneral: yip. It’s pretty early, so just a quick check-up. How’s business lately?_

_tRuthseekEr: The truth? I’m fucked._

_tRuthseekEr: okay, maybe you’ve heard about the murders lately and that the police thinks someone who works for them was the one responsible, but that isn’t true. They suspect the wrong woman, someone faked the evidence. I need your help and already meet with strikingSWORDs to evaluate my situation._

_tRuthseekEr: so, my business lately is a fucked up pile of shit. Thx for asking._

_GinGerGeneral: so why so interested in her? It’s not like she needs to be saved._

_tRuthseekEr: your number._

_tRuthseekEr: we need to talk._

_tRuthseekEr: and my god, can’t you read between the lines? MY SITUATION. MINE. I’m the woman, I’m the one who needs the help here, YOUR help, btw._

 

Hiko tried to calm her anger down while she typed the following number into the cellphone, nevertheless her voice was sharp and hard when the other party picked up.

“So what’s your fucking problem?”

Maybe not only her voice.

She didn’t even gave GinGer some time to explain himself. “Listen, someone needs your help. You would want some if you would be in the same situation, so jump over your shadow and at least decline into my face if you think it’s too risky.”

_“Big T…”_

A girl.

 _“It’s not like I don’t want to help you, it’s just…”_ A deep sigh. _“You know, apparently we know each other in real life and didn’t even realize that we’re working alongside for two years by now.”_

“What does that mean?”

_“Kobayashi-san, we were never properly introduced. My name is Karin and I work also for the KPD, but only as a secretary. We had a little… fight over an issue a few months ago, maybe you remember that.”_

Yeah, there had been an issue with a Karin. Desperately Hiko worked her brain, until the specific day came back to her. She even told… her boyfriend about this, back then when they had been only friends and she wanted to shock him a bit. Her lips perked upwards at the memory of his scandalized masked expression, even now, when that day happened ages ago.

“You’re the fiery redhead? Gosh,” again she yawned widely, “if I had known…”

_“If I had known you were tRuthseekEr, I wouldn’t have caused such a ruckus.”_

“Good to know. Anyway… If you decide to help me, then that would be a huge weightlifter. I respect you for your skills, but I will not blame you for retreating. You don’t have to help me. Everything I can do is asking for your help.”

_“I WANT TO!”_

Hiko grimaced and flinched away from the blaring speaker. “Okay, okay,” the woman massaged her free temple while placing the cell phone again at her left ear, “be a little bit calmer. I need now the daring, brave, reckless hacker GinGerGeneral, okay? Not the fangirl who wanted me to place some spying tools into a foreign computer.”

 _“I understand, I won’t do it again!”_ Karin’s voice was hasty and pleading, totally unlike the fierce and screeching tone she had used back in the day when Hiko and she meet in reality and the younger woman dared to order the shorty to do as she told. “ _I want to work with you! Please, Truth, let me in your team!”_

“I already said so, didn’t I?”

_“Thank you very much Truth! You won’t regret it!”_

Hiko smiled full of tiredness. “I expect nothing less from GinGerGeneral. So, please when you have the time, go to the Sugarbomb-café around the corner and tell the whitehaired barista with purple eyes I send you. I believe you two will have a lot to discuss.”

 

The meeting of strikingSWORDs and GinGerGeneral would be the most exciting thing Hiko could imagine. Both had taken a dislike for the other, always arguing, fighting, bickering and only agreeing to something when tRuthseekEr had preached anonymity.

They were strictly against it, by the way.

Not that Hiko’s endeavors to become invisible worked well, but at least she tried, right?

Unconsciously she sighed out. “Great. I’m fucking tired right now, so have a nice day at work. We will speak about everything when we meet in person, somewhere private, alright? And don’t speak about me to anyone else.”

A static grunt was transferred. _“I may not be as old as you, but I have common sense. See ya then, Big T.”_ the female giggled, before the connection was cut abruptly.

Mildly confused the brunette glared for some seconds at the cell phone and the screen saying the other cut her off, but then she shook her head, feeling how the weights on her shoulders lifted a little bit during the conversation, due to the light topics and the surprises coming along with their words.

‘I contacted both of my kouhais, huh? Now I have a team. The next step would be the building of my tools.’

Her sleep had to wait. Instead of cuddling into the cushions, Hiko only slipped out of her jeans, what left her in the thick pullover and leggings and typed the next number into the cellphone, not caring anymore what time it was or if her supply-monkeys hacked something. If she wasn’t allowed to sleep, then others had to wait with their activities too.

Impatiently the brunette waited. The other needed a long time to answer the call, nevertheless Hiko stayed calm. She used the time wisely and set up her remaining equipment, consisting of her laptop and the last crumbled packed sandwich she got from the “friendly dolphin”. Hopefully the sandwich would taste better than the normal bread she ate.

 _“Hello? Who’s there?”_ asked another female voice.

“Nibi, it’s me, tRuthseekEr.”

_“Didn’t expect you to call me in your situation.”_

“Well, as you probably heard, I have a few problems and I need some components for a PC to work on them.”

Nibi kept silent. The clanking of keyboard-buttons filled the pause on both sides, until she stopped whatever she was doing. _“My debt is then cancelled?”_

Naturally she would ask that, the cautious person she was. “Sure. If the technic is delivered in your usual standard and on time?”

_“I can’t fail my best customer. Naturally they come without their identification numbers, modified to your liking and delivered to a location of your choice. What do you need?”_

Hiko rubbed over her burning eyelids. “A whole PC. No need to put the single components together, I will do that.”

More typing noises, then the woman snickered eerily. _“Alright, alright,”_ she answered, _“So, where do you want to accept your deliveries?”_

“Northern part of Konoha. I will mail you the address in our usual code.”

_“Then I will get to work. Expect the delivery for today in the afternoon.”_

 

Nibi cut the connection and for the second time that day Hiko sat on the couch, cell phone clutched in her hand and rudely interrupted. Slowly she let the device sink to her lap and dully accepted the darkness as the screen went off.

Somehow the situation became with every minute more like a game. More and more Hiko thought about this whole ordeal as a faked reality, merely something she could shut off any time she wanted. But no matter how much she tried to find a button to end this, there was nothing and so she had to keep on playing, taking always one step further into the mess she created and was created by Kabuto.

Uninterested she unpacked the last sandwich. White bread, salad and the scent of tomatoes reached her nose and as she nibbled on the dry treat, she tasted the mayonnaise in every bite. Her stomach twisted around the food, wanted to reject it so much, but like a robot who needed to fuel his mechanical body with something _–anything_ \- Hiko left no crumb behind, all the while staring blindly at the opposite dirty-white wall.

And like a moth was drawn to a flame, her rebellious thoughts returned to the man she actually left behind with a surely broken heart and broken trust.

Tears pricked in the canthus of her eyes, acid in the sensitive organs. To give in to the urge of crying if now loud or silent was tempting. So goddamn tempting to just release every pent up feeling with a good old-fashioned cry, inclusive the unsightly reddened face, swollen eyes and raw feeling in her throat.

But Hiko wasn’t able to do anything. Paralyzed she sat there, leaning against the backrest of the sofa, hands lying in her lap and unable to cry, all the while the other inhabitants of the old apartment complex started their day. A tiny mewl flew over. Startled she flinched at the sudden sound, only to remember there was someone else living in here, some _thing_ else sharing the same space with Suigetsu.

“Hey. Hey Kuro.” she whispered hoarsely when the cat jumped on to the couch and cuddled into her lap, mewling again rather crocked. A typical teenager. Her eyes were still painfully dry, nevertheless she reached out and stroked over the tiny head. Kuro’s ears were soft underneath her fingers, so wonderfully soft and cat-tish.

Only when she licked her lips and felt the stung in her nose, the first tear slithered down, silently just like the snow which fell the previous day. While her right continued to play with the soft ears of the mewling cat, Hiko’s left flew to her face, covering the rolling tears from discovery and muffling the sobbed words in her own flesh.

“I’m sorry. Oh god, I’m so sorry…”

 

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

_Voices ghosted around, haunting and cursing. Hateful they whispered, many different merged into a blanket wrapped around his head, pressuring, suffocating him with their hate. Kakashi couldn’t breathe. He gasped out, but like mud he had to swallow the voices filled his mouth, his whole body and rummaged inside, not caring about his desperate struggles and heaves._

_He couldn’t understand a single word. However, the clear intent to hurt him, to stop his heart from beating, to make him suffer like they had Kakashi couldn’t miss._

_One voice grew louder with each letter and when he recognized the melodious tone and the little sway towards the end of a sentence, Kakashi couldn’t help but to try and scream, no matter the consequences or the hate filling him up._

_“Aah, my love…” A dark snicker. “You still long for me? After all the things I did? I bathed in their blood. I smeared it all across my belly, got drunk on the pure smell, laughed at their despair and horror. I was enthralled by their panic and not you, not one of my brothers can stop me from killing again. And my hacking… Well, that was only the tip of the mountain.”_

_Her small frame emerged from the darkness. Her hips swung in her steps and her rich brown hair fell around her shoulders, making the shorty look even more fragile than usual. Kakashi could only watch how the woman pried closer, her blue eyes missing the glasses and twinkling in a sadistic happiness. “You still want me?” Hiko chuckled and bared her bloodied teeth, “Even when I’m a criminal, a hacker, a cruel murderer?”_

_Her fingers, cold as a corpse, danced over his bare chest, a sick imitation of an intimate gesture. Up to his collarbones, tenderly trailing the right, dipping to his shoulder and slowly spiraling down to his pectoral muscles. “You’re such a_ devoted _person,” she purred, “so wonderfully loyal, even to me.”_

_Pain erupted as she clawed into his skin._

_“So beautiful.” Hiko grinned while she ripped the first layers away, revealing muscles and raw flesh. Kakashi still wasn’t able to move, he could only watch and beg silently for the female to stop while she dug deeper into his chest, ripping more muscles apart and spreading his ribs, always muttering and telling him how beautiful he was._

_When she finally came to his heart and gently cupped the organ, squeezing it to the rhythm of his life, Kakashi-_

 

He shoot up from the makeshift bed. In his chest was still a hand, pressing his heart with every beat together, like Hiko still had her fingers buried deeply in his chest. Sweat stained his forehead and clung to his whole body, making the fabric of his training gear stick uncomfortable to his surface. Kakashi grimaced at the feeling.

That dream… He didn’t expect them to come so early. Thus the silver haired man was deeply disturbed by the vivid pictures, the cruelty which they let Hiko display even when she never said those words into his face.

He never had to use the standby rooms for the officers before. There were a few on the second level, just beside the kitchen, with beds for cops who wanted to take a nap between their patrols or were simply exhausted beyond imagination. He accepted the uncomfortable blankets and to too flat pillow without nagging. Kakashi was seeking refuge and practically avoided to go to his own apartment and face the memories which would hunt him, so he was grateful he had at least a bed.

Probably more than Hiko had.

Angrily the man rubbed over his eyes, made sure the flu mask was in place and propped his body up. Trying to make his way through the room filled with Gai, Asuma and Naruto (the blond boy had a really awkward way of sleeping) without waking them up was not a hard task for him. To decide what to do now, without a smaller body comforting and soothing his mind back to sleep was a far greater challenge.

Kitchen or training room. Kitchen or training room. Stay awake and try to focus on something else with the help of coffee and his favorite book or train every depressing thought out of his (traitorous) mind.

Kakashi headed downstairs, where he would again try to get rid of the troubling emotions and confusing worries he still had about the brunette by bruising his knuckles even more. The pain was good for forgetting. The pain was making everything else almost insignificant.

Almost.

Kakashi hung the next clean sandbag onto the belonging hook and unwrapped the slightly soiled bandages around his hands. It was something easy and strangely calming to do, like doing chores or other boring tasks. Like mowing the lawn or even washing the dishes, like he did only a few days ago, while Hiko had stood beside him in his flat for once and dried the single plates or cutlery, their hands brushing whenever Kakashi gave her the next clean piece of porcelain…

Unconsciously he clenched his fists. Thankfully the pain was washing away those thoughts, _those goddamn bewitching depressing thoughts_ about Hiko and her melodious laugh, her warmth and kindness towards him, her soft voice and the way how she smiled shyly whenever she thought he was still sleeping and she only watched, her iceblue eyes sweetly squinted and locked on him…

Deep in his throat a growl came to life, resounding in his whole figure. What had she done to him? Why circled her presence in his brain like a disease, like an intractable flu he couldn’t get rid of, no matter how much medicine he took? No matter how many pain he inflicted on himself.

 

Kakashi breathed heavily in. He needed something to ground him, to anchor him to this case. There was no use in thinking about a happy past, instead he should solely focus on the facts.

Hiko was tRuthseekEr. No point denying that, there was enough proof to imprison her for decades. Itachi discovered even more on the hard-drive, more and more things, hacked companies and intel the shorty gathered over the decades. Images of beaten-up housewives, housemen and children, documents about faked amounts of money from top companies, clips about crimes like rape or violence of hooligans, information about other hackers and their doings… The list was truly endless. When Kakashi left the IT-office, Itachi hadn’t finished to look through half of the files. Not even half of the half.

While he drifted off, his body moved automatically. Slowly Kakashi fell into a routine his motoric memory knew all too well, to train until he couldn’t catch a single clear thought anymore. But not like usual the detective got calmer by sweating his frustrations out.

 _Smack._ The cuts at Kakashi’s bare hands opened when he hit the new sandbag. Hot blood ran over his skin and tainted the once clean fabric.

Hiko was tRuthseekEr. Naturally. It explained quite a lot of things. But not why she would kill. She wasn’t one to bear grudges. If Kakashi learned only one thing about the woman, then that the brunette was indeed a harpy, but not such a beast she wanted to display for the others around. Sure, one moment she was raging and hissing, but after some more Hiko already felt guilty. She didn’t like to fight, just like him. And even when she deemed self-defense as important, even when she hit him with a door once, Hiko already explained herself.

She resented unnecessary violence. Hiko hated violence. His Firefly hated, absolutely detested violence and murderers. Because she had been a victim. Because she was only alive out of a coincidence, because her torturer let her be, bound to the bed and covered in…

Until now his hooks had been steady. At the thought of the rapist hovering over her small frame and doing the things she described once to him they got heavier, more intense. New bruises and cuts opened, buried into Kakashi’s flesh and skin.

Her file was safely locked away in his personal locker. And though Kakashi was now able to read freely the contents, a small part of him rejected to look inside. He knew what waited. Kakashi knew what kind of pictures were inside the file, what kind of reports, examinations of her body, testimonies of Hiko to what happened, cold clinical evaluations and descriptions about the state of her body and… her lower, private parts.

He had read enough of these files to know what was inside, what the victims had to go through by filing charges against their rapists. And to go through this without the help of another must be pure hell.

 

Exhausted Kakashi leaned his forehead against the sandbag. Forcing the air in and out of his chest, wheezing out of mental and physical exhaustion he clawed into the soiled layers like his life (or mental health) depended on the touch. There had been a time when he had felt similar to this before and he didn’t really want to remember the scene with his ex-wife and the confrontation the same evening Kakashi discovered Hanare fucking his partner on his desk.

But now his chest hurt like someone (a certain short brunette) lit a torch and carefully shoved it inside his flesh, enjoying every square of burnt feelings along the way with sadistic glee. Burning him from inside out. Automatically his fingers clawed into the sandbag and Kakashi closed his eyelids when he felt the overbearing sadness washing over him. Since the start – _since Hiko left him only with a note_ \- there were tears, but Kakashi had pushed them aside out of various reasons, the most prominent one would be the ongoing investigation. Tonight, after the disturbing nightmare and without Hiko he was so close to just give in to the flood rising with each day.

When he had cried, _really cried_ his eyes out the last time? Kakashi couldn’t remember. Endeavored not to give into the tears, the male loosened slowly the desperate grip into the sandbag and stepped just as slowly and controlled away. Only now the bruised knuckles started to sting uncomfortable, but the pain didn’t help one bit to chase the weighing down near-depression like state away, like usual.

So much had changed over the last year. Somehow an emotionally crippled detective, unattached and without visible weak points, got vulnerable for the emotions he had locked away for so long. And at fault was a woman, a short, witty, criminal female who dared to overrun his defenses and make him into an emotional wreck, just because she ran away and had sides of her personality she never showed.

“So here you are.”

Startled Kakashi spun around, though relaxed the moment his eyes spotted Gai, leaning against the doorframe. After a quick look at his partner he turned again to the sandbag, which dangled lightly in the air and started to wipe with his bare hands the partly dried blood away. It stuck to his palms like a second skin, but he couldn’t care less.

“Listen,” the detective murmured after Gai just continued to stay there, hands braced up against the sandbag, “I don’t want consolation. I’m fine.”

 

In Kakashi’s back his partner shuffled around. “I’m not here for any kind of consolation, my rival. Just thought punching the bag gets boring after a while. If you really want to stay youthful,” Gai chuckled weakly, “you need a good fair spar.”

He couldn’t stop the small glimpse of a smile forming on his masked face. “You’re offering?”

A fight with a living punching bag was better than an unresponsive object, after all.

“Naturally! And I’m going to win, be sure of that!” boomed Gai.

While they exchanged punches and kicks and generally tried to find a weakness in the defense of the other, only disrupted by Gais occasional ‘Youth’-speech of figure, Kakashi allowed himself to sink into the simple activity. Then, just as the black haired male managed to throw him with his giant strength to the ground and he could feel the rush of adrenaline running through his veins, the silver haired cop couldn’t help himself but to think that Gai wasn’t such an obnoxious person he always seemed to be.

He just cared. Nothing else. In a rather loud way.

Said man offered his hand, wordless and with a bright smile on his face. And Kakashi returned the gesture by letting the other help him onto his feet again, only to get just as wordless into a fighting stance again.

Maybe he found a friend on his own already some time ago.


	54. Sleep is for the weak

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Finally the KPD has a clue where Hiko could've been, but Kakashi still has problems to accept her crimes as the reality.

Hiko was on her third energy drink when Suigetsu stumbled around noon into his living room, dressed in skin-tight shirt and loose trousers. Slurping the liquid through a straw and inwardly grimacing at the strange taste, she watched interested how the young man rubbed tiredly his eyes and yawned widely, revealing in the process the shark teeth.

She sat cross legged at her provisory bed, a plate with simple scrambled eggs to her right and her running laptop in front of her. Since a few hours ago she was busy with organizing the first steps on the way of proving her innocence and only took a break to make some quick breakfast/lunch.

“Morning.” she said and typed a command into the console. The program processed her request, paused, then spilled a long list of numbers. For other more normal people they wouldn’t mean anything, but Hiko’s eyes flew over the line and creased slightly in the hint of a smile.

Itachi, the sneaky bastard. He hid his true colors until now. The last check on the firewalls of the KPD was yesterday, in the early morning. A total server-wide scan, controlling every last inch of the system for faults, niches or nooks for an intruder to sneak in. Hiko grimaced, this time visibly. For _her_ to sneak in. He took those precautions to prevent his sister to get behind the firewalls of the KPD. But unluckily –when that came to her mind Hiko shook amused her head- for him he didn’t find all her secrets and nooks she left for herself.

Hopefully.

The clanking of porcelain and of a pan moved around accompanied Suigetsu’s steps. “Morning Big T,” he gave back after devouring half of his plate, “Were you awake the whole time?”

Hiko nodded nonchalantly.

“What did you do?”

Honestly, she expected a soft scolding or at least a glare into her direction. Obito, Itachi and Kisame would’ve scolded her for staying up all night sitting on her computer, also… But then Hiko remembered Suigetsu was first and foremost another hacker with maybe the same routine when engrossed into something. Naturally he knew better than her brothers what happened when a hacker became _obsessed_.

“I checked the KPD for any weaknesses, but my superior was faster than me,” she admitted, “He ran a full system check to prevent me from getting in.”

 

“Oh come on, like that ever stopped you.”

“Yeah, I have some tricks up to my sleeve, but for every single one of them I need more time and intel.” Hiko didn’t reveal what her next steps were, but during the sleepless night a plan was born and with every hour she spend awake, the plan grew further. “Anyway, I managed to contact Ginger last night. She will meet you in the coffee shop.”

Suigetsu lifted an eyebrow. “Another female? Since when is hacking such a womanly activity?”

“Since gender equality. Ginger is my key to the KPD, so don’t fight unnecessarily. Don’t draw attention to yourself and do the things you usually do. Repeat it.”

The man grumped into the last bits of the scrambled eggs. Shortly Hiko glared into his direction, then let him be.

‘He covered for me. He let me into his home and prepared a bed. Stay calm Hiko, just stay calm and be patient with him, he’s younger and doesn’t think the same way you do. He has a right to have his own opinion.’

“Today I also have to get my PC parts. When are you done with your work?”

Hiko fiddled absent-minded with the hems of her sleeves while waiting for an answer. Her glasses were pushed to her forehead, resting there until she needed to look closely at a line of code. The headache which formed last night didn’t vanish with the intake of water. Unluckily the weak sting blossomed into a painful flash of fire whenever Hiko moved her head and it only became slightly better when she didn’t use her glasses. In the last pair of partly clean jeans, her by now smelling pullover and shirt and two pair of socks Hiko moved the laptop out of her lap and bought her exhausted body into a standing position.

Suigetsu sighed loudly out of the kitchen. “Evening. One of my coworkers called in sick, so I have to stay longer. Is that a problem?”

“Not really. In that case I just need keys for your flat.” she said more to herself than the young hacker in the other room. On the way into the kitchen to pour another glass of water, the shorty stumbled over a shirt, hastily thrown onto the floor. She got even no time to wonder how it even got there, when a bare chested Suigetsu flew past her into the bathroom. Hiko blinked, one time, two times. Carefully, like she approached a dangerous beast, she picked the still slightly warm shirt up and threw it into the basket obviously meant for dirty laundry in the corner of the living room, before returning to the just as messy kitchen. Well, before she had cooked breakfast the place had been even dirtier than now, but after she scrubbed some pans clean and wiped once or twice over counters, she managed to wipe the disgusted grimace off of her face.

“Seriously,” she murmured while throwing the empty energy drink can into the trash, “does this kid has no will to clean up a bit?”

 

In the darkness the brunette didn’t notice, but the rest of the small apartment was just as messy as the kitchen. Suigetsu didn’t mind the layer of dust over every flat surface, the grime sticking to his plates or the mysterious spots on the couch Hiko discovered, but after living the last few months with a clean-freak she was flabbergasted someone even as carefree as the young hacker could think it was okay to live in between this garbage and dirt.

A sigh built in her chest, deep and heavy.

She was missing Kakashi so badly, even when only a few days went by. It was worse than the time of the conference, because there were no assuring text messages waiting for her, no certainty to have someone to call when she was troubled, no knowledge that the other party missed Hiko just as badly as she missed him.

“It hurts…” Hiko murmured mindless. Her blue eyes slid over the interior, the packed counters and unordered spices, the once white fridge who turned into an unsightly yellow from all the years he worked and suppressed another sigh rippling through her body.

Maybe she could find some time to clean up while Suigetsu wasn’t in the way. And when she had no nerve to think any more about the ongoing investigation or the reasons why Kabuto did this or how he managed to place fake evidence… Unmotivated she tugged at the rag she used this morning to wipe the counters clean.

Truth was, she needed to get behind the KPD firewalls to get access to the testimonies and reports about the different crime scenes and for that she needed the fiery redhead GinGerGeneral, or Karin. Not exactly the real person, but her account for the servers. Even secretaries needed to get into the system and when Hiko used Karin’s account to move around, maybe give him a bit more rights, then even Itachi wouldn’t see Hiko coming up and snooping around.

However, until Karin was available, Hiko had nothing to do, except for worrying and running circles in her head around the same damn thing. She needed a distraction, but she wasn’t desperate enough to clean right now.

“Hey Swords,” (it still felt strange to call her fellow hacker by his real name and apparently he felt so too), “Do you mind if I turn your Playstation on for a bit?”

Back to her old juvenile habits. Plying games and waiting until the time was right.

 

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

After the sparring with Gai Kakashi felt a little bit better, but as soon as he entered the main office for a quick pick-up of reports from his desk, now dressed in jeans and a long sweatshirt, he was thrown back into the miserable state he was before.

One look at the whiteboard and his stomach did a barrel roll when Hiko’s name almost mockingly replaced her alter ego as the main suspect. Sure, there was still Shimura listed, but thanks to the DNA they found on the last still nameless corpse, they would continue to hunt down the short woman.

Suddenly Gai placed one of hid calloused hands at his shoulder. Wordless they exchanged one look and Kakashi nodded almost not noticeable at the other, who gave back a small version of his usual blinding trademark-smile. It was nice to be more like real partners which were often portrayed in novels or TV-shows. Not that Kakashi wanted to be even closer to Gai, right now the emotional distance between them was perfect. Not too close, not too far away. Just… right.

He stepped farther into the room and immediately felt the stares of his colleagues on his figure. Behind the flu mask Kakashi’s mouth twitched at the attention he received, but he ignored all the other people and went straight to his desk. First, he reached out and folded the rimmed picture of their first meeting down. To see his and her laughing face was too much at the moment. Then Kakashi scooped some loose papers up and read through them, ordering them into different piles on top of the wooden surface.

More testimonies about Hiko. The staple to the right grew much faster than the left, where only two lonely papers resided.

‘A woman thinks she saw Hiko begging for money on the market. Most likely not. Hiko isn’t dumb and would never go to such a well-visited place. Besides, her pride forbids her to beg for anything.

Some teens noticed a small woman with wings loiter around the park, staring for some time at the newly opened crime scene, then vanishing into a cloud of smoke. Somebody should tell them that cannabis is dangerous.

An old man swears he was mugged by Hiko or someone similar, but from his vary description and his repeated questioning about the amount of money he could receive, I highly doubt that.’

Kakashi almost sighed loudly. Two useful testimonies out of fifteen and those villagers had been drinking that night. Nevertheless, he took the two short notes and read again through them, carefully examining the description of the female and what she had done.

‘A bar in the northern district. _Jashin’s chamber_. I know that location. A rather dirty place, muggers and thieves love to linger there. Despite the intake of booze, they described Hiko very well, inclusive her clothing and other signs. Sitting around in a bar and drinking, huh? And they said she talked for some time with a white-haired man, before they left together. Though their memory is kind of blurry due to the alcohol they consumed. Hm…’

He didn’t like it. Why was Hiko talking to a stranger so easily? Who was this man? The papers between Kakashi’s bandaged fingers crumbled under his grip before he noticed the strain he put the reports through and so he loosened it, not without giving the sheets a glare, like they were at fault for his confusing feelings.

 

 _Jealousy_. The single word echoed through Kakashi’s head as a mock. He had better things to do than to get jealous of another male he didn’t know, but a rather big part of him still wanted to find that man and make clear that Hiko was _his_.

Yeah. Smashing a few doors in and growling at someone else sounded great. Fantastic to some point, even.

Why was Hiko in that bar? Surely not to get wasted, Kakashi knew she was smarter than that. There was a special purpose for the brunette to be there and that was not to taste one of the most impure whiskey in the whole city.

He didn’t like to be in the dark like that. Only a few days ago the detective believed he could predict Hiko’s actions just like his own, but now, with the new revelations about her he wasn’t that sure anymore.

‘Okay, maybe I should play both scenarios through. There are two options: first, she is a killer and fooled everyone, second, Hiko is innocent and someone faked evidence to make her look like the criminal.

When she killed those three, her reason is most likely the insulting of her alter ego tRuthseekEr. Two of them named the hacker as the one who destroyed their lives, Yamanaka’s by reporting the evil schemes and his involvement to Namikaze, Fuma’s by closing the supermarket she was working in. The next step should be to find out who the last victim is and why Hiko targeted her.’

Why would she remove the organs of her victims? And why the hickey at the girl’s neck? Why the cut at the hip of both? Sure, the cut was the identity card of the murderer, but why leaving another mark behind, also a highly dangerous one for leaving DNA. Why the play in front of her apartment when she found the second corpse?

Kakashi remembered her panicked expression way too well. Clear were the tears in her eyes, the flat heaves ringing in his ears and the mumbled hasty words before his inner vision and exactly those pictures let him doubt the obvious conclusion the evidence tried to build. No one could fake such panic, such bottomless fear without any preparations. And even when she didn’t expect the corpse beside her car, when she killed the younger girl, why should she be so out of her mind?

Something wasn’t quite right. Kakashi’s mind itched; a sign of his instincts which told him to be cautious. His instincts saved his ass more than one time back in the SFU. So he tended to trust them, also when the detective gave in ongoing investigations only little about feelings and heart.

 

 _Search both ways._ The words of his father rang in his ears like a chant. And something was definitely fishy. So, the silver haired cop made sure to properly organize the testimonies and placed the useless ones on Gais desk, who would double-check them. Maybe his partner would see something he couldn’t. The last two from the drunkards wandered into the scanner, where Kakashi patiently waited to get them digitalized, then went back to his own desk to place the data into the right files.

However, on the way through the office he couldn’t avoid an angry Uchiha.

During the last days Kakashi hadn’t had the chance to talk properly with Obito. The other avoided him at all costs, may his evasions include a little jog down a hallway or a desperate dug behind a counter. But all his actions were accompanied by ignorant or angry glares into Kakashi’s direction, like he wanted to cut every single connection.

Wordless Obito brushed past Kakashi, who could only stare blindly at the ground, the two sheets of paper in his hands. Unconsciously he even held his breath the moment the raven passed him, only to exhale deeply as Obito was a few feet away. The silver haired man used all of his might not to grunt even an acknowledgement of the others presence and continued his way to his desk, where he settled down without making much noise and shuffled through the two reports, but not seeing anything but black loops on an amorphous white underground. With each day they didn’t talk about the elephant in the room, the rim between them would grow bigger. With each day Obito and he didn’t clear up the useless fight, Obito would nourish his anger at him. He was just that kind of guy: emotional and stubborn in every aspect of his life. Kakashi didn’t even find the strength to blame the other for his attics, he just sighed again unnoticeable for his colleagues and adjusted his mask, before throwing a quick look at Gai.

His partner had a similar method to order the files, Kakashi knew that out of experience, but today the staple of testimonies only slipped a few centimeters away from the point where he originally placed them. That meant Gai also didn’t found anything useful in those and agreed with Kakashi.

“Oy, my youthful rival.”

Suddenly Gai whispered over the shared space and he leaned closer, what made his voice undetectable for the rest of the main office. His expression seemed somehow urgent and at the same time guilty, what let Kakashi’s interest spark.

“What?” he murmured back.

“I’m going to the bar and will ask the bartender some youthful questions. Follow me in five minutes outside, so you can come with me.”

“Gai…”

“Do not fret, my friend!” And back was the loud voice. Though Gai quickly reconciled and even lowered himself again into his chair (he jumped out of the furniture due to his energy), all the while wearing the already forming guilt of going against the orders of Nagato on his face. “I do not agree with the chief to remove you from the case. You know Kobayashi-san the best, thus you have the biggest chance of following her train of thoughts. So, will you come with me or do you favor to stay back?”

There was not even an ounce of hesitation. Kakashi had the choice between another shift of checking the cameras of Konoha or a real questioning of a shady barkeeper. Every halfway sane police officer would choose the field-action over another intense session of watching people dig in their noses (Kakashi had no idea there were so many of nose-pickers on the streets).

“Got it.”

When he saw the small smile on Gai’s face, the silver haired man knew he made the right choice, nonetheless the foul pressure on his stomach warned him about the things that were about to encounter him.

 

(…)

 

“Do you remember serving a small woman last night?”

“Many customers. Don’t really look at them.”

“Do you remember her?”

The bartender threw an uninterested look at the mug shot Gai shoved into his face. Then he shrugged and continued to wipe the counter with a more brown than white rag. “Many women yesterday. Can’t remember every face I serve.” he grumped.

“Would you look closely at the picture, please?”

Kakashi needed all of his patience to not throw himself at the barkeeper and shake the pathetic guy out of the comatose-state he was apparently in. Restless he wandered around the empty bar, inspected the surroundings and more than once his eyes flew over to the seat where Hiko sat yesterday, according to the testimonies. A good place to watch the entrance without getting seen. A perfect place to wait for someone.

She was clever. But he didn’t expect otherwise.

Entirely cladded into black, the sturdy bald man seemed more like security than a barkeeper, ready to throw every unwanted customer out of _Jashin’s chamber_ and into the next snow pile. Nevertheless, Kakashi nearly growled when Taka (the name of the barkeeper) again shrugged only like the matter didn’t concern him in the slightest.

“A searched-after criminal sits in the middle of service right under your nose,” he said, “and we have two reports about you serving her without even trying to call the police. Her picture is all over the news. You can’t say you haven’t recognized her.”

“Don’t know what you’re talking about. I don’t remember a short woman or the one from your mug shot.” Taka grumped back. Then he threw with a wet slap the rag onto the counter, crossed his fleshy arms over his chest and glared at the two officers. “Lots of people come here on a Friday and I don’t get any help from my boss. Especially yesterday was hell. I try to get money from my job as much as I can, including the tips. Means I have to work fast. Don’t have time to look and inspect every single customer.”

“A little bit attention to your surroundings would be appreciated _next time_ ,” Kakashi hissed and stabbed _the seat_ with his eyes before turning to Taka, “when three people were slaughtered.”

He had the guts to shrug once more. “Right. Next time.”

Frustration was a far too weak term for the state Kakashi found himself in. When they finally had a tiny spur to the shorty, the ignorance of one simple barkeeper kept them from advancing further! He bit his tongue, instead of raging (lately his emotions kept a firm hold of him, he needed to calm down) the detective nodded at one of the security cameras inside the room, hidden away from the bare sight of the frequent customers in the corner. “Can we then look at the video from yesterday?”

Taka snorted. “Nice try, but’s broken. The boss believes it’s okay to leave it like this, so he doesn’t have to pay the fees for the repair.”

 

No testimony and no video. How could one woman be so lucky? It was like the whole population of Konoha decided they didn’t want to care about the crimes happening in their middle, they just lived their lives and went on like nothing ever happened. They actively decided to ignore Hiko, to ignore the corpses, the dead innocent, the blood and gory murder like they weren’t concerned the slightest.

Like Kakashi’s world wasn’t turned upside down.

Gai coughed awkwardly into the tensed silence between Kakashi and Taka. “Well, if you remember anything about her or the man she met, please don’t hesitate to call us.” He bought a card out of his pants and handed the small white paper to the barkeeper, who accepted it, but Kakashi had the premonition as soon as they set a step out of the door, the card would land in the nearest trash bin.

“Total waste of time.” Kakashi murmured to Gai when they stepped outside. A cold breeze ruffled through his hair and shuddering lightly the detective buried his masked lower face in the green scarf. The smell of faint vanilla and raspberry trailed into his nose. May his behavior be childish, but the silver haired male held his breath until he slipped into the co-driver’s seat of the police car. Only then Kakashi lifted his head out of the soothing softness.

Hiko occasionally stole his scarf whenever she was too lazy to get her own. That explained her smell clinging to the fabric, though not the sudden wave of longing washing over his mind.

For a second he allowed himself to revel shortly in the crave for her presence, the need to know where she was and how her condition was.

‘Hiko… God. I really miss you. I don’t know in what I can believe anymore. I really want to believe that you’re innocent, but there’s so much proof against you. It seems like years ago we had a normal evening together; decades since I heard your laugh or felt your frame against mine. I don’t want this. I want to wake up from this nightmare. I want to wake up, I want to wake up, I want to…’

Kakashi jerked himself awake. With wide eyes he stared out of the window, but before his inner vision a terrific memory came to life, a memory where Hiko stuttered the exact same words with a dull expression, like she had seen a ghost.

Or relived her personal nightmare.

_“This can’t be… This isn’t real, this isn’t real, it’s just a bad dream… I just want to wake up. I want to wake up from this. I only want-!”_

To wake up. From her personal nightmare. Kakashi gnawed on his lower lip while thinking. Naturally Hiko, with her cruel past, would have a hell. A great nightmare which she didn’t want to experience on all costs. And he knew even the scenario.

Her brothers too. Everyone who knew her story and had at least an ounce of sympathy for humans could guess.

 

But why would she think her torturer and ex-boyfriend was involved?

“Kakashi…”

Gai. Quickly the ex-special forces member looked at his partner, then outside. They were again at the police station. Gai had properly parked the car in a parking slot, however that wasn’t the thing which let the brave man pale and his fingers clench around the wheel, that the knuckles contrasted white against the tanned skin.

Nagato stood in some distance, dressed in a coat and dress pants and the anger was visible in the usually unemotional face. Beside him was his second-in-command Ebisu, complete with sunglasses, files holding in one arm and the other raised to push said glasses upwards. They were two black dots in the otherwise white landscape, almost like they didn’t really belong into it. Especially Ebisu, Kakashi noticed.

“Don’t worry Gai,” he murmured, never taking his eyes off the two men while unbuckling, “I got this.”

“But-!”

“I dragged you with me and forced you to drive. Just say that.”

“My rival, you don’t have to-!”

“Hey.” Kakashi forced his face to relax and he even managed to fake some sort of smile at Gai. “We’re partners, right? And that’s what partners do, cover for each other.” And he really meant it. His partner took him to the barkeeper, allowed him to be more than an IT-ler and let him really participate in the investigation. Even though they didn’t find anything, it had been worth the hassle. Because Kakashi did something, not just sat around and stared at monitors.

“My youthful rival, I will never forget your sacrifice for the sake of this humble man! Spring awakened the need for a worthy rival and I want to be that rival who kindles the new flames inside your blazing soul-!” Gai sobbed with big tears streaming down his face, before Kakashi quickly jumped out of the car, effectively interrupting the flowing words by the slamming shut of the car door. Before he took one of the infamous speeches about youth and tried to get smart out of other metaphors, he favored to get a scolding from the chief.

The instant the silver haired detective set a foot into the snowy outside, new snowflakes blinded him. He cursed the weather and the white mass, then rubbed over his eyes. In the process he caught a sniff on the fingerless gloves he wore every day since fall had claimed Konoha. They smelled. Time to search for his extra pair and get those washed.

 

Kakashi stomped over to the waiting pair. Nagato was more than just pissed, he practically radiated anger and so did Ebisu, though Kakashi cared more about the first than the second. Not one muscle in the redhead’s face twitched, he only wore a disappointed grimace like he was born with it.

“Care to explain why you aren’t at the station?” Nagato asked, the voice just as cold as the ice around them, “Because I would be really interested in the surely important reason you will try to bring up Hatake.”

“I’m sorry Chief,” the formal term would hopefully calm Nagato down a bit, “I forced Gai to bring me to the bar where Kobayashi was seen.”

“Anything else to say?”

“Unfortunately, he didn’t have anything for us. Says he doesn’t remember serving her yesterday and the security cameras are broken, so no tape to overlook.”

A single eyebrow was raised as Nagato’s mouth turned into a little scowl. “I’m right now only interested into your reason why you went against my orders. Do you even understand the consequences following your irresponsible actions?” Agitated he threw his hands into the air. “I have to explain this to the internal control system! They already nag about you still being involved, even in a passive form and now they’re going to make it even harder for you to work on it! Do you even understand the _gist_ of the _problems_ I had to face to let you participate in that investigation after we announced _your girlfriend_ and one of my best IT-ler as the main suspect!?”

Ashamed Kakashi lowered his head. He wasn’t used to get scolded like a little kid, but assumed he had to take it like a man. So, he stood there in the snow, hands clenched in his pockets which were bandaged and patched up, feeling how the coldness seeped into his bones and Nagato’s words grew harsher and louder until the redhead grunted disappointed and waved at Ebisu, who watched the spectacle with a neutral expression on his face.

“Cross Hatake out from the list of responsible officers for this case. I would put Gai down too, but I can’t draw every involved cop out. I believe it’s ok to get Sasuke more actively into it, he shows some promising results.”

That startled Kakashi. His student replacing him? “Chief, he’s too young! Sure, his theoretical skills are above his comrades, but letting someone work on such an important case when he’s only worked for the KPD for a few months-!”

“He may be young,” Nagato hissed, “But at least he isn’t so emotionally involved that he undermines the investigation by running around and doing as he pleases! That’s my last word Hatake. For now, go back home, or I forget myself and suspend you for an unknown amount of time.”

 

“But Sasuke isn’t…” said Kakashi weakly, then shut his mouth as he saw the resolute expression on the chief’s face.

The young Uchiha was maybe one of the most promising and gifted young officers right now, but he lacked some traits a cop needed, for example sympathy and was sometimes surprisingly jumpy. Kakashi had tried to teach Sasuke about those, but either the raven nodded and forgot as soon his superior wasn’t in sight anymore or he grumped wordless, what agitated Kakashi not anymore. Sasuke tended to judge too fast and acted even faster when he saw an opportunity to do so. That was good while chasing a robber, but not when there were connections to see and unravel no one else could see.

And Kakashi knew Hiko like no one else. He was the one who should work on that case.

“My last word, Hatake.” hissed Nagato through gritted teeth. The open coat fluttered in the wind as the redhead pivoted around, Ebisu on his heels like everything was said and done, leaving Kakashi behind, who had nothing else to do but clench his jaw until it hurt and to count to hundred to get the flames of his anger back under control.

‘I do not regret going to _“Jashin’s chamber”_. I do not regret to go with Gai there, I had to do something. But to completely remove me from the investigation is a mistake. I know I should have followed the orders, but Nagato can’t expect me to sit still like an obedient child with my hands stuffed underneath my legs when _my girlfriend_ is out there.’

The detective still stared at the spot where the chief and his assistant vanished when Gai stepped behind him, using a soft, almost hesitant tone Kakashi never heard in the other man’s voice.

“And?”

He sighed, but then let his shoulders roll to get some of the tension out of them. “Bad and good news. Good news first: For the chief you’re not at fault. I took the blame.”

“And the bad ones?”

“He completely removed me from the case.” said Kakashi calmly. Before his partner could scream and shout, he raised a hand, effectively shutting him up. “Don’t worry. I won’t be depressed. Actually…” Kakashi had to smile. It was just an urge, but when he thought about the other, much older case waiting for him in his locker, he turned to Gai and patted somehow awkwardly his shoulder. “I already have something else to keep me occupied.”

‘He said _“THIS”_ case. Maybe he intended that conclusion, but I won’t let that chance get to waste.’

Even though he first hesitated to touch the old file, now, with him being withdrawn from the butcher-case and with his instincts telling him something wasn’t quite right, Kakashi had all the time in the world for Hiko’s personal nightmare.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, sorry for any mistakes. ^_^'


	55. The real game starts now

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Swords and Ginger meet. Hiko didn't expect them to get along, but even she is astonished by the instant dislike the two share for each other. All the while Kakashi tries to distract himself, but his thoughts are traitors and return to happier days with his little firefly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Only one day late >_< I'm still sorry, but adjusting to another country and trying to find out what I'm going to do for the next five months is quite stressful.   
> Sorry again.

The postman for her delivery was a young teen, face littered with red and ignited dimples. Hiko watched him how he jumped out of his dirty and rusty car, her scarf and wool hat deeply tugged into her face. A quick scan down the street if the space was as empty as it was when she arrived here, then she breathed in to steady her paranoid mind.

‘No one knows you’re here. They have no idea what I’m going to do. Stay calm and just use your brain. You’re so proud about your intelligence, so for once prove it.’

New snowflakes settled on the ground and unconsciously Hiko started to look around, but again, there was no one visible. A bit disappointed and angry at her traitorous mind she stepped into sight of the postman, whose face lightened up when he saw her.

“Ey ya! So, you tha customer?”

Hiko needed some long seconds to understand what he meant. Hell, hid the teen a sponge in his mouth or something? His words were extremely wooly and mashed together, like he was on drugs. Maybe he was.

“Uhm…” Insecure she scratched the back of her hand, wrung shortly her fingers into the black fabric of the gloves, then nodded. “Yes. I’m the customer of Nibi.”

“Well, I hav’ ya deli an’ that’s un’ hell of a load!”

“My what?”

The young boy cocked his head like she was the one who was crazy. “De-li,” he repeated slowly, “Ya deli. From da Nibi.”

“Ah… My delivery. Yeah, yeah.”

Suddenly Hiko felt all of her years on her shoulders. The world had turned and even when she tried to keep her mind wrapped around the latest technologies, the words and speech of the younger ones of society were painfully unfamiliar to her. And she wasn’t even _that_ old, only 30 years! Nevertheless, the brunette forced her face into a weak smile (she had the distant hunch the grimace she mustered would scare children into running to their mothers) and waved at the teen to commence.

While the nameless boy unpacked the different packages, the cell phone in her pocket vibrated, signaling she just received a call. In the anticipation of one of her comrades being the one at the other end, Hiko took the call without even looking at the screen to check it.

“Yes?”

_“Police was here.”_

“Taka? Didn’t expect to hear from you.”

_“Just repaying the favor.”_

“It was nothing.” Really, it hadn’t been something complicated. Hiko had met Taka in front of the bar where he worked, obviously in a bad mood. And the persuasive person she was, the shorty soon had known why the bald barkeeper only grumped to her when she talked. Taka loved online roleplay-games, especially ones with a fantasy-background. And unfortunately someone had stolen the precious, legendary items he had collected over the last year. Hiko just needed to track down the thief of online-content and gave the address to the barkeeper, who in return let her earlier inside the bar to escape the cold. What he would do with the knowledge he earned through her skills… Let’s say it like this, Hiko had other problems to take care of, so she decided not to worry about the poor soul who dared to steal some online items of Taka.

But apparently that wasn’t the only thing Hiko earned by helping him.

 _“A bowlcut and grey hair. Last one was really aggressive. Thought he wanted to strangle me when I said the cameras were “broken”.”_ The barkeeper chuckled hoarsely.

Hiko’s heart stumbled. Kakashi was still involved? “Anything else about him?” she asked as casual as she could muster. Truth was, the short female hungered for any info about Kakashi. “Was he… don’t know, kind of strange?”

“ _Aggressive_.” Taka accentuated the words like Hiko was dumb or deaf. Or both. _“He was like one of those angry dogs, barking and barking until the leash snaps.”_

Worried she nibbled at her lower lip. Kakashi being aggressive? How could that be? He was one of the calmest persons she ever met, always controlled and somehow resting in himself. A bit goofy, sometimes childish, but never really angered or triggered by something. The only time she saw him actually angry was the time of their only big fight.

“Well,” she swallowed the lump of bile before continuing, “thanks again for the warning.”

 _“Hn. Stay alive.”_ With that Hiko cut the connection. While she talked with her little helper, the teen with the serious acne problem had been able to put three big bags in front of her feet and just unloaded the fourth out of the car.

 

Shuddering Hiko buried the cell phone and her hands in her durable jacket. Thank god she had now a safe place to stay, or more like, thanks to Suigetsu. Sure, the couch wasn’t the most comfortable furniture in town, but if the other possibilities were getting captured and interrogated by the police or letting Kabuto again have his ways with her, Hiko would happily suffer from back pain and a craned neck. Not that she planned to sleep much anyway.

“Is that everything?” she asked as the fourth bag was placed in front of her. Doubting her eyes wandered over the heavy looking bags and inwardly she sighed deeply in relief when the teen nodded.

“Yeas! All in’all, the thin’s for a whooooole PC!” Widely grinning he gestured around, nearly hit her in his attempts to look cool, what quitted Hiko with a sharp hiss and a turn away from the movements.

“Stop that! And don’t scream! Goddammit, you work for a hacker, so act a bit more serious!” The bags were really heavy. Grunting Hiko managed to haul two of them over one shoulder, but the third was too much. She cursed when the bag fell over, spilling some cartons with expensive insides into the snowflakes piling. “No!” the brunette said when the teen bend to pick it up, “I can do it. Just… go, now. I can do it alone.”

“Allright, whateva ya say.” With a shrug the boy climbed into his car and drove away, thankfully leaving her behind in the empty street.

It wasn’t too hard. Just picking up the bag, wiping the frozen water off the material, then trying to haul the straps over her currently free shoulder. Then why felt Hiko tears piling up? Why had she to suppress sobs crawling out of her throat? While her hands struggled to raise the load, her nose kept running and she sniveled.

“Fuck…” Angry at her stupidity, Hiko ripped the scarf down and wiped the snort with the back of her hand away. “Really? Just because you feel lonely? Keep your act together woman.”

It was stupid. She should control her emotions better than this. Where was the harpy when she was needed? And Hiko really needed to become the harpy herself, with the fangs and claws and the ferocious nature of one of the mythical creatures.

Groaning under the weight of the technical components, the shorty started her way back to Suigetsu’s apartment and cursed when she remembered the long route back and the many detours the woman had to take to avoid the security cameras. All the while, her mind gradually grew darker, until even the most positive thoughts about little kittens or the real, really cuddly cat back there didn’t lift her mood anymore. Instead of black fur she wanted to ease her fingers through silver tresses, instead of harboring a small frame in her lap, Hiko wanted to nuzzle herself into a way bigger, human body. Instead of crying alone in the early morning, the only insufficient comfort a cat, she craved for Kakashi, the warmth he could grant her with, the trust and believe he put into her (even though she didn’t deserve one ounce of this).

 

And that was the truth. She didn’t deserve one bit of his believe.

Her shoulders hurt from the weight shoved onto them. Gritting her teeth, Hiko ripped her thoughts away from her self-pity and focused on the present, the heavy bags filled with the tools she needed desperately. Step after step she wandered through the snow and soon her exhales became gasps, trying to catch the cold air. Hiko’s arms went numb, the straps of the bags cutting her arms off their blood circulation. Tingles ran down, inhabited her fingers and got worse as Hiko tried to curl them into fists. A sharp hiss escaped her and she glanced quickly around. Thankfully no one was around to watch as Hiko pulled her scarf down, breathing really fresh air and letting her glasses un-fog. Nothing was worse than not being able to watch the road in front of you, especially when you were declared as a wanted criminal. With a sigh Hiko shouldered the bags once more, grunted at the short stings, then continued to stumble down the road, evading freshly piled up snow and cameras like she was allergic to them.

The way back to Suigetsu’s flat was a pain in the ass by foot. An hour and the darkness already started to spread over Konoha, only then Hiko scrambled through one of her pockets in search for the keys. But just while she fumbled with the four bags, the door to Suigetsu’s flat opened harshly and Hiko had to stumble backwards to avoid the hard edge hitting her.

“Goddammit, I hate you!”

A wild redhead stomped out, closely behind was a fuming Suigetsu, obviously pissed to the moon and back and snarling back at the girl in a hateful tone Hiko never heard from him. “What!? You’re not telling me what to do princess! Go make yourself a fucking coffee!”

“Dumbass,” Karin (obviously it was Karin, now Hiko remembered her face clearly) shoved agitated her glasses upwards, “I’m in your house, in your flat and I’m your guest! It’s my right to ask you for a simple treat!”

“I’m not at my workplace, so you have to swing your bony ass into the kitchen yourself!”

Before Ginger could retort something surely insulting and very loud, the brunette coughed to announce her presence. “Well, hello children, nice to see you.” She couldn’t hinder the tiredness from showing through.

The red-haired secretary blinked confused, then her eyes focused on Hiko. Karin was a fairly nice-looking girl, obviously always trying to be styled according to the latest trends. Her clothes consisted of a light lilac cardigan, underneath shined a black blouse through. A tight jeans complete with brown ugg boots finished the picture of Karin. Only her hair, on one side stubbornly spiky and at the other strangely flat, broke the image and Hiko shrugged when she saw how a spark of insecurity came to life in the red eyes of the other female.

 

“Can we continue this interesting conversation inside or why are we still standing here in the open floor? If you can imagine, those bags are extremely heavy.” Without waiting for an answer, she brushed past the flabbergasted redhead and nodded sharply at Suigetsu, who broke at the sight of the bags hanging from her shoulders into a wide grin.

“Is that what I think it is?” he asked while the shorty carefully settled them on the ground, avoiding Kuro in the process, who strolled loudly purring around her legs and rubbed his head against her heavy boots.

“CPU, motherboard, SSD… Name it, I believe I got it. Even the housing is somewhere around.” Absent-minded Hiko noticed Karin only stared, her mouth unsightly hanging open. “Only a monitor is missing. Do you have one lying around I can use?”

Suigetsu laughed. “For my senpai, sure!” He weaseled into the living room, leaving the two women by themselves.

Her neck cracked as Hiko moved. A stingy tension resided in her shoulders and with a grimace she rolled the limps until they popped audibly in the silence. Then, after they listened for some seconds to Suigetsu rummaging through whatever he had packed in secrets spots, Hiko spoke directly to Karin in her back.

She shrugged of the coat while the words left her mouth. “What are you standing there gaping like a fish out of the water? I expected you to fall to my feet the moment we meet for real.”

The door in her behind was closed. Hiko went over to slowly unwrap the scarf, reveling in the simple motion and counting down the seconds in her head.

             ‘One. Two. Three. Four…’

“You’re really truth. I-I can’t believe it.”

“Must be strange. I feel the same. First Swords who works for the café only around the corner, now you, working alongside me.” murmured Hiko and toed out of her boots.

She turned to the red-haired secretary. Karin seemed to have calmed down, noticeable in the way she fisted the sleeves of her cardigan and fidgeted around. “I want to be honest with you. Your help would greatly beneficiate myself, but I have no reward for you. I’m not sure if Swords would listen to me, so I’m saying it to you. If the police ever finds out you two are helping me and I can’t proof I was fooled, you will go into prison. You can still back away. There’s no need for you to get involved, especially as you are now currently working for the ones searching for me.”

Hiko got straight to the point. She wanted to see if Karin could keep her calm with the vision of herself in between criminals jammed inside her head and she wasn’t disappointed. The red eyes became hard and a cocky, almost arrogant expression grew on Gingers face. “If Swords is involved, I want help you too. With only this idiot you will never get anywhere. Besides…” Karin’s smirk grew even wider. “It will be interesting to see how the great tRuthseekEr hauls her ass out of the trap.”

 

Thank god. Honestly, Hiko would have no idea how to get into the KPD servers without using Karin’s account as a pathway, so a weight fell off of her as one of the pieces fell into place. “Thanks.”

“But I have one question.”

The brunette hummed as a sign she acknowledged the words. But she wasn’t prepared for the topic, thus stumbled over the expected question literally.

“When you didn’t kill those people, who is the real killer then and why got you targeted?”

Later Hiko would push her stumble on the sleepless night and the minimal amount of food she ate today. Deep down she knew one of her helpers would ask this sooner or later, however she had hoped for the last case. There was no way the shorty could explain them how she and Kabuto were connected. It was one thing to spill her secret to a friend, however Karin and Suigetsu were… acquaintances, nothing more.

Her tongue struggled, until Hiko decided to give some, but not all of the info to Karin. “He’s… someone I knew once. We were romantically involved, but the break-up was quite bad. I… lost sight of him and originally I wanted to find him with my skills, but he vanished. And now he found me. Somehow.”

She faced Ginger once more, now completely out of her durable outside clothing. Only in jeans, a black thermos shirt and socks Hiko stood in front of the fierce redhead and saw her answer wasn’t satisfying at all. A deep crease formed between her eyebrows and as Karin’s mouth opened, the short woman expected the high and screeching voice she heard already a few months ago.

“But why? Why did your ex set you up? Why did he fake evidence, why pointing first at your alter ego, then at you? It just doesn’t make any sense to me!”

“To me it does.” remarked Hiko tiredly. And it was true. Slowly Kabuto’s evil doings got a shape, still foggy and uncoordinated, but at least she had some pillars to start from. But not now. A yawn forced his way out of her throat and before the new recruit could ask more troublesome questions, she waved at Karin, just as dismissingly as apologizing. “Sorry, but that is everything I can tell you. Later. Now…”

“Found one!” Suigetsu stuck his head into the tiny entrance area, followed by his whole body and a monitor he raised proudly towards Hiko. There was dust all over him and the device, like he scrambled it out of a long forgotten corner. The shorty would need a duster before actually working with that thing.

“Now I have a PC to build.” finished Hiko her sentence. “Interested?”

Karin sighed weakly, then a small smile spread on her face. “Sure.”

“Good. Hey Swords, can you get me one of your energy drinks? Aargh, cancel that. Make it two.”

“Already on my way Big T!”

“Hey! For truth you get something, but a coffee is too hard? You must be dumber than I thought!”

The only answer was the middle finger from the male. Hiko rolled her eyes and forced every one of the five sarcastic comments in her mind off. No need to fuel the flames of their shared hatred further. Instead of participating in the banter which accompanied the group into the living room, where Hiko sat down on the sofa, surrounding herself with the components of the PC and started to order them accordingly.

 

Most people think to build his own PC with store-bought parts was complicated. Reality was a bit simpler than that. The single parts were like a puzzle. If it doesn’t fit, don’t try to force your way into it. Just watch and analyze for a moment, then you will be fine. Concentrated to the highest, the brunette hacker first took the motherboard and CPU. Old, but durable. Surely fished out of different warehouses and computers. Nibi knew how to do her job and also understood what her buyers needed. Nobody could detect those devices, only if they especially searched for them.

With steady fingers Hiko placed the small CPU, which only barely fitted into her palm on the motherboard. Quickly she connected both parts by pressing the shiny quadrilateral into the makeshift gap and admired for a second her handiwork, before continuing, aware of the quick glances thrown at her. Suigetsu and Karin still argued, but both had lowered their voices, maybe a silent agreement not to disturb their senpai in her concentration.

While Hiko worked on the PC, she totally sank into the well-known process. For years she build her own PCs from scratch, her absolute star the powerhouse which stood in her flat. She didn’t need to look anymore at the descriptions, she knew where to place the SSD the best, where the graphic card had to be for the best results and that the different wires and screws should be handled with delicacy, but sometimes they also needed a bit of persuasion to go into their belonging positions. Like every technical related matter, she had absorbed the knowledge like a sponge, hungry and craving for more to know. This was simple. Logic. Easy to understand and easy to carry out. Not like her life.

“Now to the test…” One last wire to order, then the small, but effective device was finished. Before Hiko could think too much, she pushed the ON/OFF-button.

A light blinked rhythmically. Hesitantly the woman held her breath, only to force the air out of her lungs when she saw the Welcome-screen fading out of the black. Everything was ok.

While she worked on her tool, the world outside had grown completely dark. One of the younger hackers must had turned on the lights in the room, but Hiko had been too immersed into her work to notice the sudden change of light. Now she got blinded by the brightness and quickly blinked the tears away as Suigetsu leaned over the study the sturdy piece of technic beside the couch.

“Now I only have to get our hacker-program installed, afterwards I can start my work,” she said and looked at Karin, “I will need your account data.”

“Ok.” The girl used a napkin she got out of her stylish bag and began to write on it, meanwhile Suigetsu started his own PC and soon he raised an USB-stick into Hiko’s face. “There, I copied it. Means less time needed, right?”

“Good thinking.”

Karin gave her without a word the napkin and watched intently how Hiko logged simultaneously into the KPD-account and installed the hacking program. “What are you going to do with my account?” she asked and pushed her glasses upwards.

“Actually nothing,” the shorty answered absent-minded and typed a command, “First I wanted to give you some admin-rights, but Itachi would notice those after some time. So, I’m just gonna use your name as an alley to reactivate a test-account I used as we set the whole server up and give him all the rights I need.”

“Ghost-account?”

The red-haired secretary meant an invisible identity, with all the rights of an administrator, but not noticeable for the system. Hiko remembered the dummy-account only on the way back and quickly changed her plans according to the memories. She didn’t even have to change too much, in the end the account “dummy1” already had quite a lot of rights, but together with her knowledge and her skills she would be able to fully evolve dummy1 into a wonderful ghost, gliding through the firewalls and able to read through every file.

“Yep, a good old ghost-account,” repeated Hiko and entered the servers of the KPD with a resolute click on the enter-button, “Wait… What’s this?”

 

Karin moved out of the armchair and stepped closer, eyes squinted and following the index finger of the brunette. “Oh that…” she murmured, “that… yeah, Hatake-san ordered those files. They have similar characteristics to the kills we deal with right now.”

Hatake-san. Kakashi. Hearing his name was ripping at her heart, violently pulling it into an unwanted direction. Instantly her resolve to not think about anything related to the silver haired cop was crumbling. No, it got destroyed, smashed and was the foundation for the bitter-sweet memories.

“Similar characteristics?” Hiko bought out, “That means the cut at the hip or what else?”

She felt the worried and also pitying look from Karin at her figure. Naturally the redhead was pitying her. She knew about her relationship with Kakashi, knew at least some details how Hiko left him and how he must look like right now, surely up-beat by the constant self-questioning and asking where the fuck it all went wrong. Add the accusations on her name and the doubt the male probably still had in himself, then Hiko could halfway imagine how Kakashi walked all day around the department.

Karin nodded. “But not only that, also the hickey at the juncture of the shoulder.” She pointed at the hidden spot of skin on her own neck. “Gender doesn’t matter to the killer, so males and females… As far as I remember, there were some which were frightening similar to today, Sasuke marked them red…” Without waiting for Hiko’s approval, the pushy secretary leaned over and brushed her hands aside, taking the control over the mouse and keyboard. Hiko let her, but secretly wiped over the spot where their hands touched. Her skin tingled uncomfortable. Too sudden. The touch came too sudden.

‘It gets worse. I don’t know why, but my dislike for skin contact comes back with all his might. Already in the bar. Fuck it, I know why. Because Kabuto is back, so my fears decide to go on a rampage. And I’m cut off my safe place. My world is upside down. Ryuzetsu would have called it “Uprooting”. I lost my home, I lost my usual peers. Everything changed and that lets my old fears surface.’

“There they are!” Proudly Ginger raised her head, what ripped Hiko out of her thoughts. “The red files, you see?”

“Yeah.” She bit her tongue. Focus on the present, don’t get lost in the past. Also some wise words from Ryuzetsu. “Okay… First things first, you two,” Hiko pointed at Karin, then at Suigetsu, who turned around in his chair at her words, “will keep a low profile for the next days. While I look through the files, I want both of you as spies. Both of you are in perfect positions.”

Ginger shook her head. The red hair which surely was one of the main reasons for her full nickname shone brightly under the light as she crossed her arms, eyebrows angrily furrowed. “But I want to read the files too! I can help you with that, just give me half of the load and we will cut the needed time down!”

“Only I know the signs the original culprit will leave behind. Besides…” Hiko’s mood dropped at the memory of the entire faked relationship with her torturer. “He surely sent me messages only I will understand.”

 

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

How long can one man push the inevitable back? Kakashi was testing the boundaries of said theory and was currently at the mark of two hours. By now he was doing push-ups in the middle of his living room, the couch pushed to the side to make enough space. But before he had done everything to dance around the task at hand. Cooking by himself. Ordering the many versions of the Icha-Icha-books he owned into the perfect reign. Cleaning his already clean flat even more. Switching quickly through all the TV-channels, deciding there was nothing he wanted to watch (like there was something else interesting him than the news shows which reported about the homicides in Konoha) and turning the device off.

 _114, 115, 116…_ Not caring about the pain ripping at his tortured muscles, Kakashi pushed himself once more upwards. But then his eyes flew sideward, like a magnetic spot caught his vision every time the man reached the highest point of his position, to where the damn file laid. Innocent looking, with the light yellowish bind, but otherwise the years spent underneath Hiko’s bed had done nothing else to the paper.

Why should Kakashi hesitate to open a file and read its contents? He asked himself this question for quite a few times now, even when he was at first grateful he got that chance. But still…

‘It’s Hiko. It will be Hiko’s photographs greeting me, showing all of her wounds and scars, the bruises and scratches of her useless fights, the red marks where she was tied down around her wrists and ankles. Her words in the protocols, her descriptions about the torture she went through.

And even when she’s right now on the run and I’m a bit pissed at her… I don’t want to see her hurt.’

With a sigh Kakashi lowered himself slowly, ready for the hundredth and seventeenth push-up, but suddenly his biceps disagreed. A low grunt was everything which came out of his mouth as the silver haired man, sweat stained and exhausted, hungry and thirsty, collapsed at the carpet, face only barely tilted to the side to avoid suffocation by the thick fabric. And again. His eyes were transfixed to the file.

“Goddammit…” he bought out, “Stop being such a scaredy cat. It’s not like the papers will eat you.”

With another heavy grunt he rolled around until he was facing the ceiling, then he moved upwards in one harsh jerk. Now sitting on the ground, Kakashi settled his forearms at his bend knees, catching his breath just as delaying the dreadful moment as much as possible. While his eyes darted around, aware _not_ to look into the direction of the files, his brain decided to make this decision even harder by pulling out a memory about the short brunette; one which was incredible dear to him and one he didn’t want to miss, because…

Just because.

 

_“…Urgh…”_

_Worried Hiko felt for his forehead. Her palm was cool on his skin, too cool. Kakashi shuddered and at the same time tried to nuzzle his face more into the nice temperature difference. Her blue eyes, hidden behind thick glasses were concentrated on his sweaty and disheveled hair, so Kakashi had one more moment to close his own. God, that felt nice._

_“I’m not an expert,” she retreated and the male almost whined at the loss of contact, “but I believe, that you, mister, are down with a fever.”_

_“I’m not.” Kakashi murmured, but his weak protest was destroyed by the coughing fit which followed his words. He doubled over, clutching with one hand the blanket to his chest, the other flew upwards and covered his mouth. His lungs and throat hurt, his head split nearly into two with every heave and the silver haired man would swear some kind of swamp was residing in his nose. He felt miserable. There was no denying it. Kakashi was ill, for the first time in the year, he was seriously ill._

_Hiko bend down and gently pushed him backwards. Her cold hands felt unbearable icy and at the same time comfortable nice against his burning surface, so Kakashi was near to give up without even trying to fight back. Nevertheless, he resisted a bit, but the struggle was useless. Currently Kakashi’s strength could be compared to that of a little kitten, so it was no surprise the small woman was able to tug him back into bed without breaking a sweat. “You’re staying today right here,” she ordered, “If you’re lucky it’s just one of those one-day-flus. So, in order to be healthy tomorrow again, you will NOT, and I repeat, absolutely NOT leave this bed. Understood?”_

_Kakashi knew there was no use in arguing his way out of this. The brunette had pushed her hands into her hips, a sign she wouldn’t back down from her order. Instead of throwing the blanket off like a pettish child and getting ready for work, he nodded and shied away under the covers. To be honest, a day off sounded great in his state. Heavenly even._

_He listened to the weak steps vanishing in the entrance area, even further to the bathroom, where Hiko seemed to rummage through the drawer hanging above the sink. Then her steps returned and a hand tugged the blankets away from his face._

_The shorty had one eyebrow raised, a ginger smile flashing over her lips as she noticed Kakashi had a blocked nose when he sniveled pitiful. “My poor love.” And despite his surely contagious state, she leaned forward and pressed a quick kiss to his lips, not caring about the weak struggle he put up to avoid their meeting._

_“Hiko, you’re going to be sick too.” Kakashi rasped strained out afterwards, then coughed loudly (he turned naturally his head away). But she chuckled only and to make her point clear, she pecked his lips once more, a mocking glint in her eyes._

_“You know what? I don’t think I care much.”_

_“Firefly…”_

_“My god, your eyes are totally glassy. Okay, medicine is here on the nightstand, also a cup of water. And just in case you want to eat something, there are some cup noodles in the kitchen. Tissues are over there. Anything else?”_

_Kakashi shook his head. Another quick smile from the brunette, then she tugged her own blanket over his, made sure there was no part of him exposed to the cooler air of the bedroom and waved at him. The silver haired man waved weakly back, then sunk into the sheets and closed his heavy eyelids. Sleep claimed him quicker than he thought._

_A few minutes later Kakashi heard through the dizzy clouds of his sickness first the clanking of keys, after that the opening and closing of the entrance door. Slowly he peeked out from under the thick covers and watched how Hiko struggled with her boots, finally toeing them off and letting her coat drop to the ground. Plastic rustled. Wait. Plastic? And why did she get out of her shoes?_

_Carefully the brunette entered the bedroom, in her hands a small plastic bag. When she saw he was awake, she shook her head, but not in disappointment. Instead there was a special gentle spark glowing in her eyes as the brunette edged closer and tugged the blankets off of his sweaty form. “Hey. I’m back.”_

_“Back?” Kakashi didn’t recognize his own voice. Weak, raspy like the one of a chain smoker and interrupted by another coughing fit from deep down out of his lungs. “Weren’t you just on your way?”_

_She stepped around the bed, snorting amused. “No. It’s almost evening Kakashi. I was gone for the whole day, you know?” Settling the plastic bag down in his lap, Hiko checked again his temperature by placing her hand on his forehead. Her cool hand felt even colder than before, maybe from the fall winds outside or maybe Kakashi’s temperature rose further. He didn’t care. Grunting in bliss he raised his head, wanting more from the nice cool sensation on his burning skin. He felt how her fingers slipped after some moments down to his neck, lingering there right above his pulse point and it was even better. “You slept most of the time, hm?” she asked._

_“Hn.”_

_“Didn’t even take your medicine. Have you at least drunk something?”_

_“No. Slept.”_

_“Come on.” Her fingers started to crawl around his neck, coming to a rest in the back. “Please. Get up for a second and drink. A least that.”_

_“Hn-hn.” With some effort Kakashi discarded the nest of blankets around him and propped himself into a sitting position, where he could look undisturbed at the fussing and cooing Hiko, who almost imitated a small tornado in her worry and need to make him comfortable. It was… kind of nice, he had to admit. To have someone who was worried for your sake. Just when he wanted to reach out to grab the cup of water waiting for him, the mysterious plastic bag in his lap rustled in the movement._

_Kakashi’s interest was piqued. What bought Hiko home? Naturally there was no other choice but to let the water where it was, instead the silver haired man reached into the bag. His fingers brushed over the hardcover of a book. Oh no, she didn’t…_

_“So…” Hiko’s voice travelled over and jerked him out of the fever-induced daze, “I saw that advertisement in the book-shop and I thought, “Why not?” And I heard you saying you hadn’t pre-ordered it, so I got it. Seriously,” Hiko shrugged uninterested, “How much money is this Jirayia making with this series?”_

_Between trembling fingers Kakashi held the newest addition to the Icha-Icha-books, “Icha-Icha-Heaven”, a split-off to the last book about one of the minor characters._

_“Do you like it?” Hiko asked and hopped still in her jeans and shirt onto the bed. Not caring about the sweaty skin or bacteria, the short female cuddled to his side and Kakashi could do nothing more than press his face and nose into the crown of her hair, his throat too tight to say anything. He nodded only, ruffling with his nose the brown locks he adored so much._

_“Good.” Her lips fluttered over his upper arm, pressing quick kisses here and there until Hiko ended the little path at his neck, where she returned the favor and nuzzled her nose into the crook. “I’m making miso-soup today. Do you think you can eat some?”_

Kakashi remembered that evening clearly. Despite his non-hungry state, he had carefully eaten two small bowls of the miso-soup, in between nibbling at scraps of grilled eggplant. It was Hiko’s homemade food after all.

The whole evening, she had fussed around him, cared, asked for his health, tried to make things comfortable, her nearly submissive behavior would’ve been annoying if Kakashi had been clear enough to be annoyed. But ill like he was, the man just enjoyed every little thing she did for him.

Willingly. Without asking for anything in return.

“Fuck.” The more he thought about Hiko; the more Kakashi allowed his mind to wander into dangerous lands, the likelier it would become for him to be biased. The more he would try to find hints for her innocence and ignore proof for her guilt.

‘Get your act together. Just grab that file and read it. Read it. Read it, read it, read it and don’t hesitate any longer! Each wasted minute is a minute where she could plan her escape further or plan for the next corpse. So, to understand every little crane of her mind, _read that file_.’

There was still hesitation inside Kakashi as he moved towards the file, slowly sliding over the carpet with his whole body, so he couldn’t withdraw at the last possible second. First his index finger touched the most outer rim of the papers, then the rest of his hand followed. Once more, _one last time_ , Kakashi let his black eyes wander over the by now familiar letters, then breathed in. Together with his inhale he opened Hiko’s case and looked at the first page.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a short note: I don't know when I will have Wifi available. I try to follow my usual schedule, but just drop this little warning here. Just in case I get stuck in a Kiwi-nest or something ;)


	56. Her past

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kakashi faces Hiko's past and discovers something which could be worth the time. In the middle of the night, Hiko has to fight her own fights, if now in her dreams or in the shelter she currently inhabitates.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter should be early. It's sad that I only have to travel around the earth to meet my first posting-date of Wednesday again T-T

‘She tried to solve her own case.’

That was Kakashi’s first thought. But every other police officer could come to this conclusion after watching handwritten notes and even a worn-out map flutter to the ground the second the file was opened. They were countless, mostly in a standardized size, but sometimes small post-it’s in a strong green or yellow had made their way into the documents. Kakashi peeked at one, glued to the official opener and his lips twitched.

_I will find you._

Measured by the depth and strength the female used to get her point across, she had been furious. Quivering under the force of her emotions. The letters were barely readable, jammed together and strangely stretched out to the end. Kakashi let his thumb slid across the paper, feeling two rough hills where the dot marking the end of the sentence was. In her rage Hiko even pierced the document underneath.

To his surprise the small discovery and sign of the brunette didn’t affect him as much as he thought. Just a quick flash through his heart, then he had his fleeting emotions again under control.

He shut the file again, only to arrange his legs comfortably though. In the process Kakashi’s eyes fell on another handwritten paper which fell out, filled with loops and curved letters. Quickly he gathered all the surrounding notes, noting absent-minded Hiko’s handwriting hadn’t changed much over the years, except for the dots above the ‘i’, before he had known her she had drawn a little circle…

             ‘Concentrate.’

File to his right, notes to his left, Kakashi decided to go first through the official papers before getting busy with Hiko’s additions. So again, his fingers slid over the rough bindings. He tried to tell himself that it was just another routine, just another day in the SFU where he had to read reports about long-forgotten missions and crimes on a weekly base. But that resolve crumbled the moment he saw the first picture, a close-up from her face.

Hiko was painfully young. Big blue eyes, almost swallowing the rest of the face and dull like a puppet, looked into the camera lens. Her hair was greasy, a really nasty blueish-green mark covered the whole right cheekbone, another bruise was running along her jaw and her cheeks were hollow from hunger. Kakashi forced himself to inspect the photo closer and noticed her lips must’ve been dry to the point of splitting the moment she had spoken. The moment the photo was taken a small spur of blood trickled down her chin. Also, the sick paleness of her skin, a yellow-greenish bruise shadowing her left eye and the crestfallen overall expression the short female wore were tugging at his heart, pulling like a puppeteer would tug at the threads of his puppets.

 

Poison. This picture was poison for his resolve to stay neutral. How could the cop stay neutral when alone a photo of his ex-girlfriend in a broken-down state was paining him like nothing in a long time?

“Come on…” Harshly he rubbed over his face. “Don’t let them too close.”

Easier said than done. The next was even worse. A set of photos of her various injuries, each one accompanied by a dry medical comment. Kakashi looked at them and tried to be as detached as possible, but he couldn’t stop the misery from creeping through his defenses at the sight of another broken bone, the next bruise, those nasty bite marks all around her breasts, the bruises at her thighs, the red spots where the handcuffs irritated her skin, the cuts, especially the one at her hip…

The silver haired man nearly overlooked that picture. Only one later (a close-up from a bended little finger) he realized what his mind had caught and hastily he browsed back, to the shot of a single, diagonal cut at Hiko’s hip, resembling the ones Orochimaru found at the exact same spot on their corpses. A look to the medical comment at the bottom of the picture and something like a hint of victory flew into Kakashi’s body.

_1cm deep, 5cm wide. Self-inflicted._

The exact same measurements the card of the killer spotted. After some moments Kakashi even realized why Hiko’s file wasn’t in the huge pile of cases he ordered; he only asked for crimes with a death cause and Hiko was a lot of things, but not dead. A spot in the back of his brain was tingling in excitement; another sign for him that he was on the right track. Hastily Kakashi read over the complete medical report, dismissing almost everything which hadn’t anything to do with Hiko’s hips. Nothing on the first page, so he browsed further through the thick folder, ignoring the dust which flew up caused by his energetic motions. That didn’t mean anything, not one bit. Dust collected itself very fast, especially underneath the bed. It didn’t mean Hiko didn’t bother herself with her past anymore.

He clicked his tongue and went to the third page. His damn mind, always strolling astray and wandering into unwanted directions. Kakashi had to stay focused, had to verify if Hiko was copying her own wounds on her victims or if her torturer found her and messed up her life in one of the cruelest ways possible.

Cutting the brunette off her most important connections. Her family. Destroying her environment by revealing her past and mistakes to the real world. And when _Kabuto Yakushi_ –Kakashi paged through the documents and when he saw the name, his stomach twisted into a tight knot- really was the one behind this, when he really killed three people only to blame Hiko for it… To which lengths he would go?

The silver haired man shook his head, but the horrible questions and images nevertheless piled up. Would he finish the business he hadn’t finished all those years ago? Would he… kill Hiko? Have his way with the short brunette again, with his little Firefly before ripping the light from her vivid and expressive eyes? At the thought dread struck into his guts. Never seeing her again was one thing, but he still knew she was alive. If Kakashi ever had to identify Hiko on a cold steel table, blood cold and knowing he would never hear her laugh again…

He wouldn’t survive it. Not only because there was still love inside him, no, but also because it would mean he wouldn’t get any answers for the questions which dwelled and burned holes into his concentration.

             ‘I have to find her. For her safety and my sanity.’

Not even a sigh escaped Kakashi at the amount of papers he had to go through. He worked for Hiko, for something he couldn’t really name yet, but he had the vague idea of a small spark bringing a little bit of light into the darkness once more.

A little bit of… hope.

 

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

_Not right. Not right. She ran but didn’t know from what. There was something behind her, always behind, breathing down her neck. With every death cold exhale, she saw the dead eyes of Ryuzetsu, saw the pile of organs, arranged to his liking, to his perfectionism._

_He always had been one._

_“You will be mine again, babe.” he whispered and she screamed out. Raw despair, pure and unfiltered washed through her body._

_NO NO NO NO NO NO NO._

_“You will be mine again. You can’t run away. You have no place. I took it away from you, you have only me. I’m your home, Hiko-chan~!”_

_NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO_

_I DON’T WANT THIS I DON’T WANT THIS I DON’T-_

_“I will always find you, no matter where you go. You belong to my side, always nodding and always agreeing, obeying, bowing your head, pushing your own opinion back, following my lead… You belong to me.”_

_No. No. please, I don’t want…_

Tears pricked in the canthus of her eyes as Hiko jerked into consciousness, not like usual silent and unnoticed. Kuro hissed as she abruptly sat up and squirmed away from the place at her feet, where he had curled up hours ago while she read through a hundred of files, comparing every single one to her own case. Kabuto said so, he tried to find another “Hiko”, another formidable mount of clay to form and play with, and so his crime would repeat itself. He was after all also a scientist (somehow) and every experiment had to happen under the same conditions, only one variable would change. The woman. But some things didn’t want to match. There were too many males which could be also murdered by him, too many cases where there was no rape involved at all even with females, just like here in Konoha. Neither of the two woman which fell victim to Kabuto’s sick fantasies were sexually hurt, no bruises around their lower parts or anything else indicating he had done the same he did to Hiko. And only Kagero had at least a sign of sexual activity, namely the hickey at her shoulder.

Around the nineteenth file Hiko had lost her focus every second word and Suigetsu had forced her to take a break. Her head spun from all the information she tried to press into her brain, adding the tiredness she had to fight for two days now, the woman was a complete mess. Nevertheless, her temporary roommate only noticed her state as Hiko managed to meet the keyboard with her face.  After his stern lecture she remembered vaguely turning her make-shift PC off before the lights were out, quite literally and she dropped into the cushions.

And again. A nightmare. Thank god the boy wasn’t awake anymore. Hiko slapped her cheeks a few times, then swung her legs off the couch. The black cat mewled crocked and hid further in the bookshelf bordering to Suigetsu’s PC-desk, on the highest board the young animal could reach. But Hiko spared Kuro just one short glance, before she strolled over into the bathroom. The short nap didn’t work quite right. Dark bags resided underneath her eyes, proof enough for the female that sleep was indeed the last thing she could need right now.

Hiko watched herself in the mirror above the sink, turned her head and inspected every angle and crook.

She grimaced at the sight of some red spots at her forehead. Stress pimples. Great. Just fucking great. Half-heartedly Hiko tried to finger-comb the lightly greasy brown locks and gave in the end up, seeing really no use in looking okay-ish while she was on the run. _More or less hidden_ , she corrected her own thoughts.

 

Hiko felt so restless. Strange. Being tired to the point of getting headaches and at the same time unable to sleep because there was this energy pulsing through her limbs and core. So she wandered again back into the living room, noting the door to Suigetsu’s bedroom was not closed. A tiny sliver revealed the last room Hiko hadn’t seen of the flat, but nothing was out of the ordinary. The white haired young male was… well, _young_. Definitely younger than her. His age was reflected in the way he treated his furniture and surroundings, with the casual carelessness of someone who had always other things on his mind or simply didn’t care much about the dirt and dust crawling over every surface. For a moment the shorty stared blindly at the body hidden underneath the black blankets, then decided it wasn’t the time to stand in the cold entrance and stare at someone who was asleep.

With a weary sigh on her lips Hiko settled on her bed, already reaching over to start the PC while she plopped down on the sofa. While waiting for the system, she sniffed at the shirt she wore now for… _how long now? Three days?_

Slowly it got time to change. The smell was blocking everything else out.

The monitor was too bright. The light stung and Hiko pushed her glasses upwards while regulating the light down until she could bear to stare at the screen without squinted eyes. If she was awake at 3 a.m. then she could continue her work after all. No use in wasting even more time.

Working through the night. Sleeping until the daylight vanished. Not going outside. A sarcastic smile flashed over her mouth. Hiko’s juvenile days caught up to her. The exact same schedule, the only difference was the popularity of tRuthseekEr. Back then it had been the start of everything, the raising of her influence and position inside the hacker-community, now she was maybe at the peak, or only near it.

 _No,_ again her brain decided to get the red marker out, _there’s another difference today._

Right. Her fingers wandered over the keyboard, quickly selecting the file the brunette read before her brain decided to get her some not-needed sleep. The victim was a man, in his mid-forties and had been an inhabitant of Kumogakure before an old woman found his corpse kneeling directly between her lovely white roses, hands properly folded like he prayed for forgiveness.

“But his organs…” Hiko bit down into the nail of her thumb, not even realizing she did so. “Only the cut…” With her other hand on the mouse she scrolled to the medical report. It was so utterly frustrating. This time the organs stayed inside the body and only the cut remained as a single indicator. Nothing else.

“Fuck.” Hiko hissed between gritted teeth out. It was fucking frustrating. There were too many things which should be considered. Age, gender, occupation, hobbies, nothing wanted to add up! How was that possible? Even with Kabuto being an insane serial killer, there had to be some kind of connection, at least a tiny trace! Every serial killer had a reason, a higher motive to kill. May it be a pimple in the exact same spot or the same teacher in cram school, every goddamn serial killer had a trigger!

 

But not Kabuto. Annoyed Hiko got to the info-sheet of Fukai, the man who died nearly fifteen years ago. His full name (Fukai Hachibi), age (34), job (consultant for the mayor of Kumogakure, especially involved in the relationship of the two cities Kumo and Konoha). How did Fukai even get that influential position, with a face-tattoo and black-white striped hair?

“I could swear I read that somewhere this month.” Hiko mumbled, still nibbling at her own thumb. With the mouse she circled the consultant-part slowly, her thoughts racing where the almighty fuck she saw those already. Only minutes later the memory returned and Hiko couldn’t stop the little screech of happiness hollering out of her mouth.

“That’s it!” A crazy grin split her lips. She knew from where she recognized the consultant, in fact, she herself prepared the list on which has list had taken place in, copied and pasted it! Excited beyond measurements, the brunette dropped herself over the couch and scrambled through her backpack until her fingers brushed the powerhouse of USB-stick. Hands trembling, Hiko got back up and ignored Suigetsu, who groggily stumbled into the living room, his knuckles raised to rub his eyes like a little child.

“God…” He yawned widely and showed off his spiky teeth. “Big T, you know how late it is, right? Why are you screaming?”

“Oh nothing,” she answered and suppressed a childish giggle, “just the first motherfucking clue to this case! A quick check to be sure~!” She measured him, how he stood lax in a tight purple shirt without any sleeves and a wide knee-length shorts before her and decided he was awake enough to follow her explanations to some point. “Some days ago, I was responsible for collecting intel about a second suspect in my case. The name of the man is Danzo Shimura, a slimy old snake if you ask me. He was until February a consultant for relations with the different cities, for example Kumogakure since years. And now,” she gestured towards her screen, “I noticed some kind of strange coincidence.”

Just as she wanted to explain the matter further, another human figure stumbled into the living room, also yawning and cladded in nothing more than a wide shirt and shorts. Missing her glasses, Karin had the worst bed-hair Hiko had ever seen, including her own every morning. It looked like every single strand rebelled against the natural order and every physical law the brunette could think about and formed almost a halo around the redhead’s skull.

She should have been gone hours ago. At least she assumed that, with Suigetsu and Karin acting like they were like fire and a whole bag of dynamite. Hiko looked back and forth between the quickly blushing Suigetsu and the still absent-minded secretary, before asking the most stupid question she could come up with. “Did you sleep in one bed?” She knew it was a stab in a wasp nest.

Their answers came simultaneously.

“Hell no!”

“No way! How could I sleep in the same bed as this idiot!”

“Who is an idiot?”

“Do you even have to ask? Sloppy!”

“Oh yeah? You bony ass bitch, next time you crash here, you can sleep on the ground! I was just generous, never again!”

“I would actually prefer that, you grind your teeth in your sleep! I couldn’t shut my eyes for one second!”

“Your loud snores tell another story! I wanted to shove your face forward into a pillow just to get some damn silence!”

 

As amusing as it was to watch the two bickering teenagers, who fought like pitbulls at each other’s throats, Hiko coughed loudly before Karin could outline in which holes Suigetsu could shove his own pillow (she also noticed the sleeping clothes she wore must be originally Suigetsu’s). “Anyway, this man Fukai Hachibi was the counterpart to Danzo, only in Kumogakure. Back then Danzo was at the start of his career in the politics, he couldn’t afford any mistakes or casualties. So, he worked on a law to improve the economy between the two cities. In the official documents which I found, Fukai was ordered to look through them. But before he could make a report to his higher-ups…”

“He died,” finished Karin the sentence, “And nobody would suspect a homicide as an attempt to cover up a rigged law-draft, not with something so insignificant.”

“You got it Sherlock,” said Hiko with a suppressed grin on her lips, “I mean, it’s at least suspicious right? Let’s play this through. What if Fukai wasn’t one to get blackmailed or if the draft was favoring Konoha and Fukai saw underneath the underneath and told Danzo what absolute bullshit he produced, maybe thinking he didn’t do it on purpose and would fix that, what should hinder the old fart from contacting…”

Confused she stopped. There was a mistake in her quotation. How would Danzo contact Kabuto? How would he know her torturer? Again, Hiko stuck her abused thumb into her mouth and nibbled at the nail until she tasted blood. Not the healthiest stress reliever, but at least it worked and the little habit helped her mind to come straight.

“What?” asked Swords. Forgotten was the fight with Ginger. His purple eyes were clearly focused and showed the interest he harbored as he stepped closer, arms crossed over his chest. “You mean you have no idea how they came to know each other?”

“Honestly, no. And I have to admit, my thesis is far from flawless. There are too many holes and maybe I come up with something better when I got through all of the files,” Hiko turned her head to look at the dimly light screen, “but for the beginning… it’s the best shot I have.”

Karin groaned. “And if it stays your only shot? What are you going to do?”

The brunette only stared at her with a look which said _“I seriously doubt your brain activity right now”_. Moments later the redhead pressed the tips of her index and middle finger to her left eyebrow and sighed out, clearly ashamed at herself.

“Sorry. I’m not completely awake.”

“You better be now. Swords, get me some of your strongest coffee. Seems I have to pull an all-nighter for this.”

Hiko knew it. The shiver wandering down her spine told her, the little tingle in the last inches of her fingers. Something sinister was going on and somehow her own person was deeper involved than originally predicted. And the point Karin made… Why was her alter ego tRuthseekEr the first being targeted and not her real identity? Suspicious. So Hiko had to void all previously made resolves of not drinking coffee or taking everything at an almost healthy level. There was no way she could stop now, not when she found the hint of a trail.

Besides…

Hiko felt the little chuckle rummaging through her chest. At least two people in here enjoyed the night full of dimly lit screens and running PCs, staring intently at the electronical letters and trying to push them to make some sense.

 

But as the two young ones settled down to her left and right on the sofa, pressing their flanks to hers while Hiko’s hands twitched uncomfortable on top of the keyboard, an unnerved grunt escaped her mouth. “Why again are both of you crawling into my lap?”

The snarl in her voice was only partly faked.

Suigetsu had at least the decency to shrink a bit, however the easily agitated redhead to her right only waved a dismissal to her; like her question was absolutely insignificant. “Don’t get your panties in a twist. We just want to read those files too, my god.”

“I already told you, you won’t recognize his handwriting.”

“How long do you think I’m reading case files in secret, hm?”

“That has nothing to do with the unnecessary skin ship.” Grimacing Hiko tried to scramble her way out of the mangle she found herself in, without agitating Karin further and igniting another argument. “It’s just a bit…” She searched for the right word, then sighed out. “Look, like this I can’t move well. Besides, it’s not like I can’t stand you guys, but... that’s just a little bit too close, okay?”

Again, Suigetsu was the first one to react properly. He backed away, hands raised for an apologetic gesture, though Karin still didn’t get the hint. She was still plastered to Hiko’s flank, her chest pressing to her upper arm and not budging one bit. “What do you mean, “Too close”?”

“Put the single letters together Ginger. It’s not that hard.”

The mean comment was faster out than Hiko could process they came to life inside her mind. While Karin gaped for air and Suigetsu snorted amused into the silence, Hiko slowly bought her hands to her mouth, completely flabbergasted and at the same time not able to stop the unbelieving laughter which formed.

“God sorry Ginger,” she mumbled around the helpless snickers, “I guess I’m also not completely awake yet.”

Until now the only male present had been relatively silent. Only one or two snorts erupted from beside her, but now he roared loudly, too occupied in his joy to notice the fuming redhead got ready to throw a tantrum. “Oh,” he pointed without any shame at Karin, “Apply water to that burn!”

She snapped at him. “I will give you a burn!”

“Try me bitch.”

“Yeah?” Somehow Ginger managed to hit Suigetsu without disturbing Hiko too much, who ignored the ruckus going on in her back and the exchanged punches and hits. Instead her eyes were solely focused on the letters, hopping from one word to the next and gradually making her way through the whole document she sent around the department as an info about Danzo Shimura, the fallen consultant.

‘In one thing Karin is right. I can’t read all of them on my own nor find every single connection. There must be and it is Danzo and his work. But I have an algorithm who can do the boring part.’

Not caring about the increasing amount of swear words in the air, the brunette started her self-written program to find connections beyond the human imagination. The algorithm was calibrated to find every little line between two data pools, so Hiko just had to feed the little honey bee with the needed information, meaning the files and Danzo’s profile she created and then the program would do the rest. The only problem was that the algorithm would find literally _every_ similarity; also insignificant or irrelevant info she wouldn’t need (for example, if mentioned one victim and the old snake liked both the same kind of alcohol). But at least she could work through the last bits of those without a hassle and concentrate for once on the important things.

 

Slowly she emerged from her daze and started to realize Karin and Suigetsu weren’t just bickering. No, they were honestly fighting each other, with words, fists and sometimes little shoves, everything quite literally behind her back. How they managed to keep her out of their fist fight was a miracle, not that she would complain about that.

Hiko pretended to still be immersed into her research, but in reality, the brunette perked her ears to catch the hissed conversation between her two companions.

“Just that you know, before you invite a woman into your home, you should clean up a bit! This place is a junkyard, full of dust and grime!”

“Oh yeah? Well, Big T hasn’t complained yet!”

“Because she’s a beggar! She can’t say anything against it because she has no other place to go sloppy!”

“She could go! It’s not like I’m keeping her here! She’s just cleverer than you and keeps a low-profile skunk! Outside are thousands of security cameras and the whole population of Konoha searching their asses off for a little hint of her whereabouts!”

“Her intelligence has nothing to do with the dirt and dust flying around here! It’s goddamn filthy, not even lightly crammed, just utterly dirty! The only thing I’m asking you for the sake of our senpai and my sanitary standards is to clean up a bit!”

“Aha, “your” sanitary standards! It’s not about Big T, instead you’re worrying for yourself!”

“Who wouldn’t, you imbecile idiot!?”

“Bony ass!”

“Rotten asshole!”

“Flat-chested bitch!”

Silence. Far too long to be really calm. Hiko’s eyes widened on instinct. Oh god, Suigetsu didn’t just insult a ferocious woman about her breast size. There was no way Karin would let that comment slide, not with her fiery personality and the somehow strange rivalry she had with him. The brunette breathed in, awaiting the surely heavy storm of punches and kicks in her back with a stoic submission to the situation and closed her eyelids, sending a prayer to the gods who were responsible for stupid males with a loud mouth and not enough brain to shut said organ from time to time.

             ‘Swords, it was nice to know you.’

The storm the redhead unleashed truly fitted the image Hiko had about her. “WHAT ARE YOU SAYING, FLAT-CHESTED BITCH? I’M A VERY GOOD B-CUP, JUST YOU KNOW, YOU PERVERTED MONKEY-BRAIN! WHO ARE YOU TO SAY I’M FLAT-CHESTED, WHEN YOU ARE JUST SOME SKINNY BOY WHO HAS NO MUSCLES AT ALL! SOMEONE LIKE YOU, WITH A SHITTY PERSONALITY AND A LOOSE MOUTH LIKE YOURS WILL NEVER GET A GIRLFRIEND!”

Karin would have continued her loud screaming, but Hiko who was the closest to the hailer-like voice and could only endure so much, raised her hands, one in front of Karin’s face, the other towards Suigetsu’s, just in case the white-haired youngster wanted to fuel the flames of her hatred even further.

“As funny as it is to listen to you kids,” Hiko sighed, “I do appreciate when we not discuss the ability of Swords to get a girl or Gingers breast size in the middle of the night. Both things I’m not quite interested in, not as long as half of my ass is either in jail or on the run. So, as long as both of you have nothing to add to the investigation, I prefer whispered helpful comments or silence.”

That a headache formed again directly between her eyebrows she didn’t say. Her mood was changing faster than ever before, from almost light-headed to grumpy and annoyed, then again amused by the attics of the two other hackers and in the end again pained by the limitations her own body and mind set.

            

Why couldn’t she be a robot?

Everything would be so much easier. When your battery is low, go charge yourself up. No more sleep needed, just free access to a socket. Direct connection to the internet, an interface which shows every possible way, never tiring legs and arms, hell, you can download knowledge and integrate it into your own brain!

On the other side… She wouldn’t be able to feel the heat of another person against her skin, the soft ruffles of inhales and exhales brushing over her hair, the pressure of an arm thrown across her waist, tightening unconsciously during sleep… Feelings would be unknown to her.

Hiko started to gnaw on her bottom lip. Her feelings… Those were far too precious to give them up. Her love for her brothers, the little spark of pride whenever she watched the young cops like Naruto or Hinata achieve something in the KPD, the new friendships she built with the other females at the department… And…

Kakashi. She would never had felt anything for him. A sinking feeling started to fall over the shorty, started to settled and sink down, dragging her mood once more into a loop southward, towards her guilty and ashamed thoughts, towards the doubts she held, the insecurities she built in the relationship.

If she was good enough for someone like him. Kakashi always did his job, had a kind personality, was easy-going and despite the few issues (his overall disrespect for time, the nearly unhealthy addiction to the Icha-Icha-novels) was overall relaxed and respected member of the police corps. In comparison, Hiko Kobayashi was known as the harpy of the KPD, mean and teasing. Sure, sometimes she let her softer side shine through, but even the few helping deeds she did were underlined by mocks and sarcastic remarks. Hell, there was a reason Kotetsu and Izumo always clung to each other when Hiko walked by!

Could Kakashi become happy with someone like her by his side? And wasn’t she selfish? He did so much for Hiko, unknowingly and also full of knowledge and in return the brunette had the distant hunch she did nothing at all, like… always. Fuck that hunch, she just _knew_ she did nothing. Not telling anything about herself, not trusting him, not relieving him when he needed some kind of support.

‘I could have done more, right? I could have… I don’t know… I always have the feeling it’s not enough, no matter what I do. Just… not enough.’

“Big T?”

“Yes?” Startled the female raised her head from the PC screen. Karin loosened the grip around her arm which she shook quite forceful and blinked at Hiko, sleep still present in her eyes even when she was now able to open them fully.

A question popped up. Are red eyes natural or wore Karin colored contact lenses underneath the glasses to make them look red?

“You’re crying.”

Gingers voice was hesitating only the tiniest bit, like she understood to some point, but couldn’t believe Hiko was able to cry like any normal person. Reaching up to touch her cheek, the short woman felt the wetness of a single tear underneath her fingertips. A chuckle bubbled up in her throat, dry and sad at the same time.

“Thanks.” She said quietly. Beside her Suigetsu also went still, but that could also mean he had fallen asleep, measured at the weight he leaned upon her shoulder for supporting his head.

“Are you okay?”

“I will be.”

“No. I’m not asking if you will be okay. I asked if you are okay now?”

“Karin,” Hiko turned her head towards the redhaired girl and threw a look of absolute menacing disbelief at her, “My answer was, “I will be.” What else do I have to say to get across that I’m currently not fine?” Angrily she slammed the enter button when the loading bar stated the 100% were fulfilled. Instantly the program sprang to life.

 

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By now, Kakashi had a few painful experiences assembled in his life. During an undercover mission where he had to gather proof against a smuggling ring, one of the thieves had stabbed him with a rusty knife. Later the injury got infected and he had to spend weeks on antibiotic and painkillers. The burning sensation of the infect haunted sometimes even his dreams, like a worm making its way through his body until it had taken over every last part. Then there was an especially painful gun shot, one of the first the cop received in the time of his active duty for the SFU. An investigation leading to a hide-out of gun-loving mobsters and Kakashi on the frontlines. Naturally he caught a bullet into his upper calf, what forced him to walk on crutches for a month. But the moment of the impact had been the worst.

There were far more things, far more injuries, physical and psychical, but reading Hiko’s file was –even when it involved no visible wound- safely in the Top Ten of his most painful experiences.

Exhausted he shut the old file and watched the yellow papers for some seconds, like they would spring to life and tell him everything he needed to know if his eyes were just set long enough at them.

With creaking bones Kakashi finally moved upwards and grunted when he felt joints popping. The sweat from his exercise was still clinging to his skin and clothes, a dark blue tank top and a pair of old black sweatpants, so the man slowly made his way towards his bathroom. But coming to an abrupt halt before the combined bathtub-shower he hissed as his eyes fell upon the nearly empty shelves and missing shampoo bottles.

             ‘They aren’t _really_ missing. I know where they are, in the end I placed them there.’

Only water it was then. While Kakashi dropped his clothes on the floor and stepped into the shower, his thoughts wandered again to the papers he read through and the past which was revealed by them.

Right, Hiko never told him anything about it. But now he could at least understand why the woman was hesitating so much to bring up anything about the incident. How hard it must be to talk about this, even with someone you considered as safe territory.

Frustrated Kakashi closed his eyes. The water rained down on his shoulders, but the weight which resided on them couldn’t be washed away easily nor the memories about the things the short woman had to endure.

The reports… He had tried to be detached, he had tried to be neutral. But whenever the silver haired man managed to gain at least a tiny bit of distance, one look at the photos with the well-known brown locks and the ice-blue eyes was more than enough to throw him several meters backwards. Together with the images of her wounds, the words she had muttered back then and were banned for forever on paper, only for Kakashi to read and brood over, those were the most painful and gruesome things he ever got to know in his life.

But his resolve to find Hiko grew only stronger. His instincts told him that there was more to look out, more to discover and unravel. It wasn’t just as simple as the case presented itself, there was something going which Kakashi didn’t understand yet, but he would work his ass off to fix this.

He clenched his fists. “I will solve this,” the cop mumbled, the water raining down and blurring his words, “and I will find you, Hiko. I want to know why you did that to me.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I peeked over it, but as always, I can't promise anything. There might be mistakes, sorry for that.


	57. Why again I'm speaking to you?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After ages, Kakashi finally finds a small clue and his hope rises again. Meanwhile Hiko finds out more about her companions, enough to try to lead them into the right direction.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, this is late again! Just when I was so proud about being in time and such... Urgh. But this chapter is a bit longer than the previous ones, so hopefully that makes up for the missed post-date!

“You started hacking because you were _curious_?”

Karin nodded, what caused Hiko to groan and shaking her head in angered disbelief. “Unbelievable. Just unbelievable. Curious.”

The redhead fidgeted on her spot on the couch, but during the hours they sat there, the girl moved to lean against the wall bordering to the make-shift bed. Her legs were neatly crossed by her ankles and she didn’t care about the huge amount of naked skin she showed by the careless position. “It was more than that! My boyfriend in High School was in the computer club and to spend more time with him, I joined too.”

“You became better than him.”

“Obviously. Anyway, the relationship ended with him cheating and me erasing his face from every graduation-ball-poster I could find. And maybe I sabotaged the King and Queen-selections a bit.”

“Wait, wasn’t he a nerd? Not a typical king or am I wrong?”

Karin snickered evilly. “You’re right. No, I made the humiliation public. The bitch who spread her legs for him was supposed to be the Queen, but I faked some votes and tada~! It was me standing next to him on the stage and kicking him suddenly into his little man jewels.”

Joining into the laughter, Hiko’s eyes shortly darted to the screen. The program didn’t stop running, so she concentrated again on the girl. “In front of the whole school?”

“In front of the whole school.” repeated Karin, not without visibly showing how proud she was about her mischievous act.

Suigetsu moved in his sleep, mumbled something inaudible (Hiko could only make out the words “…stupid shark…”) and finally rolled down from her legs. Since the moment she started the program, the white-haired boy slept soundly, not at all disturbed by the more or less silent talking the two remaining females did to pass the time.

Hiko gestured towards Swords, a light smile perking her lips upwards. “So, Ginger… I never found out why you hate each other so much.”

During their conversation the brunette got to know Karin better and she would have never thought that the secretary had so much to tell or that they could get along, despite their clashing personalities. Karin seemed like one of those queen bees who were oh-so-popular in High School, with their stylish clothes and their wide circle of friends who would laugh at every word she uttered. After all the brunette always had been a wallflower, not even being mobbed or disliked, just… ignored and soon forgotten.

 

To her glee Gingers cheeks flared instantly to a bright red. Not only that, also the skin of her neck grew red by the blood which flowed underneath the white surface.

How interesting.

“Uh-oh,” she mocked further and waddled teasingly her index finger, “Karin, Karin, Karin… You little devil!”

“It’s not like that!” the redhead tried to defend herself, but now also her forehead grew red, clashing with the color of her hair. Not really convincing.

“Don’t try to lie. God, why didn’t I notice sooner? All those fights and little bickerings! Since when do you know you have a crush?”

A few moments of complete silence, only the low humming of the computer and a grump of Suigetsu disturbed the bubble. Then Karin murmured: “A few weeks ago.”

“How come?”

“It was just…” The girl sighed and drew her knees to her chest. “It was nice, to freely fight with him. At the station I always have to control myself to be calm and at least considerate, even when the cops there are doing shit with the case files, damaging them or clogging them with donut crumbs or coffee stains and I have to fix this or when someone again forgot the combination for his locker. I always swallow my anger and the ranting with my colleagues is okay but doesn’t satisfy most days. But when I came home and got online and saw Swords was online too, I could just… be myself for some minutes. Get some of the frustration off of my chest.” An insecure smile flashed over her features, before she turned her head to glance shyly at Hiko. “And now that I know him, I can’t talk nicely. Seriously, I tried, but everything he does makes me just so… So angry and excited and frustrated. His flat is messy and I hate it in here, but there’s the fact he has a cat and I love cats and he treats the little rascal more than lovely. He somehow manages to push all the right triggers to make me explode.”

Helpless she shrugged and hurdled herself more into the corner, letting the bangs of her hair fall like a curtain before her eyes, so that Hiko couldn’t make them out behind all the locks anymore.

The poor girl. Sympathy and misery flooded the shorty woman, for the somehow desperate and also troubled girl, who couldn’t help herself but clad her love into an armor of spikes and harsh remarks at Suigetsu’s thoughtless words. Her sissy fit after his comment about her breast size seemed now more important, more meaningful in the face of the revelation. Karin had been hurt, way deeper than Hiko originally believed and Suigetsu could assess and just took her pain and hurt out in the only way she could do without giving her feelings away: by screaming, raging and protecting at the same time her heart.

Before Hiko realized, her hand moved on its own. Her fingers brushed the bangs aside and reached for the wrinkled brows, straightening them out when her skin touched the spot right between the two lines of hair. Karin’s eyes flashed upwards, deep fear shining out of them.

Despite the sad admission Hiko smiled, hoping that single move would get her feelings across.

“Will you tell him?” asked Karin. Her voice was nothing more than a whisper.

She shook her head. “No. That’s a thing between you and him. I’m not such a person who brags about other’s people secrets.”

“Thanks.”

 

“Don’t you think it’s me who should thank you, both of you?” Vaguely Hiko gestured first towards the redhead, then jerked her head into the direction of the snoring white-haired boy, who was blissfully unaware. “You get involved with me even when I’m in deep shit, even when giving me a helping hand can and probably will get you in trouble. And let me tell you one thing about those feelings…”

“Big T, please don’t,” interrupted Ginger, “because hearing from you who’s so sickly in love with Captain Grumpy-and-Moody is just mocking me. Oh,” she threw an apologetic glance at Hiko, “sorry. I forgot for a sec.”

“Hn.” Hiko bit into her lower lip. Okay, maybe Karin didn’t want her advice, but to mention Kakashi in this situation like nothing ever happened…

Like she never broke up with him.

“Maybe it’s better to get this block-head back into his own bed.” she said and ignored Gingers “Sorry Truth, I didn’t want-!”.

“Just drop it.”

“But-!”

“Give it a bone.” A bit more forceful than necessary the short woman tugged at Suigetsu’s arm, but instead of waking up, he only grumped, swatted her hand away and turned. A low growl escaped Hiko and again she ripped at his arm. This time he reacted, before Karin could squeak or squeal or in general could say anything against waking Suigetsu (a.k.a her secret crush) up, the white-haired boy mumbled and forced his upper body into a sitting position.

“What giving a bone?” he mumbled sleepily and yawned. A stretch followed, showing that Karin was wrong and the hacker wasn’t a skinny boy. At all. Maybe a bit scrawny, but there were definitely muscles as he stretched his arms above his head, angling and bending them

until some joints popped loudly. And maybe, maybe not Hiko heard a weak girly gasp coming out of the direction of the redhead, what lifted her mood a little bit again.

Karin was sooo fucked.

Instead of making a mean comment (like her inner meaner self told her), the brunette shrugged nonchalantly. “Nothing of your concern. Really,” she assured him, “It looked like you weren’t comfortable and you have to get up early in the morning, right? You need your sleep, so you’re fresh and awake and everything. After all I need your ears and eyes!”

Faking optimism was hard. Faking the false grin on her lips also. Hiko continued to grin even when the two others exchanged partly unbelieving, partly annoyed looks, Karin seeming more like she understood why the falseness was getting on her nerves.

“Just get into your own bed child,” huffed Hiko, underlined her comment with an eyeroll and walked into the kitchen, hearing on the way the beginnings of a new fight between the redhead and the sharp-toothed boy. Uninterested her look shifted over the cupboards. She wasn’t really hungry, there was just some kind of pressure on her stomach which told her the body needed some kind of fuel once more.

Her eyes got caught by the freezer. There were some frozen pizzas inside, she knew, but… The shorty wasn’t in the mood. Too many memories were tied to pizzas, too many evenings spend with the cheesy treat and a certain other, who tried to steal some of her fries and laughing whenever she gave in to his demands with a half-hearted pout.

Another tug at her heart and stomach.

 

So no food. Instead Hiko turned the coffee machine on and watched dully the brown drops falling like tears into the can underneath. At the same time the voices out of the living room grew louder and the brunette listened, not really caring about anything, until…

“Bitch! Flat-chested, bony cross-eyed bitch!”

No coffee, no matter how strong it was, could prepare her eardrums for the following screeching and screaming. Hiko sighed and hoped the research was done. Otherwise she wouldn’t be able to survive this ridiculous kindergarten.

If Karin seriously wanted Suigetsu’s attention and become his love interest, she had to cut her loud voice down. Or at least try not to explode every word the white-haired male let out of his mouth.

Hiko had to resist the urge to slap her forehead on the counter. To use a phrase the pineapple-head in the main office abused far too often: what a drag. The plastic felt nice against her lightly heated skin, but her coffee was nearly done, until Karin interrupted her tirade.

“TRUTH! IT’S DONE!”

Just in time to spill some coffee, right over her right hand while Hiko tried to pour the _fucking hot_ liquid into a _fucked-up_ cup. Howling in pain the shorty dropped the porcelain. Everything shattered, poured more coffee over her bare feet and Hiko escaped another scream full of agony.

“Fuck, Ginger!”

“Big T? Everything alright?” At least the only male here worried.

She stumbled over to the sink and held her hand under a cool stream of water. Red burning skin under cold, cold water. With every heartbeat flashed raw heat through the limb and as Hiko tried to bend her fingers, another much stronger one came to life. “No it’s _not_ alright,” she hissed through gritted teeth, “because I sprinkled myself with shitfuckingassholehotcoffee! Goddammit Karin, just keep your voice down when I handle my coffee! Or any other dangerous liquid!”

“But the research is _done_!”

“No reason to scream! A normal toned warning would have been enough!” Turning the water faucet off, Hiko inspected for some seconds her hand, growled lowly at the still irritated skin and ignored her hurting foot. Every step sent new pierces up her leg, so she limped back into the living room. The girl was sitting in front of the self-made computer while Suigetsu had taken place on the earth in front of the sofa, hands crossed entirely relaxed in the back of his head. But the purple eyes flew towards Hiko as she entered and the sympathizing grimace betrayed his icy exterior.

“Truth?” asked Karin. At least she looked ashamed. “Are you injured?”

 

“Just a little bit.” she answered automatically. And like her foot and hand wanted a revenge, they throbbed painfully, warning the woman just as reminding her about the careless words she just uttered. “What is the result? Anything I can use?”

With busy fingers Ginger flew over the keyboard, her eyes following the fastly changing letters. “Not… yet,” she murmured after some seconds, “But… there are some things worthy of mentioning, like…” Karin hastily pushed her glasses upwards before concentrating again on the screen. “Yeah. Like the extremely suspicious accordance of Danzos jobs to the victims.”

“Show me.” Not caring about closeness or skin ship anymore, Hiko climbed nearly on top of the red-haired girl in order to look closely at the lines. She scrolled down, but just those first lines were enough for her and Karin was right, those accordance’s couldn’t be just an ugly coincidence, not with that many dispatched over so many years. There were connections towards Konohagakure, Kumogakure, Kirigakure (a lovely place with lots of natural hot springs and a beautiful landscape), Otogakure, Yukigakure… Only a few corpses weren’t in the raster, but even there were enough hints and clues to connect them to Kabutos handwriting. And most of the red thread could be connected back to Danzo, his political course or actions, to conflicts and light disruptions in the flow of his work. Most of them had been hindrances and by their deaths, they became stepping stones for the old man to work the success ladder inside the mayor hall of Konoha upwards.

Until he got too greedy and went for the top prey, Minato Namikaze.

“It must be him.” In slight disbelief the brunette shook her head. “This old disgusting fart.”

So many names. So many deaths. So many orders? Was it possible that some kind of disgusting god let Kabuto and Danzo cross ways and join forces to a deathly alliance? Was it possible fate was such a cruel bitch to shove Hiko again out into the crossfire?

‘Fine. _Fine_. Just do what you want, god, or whoever is responsible for this! Throw more of your stones in my way, try to block my path as much as you want! I will not give up, I will _never_ give up just because of this! I want my life back, I want the life back I have with Kakashi and I _will not give up_!’

“So, what?” Suigetsu rested his chin on the cushions of the couch and seemed a bit disgruntled. No surprise, as he was the only one left out. “Who is it? And how?”

“Danzo Shimura. You have to know, at the start of the year I hacked the town hall…”

“The town hall? Awesome!”

“Thanks. Anyway, I discovered a conspiracy against our mayor and warned him by mail. The head behind the plans was Danzo and apparently he found out who exactly send that mail to Namikaze.”

Suigetsu cocked his head to the right. “So he targets you and your alter ego. Only for revenge?”

“Guess not,” mumbled Hiko back, “He isn’t the type to get blinded by personal feelings. He’s coldblooded and waits in the darkness, webs his net until the time is right. I can’t imagine him like someone who jumps straight into a fight without being fully prepared. Danzo must still think he has a chance to get into the mayor’s seat.”

 

“By _killing_ the current one?” asked Karin and pushed again her glasses upwards. Her hands trembled slightly. Maybe she portrayed a strong female to the world, but apparently the death of someone still scared her.

Hiko nodded. “Yes, maybe. Or he found some legal even sneakier methods. Who knows?”

“Oh god…” A loud groan escaped the redhead and she scrambled out of her spot to walk slowly towards the bathroom, hands folded once over her stomach, once over her mouth to hinder any crumbs of halfway digested food from coming out.

“She’s a bit frail, hm?” Hiko went over to check even more connections, but her eyes flew almost automatically over and over to the doorframe and the small line of light shining out of the open bathroom. At least Karin didn’t gag audibly.

“You shouldn’t-!” From her feet Swords spoke up, but when she turned her attention to him, he already bit his lower lip and waved, just as mocking as insecure. “Nevermind.” he mumbled and Hiko would swear there was a light flash of red gracing his pale cheeks.

No way. No _way_! A giggle was born in the shortys chest, but she kept it for herself. Suigetsu also cared about Karin. Deeply, when the cocky boy even blushed.

Instead of instantly teasing the boy about his love, Hiko cocked her head lightly, faking an unemotional mask when all she wanted to do was locking both of those stupid kids in one room and throw the key away. “You know it’s true. Karin isn’t a hacker, not like you and me. She does it because she wanted revenge on her high school ex, not out of a real purpose. We both know that she’s lucky to get this far without getting caught.”

“Big T, you’re wrong.”

“I’m not. How many firewalls did she hack over the last year? Two, coming from her side. _Two_. Now compare this to our successful invasions, especially to yours. I myself managed at least four before my last target forced me into the theoretical underground.”

“ _No…_ ”

“She’s not fitted to be here. She should be safe and not get involved with me.”

Yeah, she was cruel on purpose. But only to test if his feelings were merely lust or something else, something deeper and more meaningful. And she got rewarded. Suigetsu’s jaw clenched in anger and the look he threw at her was for the first time they met not full of admiration.

“She’s strong. Stronger than you want to give her. Maybe she doesn’t hack many things, yes, but she’s way stronger than she looks. Just because she’s scared in the face of danger doesn’t mean at all Karin is frail or weak like you want to put her-!” He caught his breath for a second and the brunette used the pause to clear that issue up.

Hiko snickered lowly. “My god Swords. You have it bad for her, huh?”

 

Amused she watched the boy fiddling with words. Her attention got divided between the funny sight at her feet and the more than serious documents at the screen. Hastily the shorty scanned the next paragraph, her eyes jumping back and forth until she was finished.

A problem arose at the horizon and Hiko had no idea how she should work around this. Because there was no way to fix it. She needed to get into Danzos personal account. That meant to go right into the most secured building of Konoha and the most dangerous place for her, right after the KPD-department.

The town hall.

“No, I mean… It’s not as it seems…”

“You’re flustered,” Hiko said absent-minded, “And you stutter. I bet you never stutter around all the girls who try to flirt with you in the coffeeshop.”

He stuttered a bit more around, but she pushed his apologies and bad lies with a single wave of her hand away. “Listen,” she said with a bit more energy than before, “life is too short. While you fight and bicker with her, Ginger could find someone else, someone who treats her nicely, compliments her… In short, treats her like a woman.”

Meanwhile the brunette read over more paragraphs and her mind kicked in, starting his work. Hundreds of unrealistic ideas how to get her hands onto Danzos personal information flew through her head and every single one she dismissed. Her habit of strengthening the defenses of every target she successfully invaded were now a complete lockdown for every possible movement. From the investigations Hiko did on Danzo for the KPD she knew he had no PC on his own. He was a distrusting old person and like that untouchable for her. Danzo’s only electronical work station had been in the town hall. And with her adjustments…

There was no way, even for Hiko, to get behind the firewalls from the outside without getting immediately noticed. The nearest comparison which would be quite accurate was to try to make her way into a fortress. A highly guarded fortress. With thick walls, no windows, a single small door, build on granite and security running all day around, searching for intruders in every crane and crook of the castle. And in that special scenario Hiko was the small, fat dwarf without any useable tools, who could only stare full of longing at the illuminated silhouette, hands clutched together and yearning for a bit of warmth.

‘How the actual fuck do I get inside? That’s crazy. There are guards, detectors, cameras and I have nothing. No faked IDs, no protection, not even a halfway decent disguise.’

“Oh, come on!”

Startled and also deeply confused she raised her eyes from the screen. Suigetsu snarled once more out, arms crossed over his chest and this time he was extremely pissed at her, not caring about his admiration for her alter ego. “You know Karin not one bit! Someone who can’t keep up with her wouldn’t satisfy that girl the slightest! She needs someone who keeps her at the ground, she doesn’t need more people who blow smoke up her ass.”

“What a nice way to put it.”

Agitated Suigetsu threw his hands up in the air. “You know what I mean, Big T! You and your grouchy boyfriend are the same, always bickering when you enter my workplace!”

 

Really? Another one who wanted to leave Hiko in misery?

“Why again I’m speaking to you…?” she sighed, not really expecting an answer from him and also didn’t get one, what the brunette appreciated. “Fine. Do it your way. I’m sure you can woe her with insults.”

“Woe whom?”

             ‘Just bad luck for Suigetsu.’

Karin stood in the doorframe, glasses in place and not as pale as she was before anymore. One hand just pushed her glasses with a practiced gesture upwards, the other was placed at her hip, revealing in the process a bit of her white skin there.

Surely Suigetsu’s eyes were glued to the sight and Hiko found her hunch proven right as she looked at the white-haired boy, who managed to hide his transfixed stare behind a lax grin.

“About no one you know,” he retorted and shrugged with the same nonchalance he treated his furniture and surroundings, “not that’s your business.”

The shorty again sighed out, this time keeping the sound at a weak level. It would be a long… She glanced at the clock ticking at her screen.

A long rest of the night. Only two more hours, then the KPD would change shifts, from the nighttime to the daytime. And with them would arise a new day filled with the hunt after herself.

One day there wouldn’t be any air left in Hiko’s lungs to sigh heavily. But that day was not today.

 

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

His hair had dried hours ago when the bell at his door rung loudly throughout his apartment. Kakashi first didn’t react at all, too interesting were the last bits of Hiko’s file to him. Carefully his eyes continued to wander over the black lines, not caring about anything, but then the bell got pushed again, long and obnoxious.

Agitated he pushed his tired and somehow sore body off the ground. Kneecaps cracked loudly and a hiss escaped his throat, but the male straightened out and walked awkwardly around the spread-out insides of the case. Everything was now neatly ordered and covered the whole carpet.

He sat for the whole night down and wrung his brain dry. About the case and the strange mysteries around it. At one time he had to write a list to get at least something done. But soon the list went out of hand, too much Kakashi had been affected by the pictures of a tortured Hiko and the silly hope which fell upon his heart.

            

_Clues against Hiko:_

  1. _Her fingerprints and DNA at the third corpse_
  2. _Ankos description of someone resembling her dropping the third corpse off_
  3. _No alibis for one of the estimated homicide times_
  4. _The similar cut at the hips of all the victims (Mirroring her own injury?)_
  5. _Motive as tRuthseekEr - > revenge?_
  6. _Her immediate flight_
  7. _The knives in ~~our~~ her flat_
  8. _The different certifications under ~~our~~ HER bed_



_Hunches for her innocence:_

  1. _Reaction to the second corpse_
  2. _Working her ass off / working against herself in the end_
  3. _The panic attacks_
  4. _I saw her writing those reports about the emergency calls!_
  5. _The note - > why writing she has someone else when Hiko is in reality the killer?_
  6. _The report from Iruka: why saying she wants to fix her problems and return?_
  7. _The logical reasoning and defending of her alter ego in the main office (she fought with logic, not wild accusations or speculations!)_
  8. _Why letting the victims cut themselves when she despises the things happened to her even stronger than me?_
  9. _She wasn’t one bit worried, the whole time she worried only about ME_
  10. _Who was the unidentified caller at the day of her vanishing?_
  11. _Hiko knew something was up_



Most things on her side of the chart were merely questions Kakashi asked himself while working on the current case, questions which seemed now more important than ever before with the old case file rediscovered and such. Though especially the last point came to the silver haired detective after a little down break over one of Hiko’s questioning protocols –in the middle of the written lines he had to pause to fight the burning tears in his eyes- and he was by now convinced the brunette had at least a vague idea what she was doing. Or what else could explain the missing of the newly acquired notebook which wasn’t to be found in her whole apartment? With her skills as a hacker and together with a tool, the brunette was able to do anything with enough time and when he was right, she would try to prove her innocence.

Hiko thought naturally of herself as innocent and also thought she knew the real identity of the murderer, per se her abusive asshole-ex. But why didn’t she tell at least Kakashi about her hunch?

             _‘Would you have believed her? Be serious with yourself.’_

‘I would have taken everything into account and probably would have come to the conclusion that she was seeing things which weren’t there.’

Because honestly, why should Kabuto Yakushi suddenly come back to Konoha and kill three people, only to fake evidence to shove those kills into Hiko’s shoes, making her and her alter ego tRuthseekEr the main suspect? The logic of that scenario was missing. Just simply utterly confusing _missing_.

Another bell ring, eager, loud and ripping Kakashi out of his thoughts. “Alright! I’m coming!” he snarled, hopefully loud enough to get the visitor to take his finger away from the bell button. Frustrated and tired –he didn’t catch any sleep last night- the man stormed towards the door and ripped the goddamn thing open, only to get knocked back by an overly active and energetic Gai.

“Good morning my eternal rival!” His partner was wearing his usual get-up in green, paired with heavy orange boots and an open coat in a dark shade of his main color. A blinding smile hit Kakashi, who felt a little bit naked with wearing only the tank top and sweatpants from yesterday, still soiled by his sweat.

“Hello Gai.” Kakashi managed to bring out, before the Bruce-Lee-imitation barreled past him. A paper bag was shoved into his chest and immediately the delicious smell of freshly baked goods flew upwards into his nose. On the inside, the detective grumped. Did he look that miserable that his partner felt the need to show up in the morning at his doorstep with breakfast?

Obviously.

Kakashi just stood in the entrance area and watched mindless how Gai got out of his shoes and jacket, all the while randomly talking to fill the silence between them, his own hands clutching and flexing around the paper bag. He wasn’t even sure if he was hungry. Sure, there was some pressure on his stomach, but instead of the need to get some food, the silver haired man only felt the slightly uncomfortable weight on his torso, not only around his stomach. It was easy to ignore, so he kept ignoring it, a skill he developed during the SFU-times. No matter which pain Kakashi had to endure, as long as he could focus on something else, he could blend any interruption out and the feeling of hunger definitely counted as an interruption.

“May I come in?” Gai asked and hung his coat correctly at the handles right beside the entrance.

The current homicides were a point to let Kakashi focus, so was Hiko’s abandoned case. The case which wasn’t solved yet. The exact same case which was spread out in his living room, inclusive the horrible pictures of Hiko.

 

“No.”

The single word was out before Kakashi could even think about his protective stance. Gai was already near to touch the door handle to the living room – _to the file, god, to the pictures!-_ but he stopped mid-air, only centimeters apart from discovering Hiko’s secret. Curious the other man tilted his head, confusion clearly standing in his face.

“No?” he echoed and retreated lightly.

Kakashi shook his head. Unconsciously he clutched he paper bag even harder, squashing whatever was inside in the process. “No. Not the living room. It’s…”

             ‘Contaminated. Dirty. Gruesome.’

“Cramped. Not enough space.”

Partly he expected to have to give Gai an explanation, but the man only shrugged and leaned against the door leading into the bathroom, nodding all the while full of understanding. “Not very youthful, but understandable. I will wait right here.”

“For what?”

“For what.” Gai actually smiled, not the usual beam, but a sincere, calm smile, nothing more than a quick flash of a slither of teeth in between. “For work, naturally! A brand new day arose a few hours ago and so have to rise all the diligent officers too, to serve and protect the citizens of Konoha!”

And back was his old boosting self. Quickly Kakashi checked if his flu mask was in place (it was), then gestured vaguely towards his bedroom, not feeling the need to tell his partner he was going to get dressed either.

But the next hindrance became the wardrobe. To be precise, the emptiness of the closet where usually set all of his jeans, shirts, pullovers were… Somewhere along the way, the most fitting parts of his wardrobe Kakashi bought over into Hiko’s apartment. He remembered one incident involving clothes quite clearly and suddenly weak in the knees, the man had to sit down on the bed and buried the masked face in his hands, overthrown by the helplessness and strong crave rushing over his mind.

 

             _“Kakashi? I will come out now.”_

_Quickly he hid Icha-Icha-Violence in his back and focused on the bland beige curtains. From behind the barrier rustles could be heard, then Hiko stepped out, cladded into a rather formless piece of a dress. The brunette herself looked a bit lost in the opulence of rich yellow, which had been in her silently uttered opinion “looked quite right” when she had set her eyes on it._

_Now Hiko shook just her head as she saw his expression. “I know, I know. It’s horrible.” With a disappointed expression she pivoted around while looking into the nearest mirror, then vanished again in the cabin, what gave Kakashi more time with the novel. Aware that the shorty tended to hear even the most silent of suppressed ruffle of turned pages, Kakashi slowly managed to bring his booklet into the original position, here, in a small dress store in the middle of Konoha, on one of the hardest seats he ever had to witness._

_“I know you have your book out.”_

_Startled the cop lowered his favorite booklet once more. Just in time to see how Hiko stuck her head outside, one eyebrow raised and a teasing grin spreading over her face. Nothing else was visible but her naked lower legs and her face, one brown lock cascading out of the thin rim between fabric and skin._

_“Have not.” he murmured. Though his lie was obvious, he still held the object of his fascination in his hands, the page where he left off safely secured by a finger._

_Her mocking smile grew to an apologizing one. “You know I like shopping just as much as you…”_

_“You have a shirt saying “Online-Shopping for the win.” So yes, I do.”_

_“But it’s for Itachi’s and Kisame’s wedding-!”_

_“And they were nice enough to let you pick your own dress,” said Kakashi with a little tired sigh swaying with his words, “so you have no right to complain.”_

_“And do you know why I bought you along?” Hiko’s face vanished again behind the beige fabric and from his point of view Kakashi could only watch how her legs and feet moved around, all the while the female slipped into the next dress. For a short second the curtains parted and the silver haired man unconsciously held his breath._

_Forgotten was the book in his hands, forgotten were the exhaustion of a long work day and the boring waiting time he endured. No longer than a split second Kakashi had seen something, something which left him dreaming and at the same time yearning to catch another glance at the marvelous first sight. Just a sliver of tyrian purple slung over a well-rounded hip, but that was enough for Kakashi to sit up straighter and discard Icha-Icha-Violence by his side._

_“I want to hear your opinion, because you’re important to me,” Hiko said before stepping out and swirling under his eyes, “Okay, what do you think?”_

He was important to her. Hiko said so, all the while looking stunning enough to render Kakashi speechless. For minutes his eyes were glued to the sight of Hiko swirling around in the rich purple dress, the rims of the cloth ending shortly above her knees and fluttering in the motion upwards, her scars covered by a neck holder. The otherwise bare shoulders and arms had been outstretched, palms turned upwards and presenting her form only to him. Kakashi remembered barely saying something along the lines “You’re beautiful.”, then her bright smile and the emotions shining in her eyes. The purple dress was hanging until today in Hiko’s wardrobe, packed into a plastic bag to protect the fabric from any harm.

He was important. Or was that also a lie to fool him? Only empty words thrown to a loyal but naïve dog?

But… the shorty had never said things she didn’t truly mean. Lying, telling flippantly sentences and meaningless phrases were not fitting for her. And after reading through the case file all night, after seeing the outcomes of the horrible nightmare she had to live through, Kakashi couldn’t be neutral, there were too much of hurt feelings and love and sympathy inside.

The hands he held against his face were trembling weakly as Kakashi lowered them. For some seconds he stared mindless at his jittering fingers, flinching under his stare, but then the male grunted and moved upwards to grab a pair of old jeans and a black sweatshirt. The hours he spent awake were taking its toll on his physical and mental capabilities and the longer the investigation would drag out, the detective was sure, he wouldn’t be able to sleep truly or without nightmares.

Kakashi already dreaded the next time he had to fall into bed.

 

After he finished getting dressed, the silver haired man returned to the entrance area. Gai kept his promise and didn’t move an inch away from the doorframe, arms crossed over his chest and looking like he wasn’t at all interested what was lying behind the door leading towards Kakashi’s living room, but there was a glint in the black eyes which told him more than enough.

“I’m ready.” The words were meaningless. He was far from ready, far from being and acting at least normal, though there was work waiting for him. A few years ago Kakashi had been able to put those troubling emotions aside. Simply shrugging them off like nothing ever happened. Work had been his entire life, right next to his wife Hanare, even when the marriage crumbled under the constant favoring of the first.

Gai grinned widely. “Alright, my dear rival! Now eat your breakfast, on the way we get some coffee, then we will work with all our youthful energy to catch the evildoers around our beloved city!” Kakashi nearly expected Gai to pivot around and pose, but thankfully his partner let the issue be. On the way to the KPD they really did stop at the coffee shop around the corner. Usually there was the white-haired barista called Suigetsu behind the counter, the one who visited Hiko at the KPD summer festival, but today a tired looking raven girl stood at his usual spot, the simple white half-apron tied loosely around her waist.

“Black,” he announced without an introduction towards the female. “No sugar.”

The glare meeting him was menacing and annoyed, but she complied. The silver haired cop watched her hands mindlessly, a bit drowsy by the night he spend awake and still repelled by the pictures he witnessed.

‘I never had thought… That it was so horrible. Hiko never specified her torture, only talked about snippets and know I understand why she even called her rape “torture”. He systematically broke her bones, bruised her body, tried to soil her mind until she would be merely a puppet for him. A complete toy for him to play with and enjoy the twisted screams. That Hiko somehow recovered from this is in itself a miracle, but that she allowed me to touch her, to caress the scars she bears, to sleep with and by her side…’

The rush of cold air and the sound of the glass door getting opened awoke him.

“Excuse me!” With a yell Suigetsu bolted towards the counter, the clothes rumpled and a bright red mark on his cheek, probably from a fight. The boy was already trying to bind his own apron behind his back but failed. The bag he had shouldered cluttered to the ground and spilled various contents, pens, a huge water bottle, a cell phone and some other little things. While the boy scrambled on the floor and tried to gather all his belongings, he grinned apologizing at the raven girl. “Sorry for you having to cover me.”

She waved dismissingly, almost annoyed at her co-worker. “Shut it. Just help me.” At her name tag stood the name “Kin”.

“Really, I owe you one.” The purple eyes strayed from the girl to the only customers inside, namely Gai, who was eyeing the different treats on display and Kakashi. At the sight of cops inside the coffeeshop, a blank expression immediately covered his features.

 

Suspicious. Kakashi would swear it wasn’t his partner who caused the mask to fall over Suigetsu’s face, but him instead. Why would the barista act like that?

But then the other looked back at the ground, all the while chewing on his bottom lip and nervously fidgeting.

He was too paranoid. Maybe the younger male had a bad day, namely a fight in the early morning, what could be read out of the still visible bruise on his face. Immediately his attention dropped to the bare minimum and mindless Kakashi returned to the task at hand: get awake enough to make it through the day and back to the file which waited for him together with the mystery surrounding Hiko’s past.

“A black coffee, no sugar.” announced Kin. Her tone could freeze the hell itself over, but Kakashi couldn’t care less. Accompanied by a grunt, he slammed bills on the counter, in the same motion taking the cup and eagerly sipping at the hot beverage when no one was looking his way, not caring about the pain flowing through his mouth and overtaking his tongue.

Gai had ordered a hideous green smoothie and while Suigetsu worked alongside the raven female on the order, Kakashi again sunk into blind staring. His thoughts wandered off, far far away, to times which were happier and filled with laughter, where a brunette with ice blue eyes waited for him, woke him gently up with a kiss and a smile, maybe a few cuddles and more gentle strokes through his scalp. Warm fingers, easing over his skin in the most ginger way, drawing circles here and there, playing with a few strands, then poking lightly his nose, his cheeks, his lips, only to get replaced by lips, slowly mouthing and moving with utmost care…

His heart ached. The coffee in the disposable cup was burning his palm, but Kakashi only switched the already half empty cup to his other free hand, not even trying to conceal his bad mood anymore. Not that he ever was, the mask hid his snarl from everyone around, though the cop ignored the advances of Gai and walked out of the shop without looking back.

Someone’s eyes burned nearly a hole into his back as he left and Kakashi had the hunch that it wasn’t Kin.

Gai quickly caught up to him, in his hand holding once another brown paper bag with something to eat, in the other the hideous green spinach-whatever smoothie. “There was no need to be unfriendly, Kakashi.”

He didn’t answer. There was no need to, because the silver haired man also knew that there was no point in taking out his anger on uninvolved people. Though the caffeine wasn’t in his system yet, so the tiredness was still residing in his body, so the crankiness…

Bullshit. Lame excuses, nothing more. Kakashi knew deep down why he was taking out his moody emotions on others and it definitely wasn’t the night he spend awake.

They trotted down the street walk, snow crunching under their feet. The snow clearing did a good job, nothing blocked the way of the people crossing them. Gloomy Kakashi let Gai ramble about everything he wanted, only listening half-hearted, but nevertheless hearing him loud and clear.

 

At the police station, his partner just started to boost about the insane morning jog he had done today (ten kilometers and apparently, he never fell under 16 kilometers per minute) Kakashi’s attention perked up, because Obito was quickly coming for them. Immediately the muscles inside him tensed, but the raven only spared him a quick glare, only to speak to Gai, even when the words were meant for Kakashi.

“You and your partner are being called by the chief.” Another poisonous glare at him, then the Uchiha vanished to gods-know-where. Naturally. The raven nourished his anger even more, but Kakashi thought by himself that the little gesture towards him was an improvement in comparison to the total ignorance of his person.

Not good, but at least a tiny bit better.

Thankfully Gai didn’t ask about the strange behavior of Obito, so Kakashi could brush it off easily. Together they walked through the wide main office and eventually some officers, mainly the younger ones couldn’t contain their interest and watched Kakashi with pitiful eyes (except for Shikamaru, who spared him only one bored glance) how he strolled over to his desk.

His hand around the emptied coffee mug tightened, nearly crushing the fragile paper. He never asked for this. He never wanted to become the left man again, Kakashi already experienced that too much in the SFU. His colleagues had whispered about him behind his back, sympathized with him even when they couldn’t understand as long as they hadn’t been in his shoes for one day, tried to talk with him about the incident. But to top the previous experience of getting cheated on, now he got promoted to a man who slept with a hacker and murderer, who left him afterwards and fooled the whole police. Annoyed by himself Kakashi threw the mug away, erringly meeting the paper bin without even looking.

“Let’s find out what the chief wants.” he said to Gai. Still eyes were drawn to his back as the two cops entered the office, but the impression instantly vanished in front of the piercing look of Nagato.

“Hatake, Maito. Please, take a seat.” The redhead gestured warily over to the two chairs in front of his desk, all the while he continued to copy notes from the computer screen on papers, switching from one to the other in the process rapidly. Not showing how much he didn’t want to be here right now, Kakashi sat down to the left, Gai taking just as quickly the right chair. The seconds ticked by in which Nagato finished his task, then he leaned with a sign back into his own seat and shook his head.

“I assume you’re asking yourself why I summoned you.”

Gai nodded. “Well, yes sir! I would like to know the surely youthful reason of your announcement of my presence!”

The silver haired man just nodded. No need to explain anything. He craved only for the fast ending of this meeting and the quick end of the shift, so he could go home and try to think a bit more, try to create more connections or find more hints in the old file.

 

Nagato rubbed shortly over the bridge of his nose, then the hand settled again down on the smooth top of the desk. “Maito, I want to speak with you about the increased duties you have. As you might know, Hatake got disqualified in participating any further in the crime case Kobayashi, so that leaves you as the only remaining officer in charge. But later. First…” The violet eyes switched over to Kakashi. “I will assign you another task. In exactly three days the yearly mayor ball will be held in the town hall. It’s a beneficial event, that means lots of Konoha’s richest people will come and like every year, the mayor asks the police for the correspondingly security. You will be in charge of that.”

“How many officers do I have?”

Nagato waved with a stack of files. “Not as many as other years. I can’t dispatch any more forces, they’re all already bound to other things, so I gave this job mainly to the younger ones. You will announce it to them.”

Kakashi searched through the papers. Naruto, Tenten, Kiba, Shikamaru, Izumo and Kotetsu. The chief made sure not to place anyone who had some grudge against him in his team. But one thing was nagging Kakashi.

“For such a big event I have pretty little guards.” he mumbled more to himself than to the other present men. Quickly he scanned the info material for the event. The town hall. A spacious building, usually hundreds of secretaries, workers and assistants would work there, though at the mayor ball hundreds of very rich people would come and give their money for –Kakashi scanned the documents- a complete new school building and the renovation of the ones which were already built. A noble goal. Why again couldn’t he bring up the necessary attention or interest for the matter at hand?

Hiko would’ve loved this.

“As I said,” Nagato had the nerve to shrug, “There are far too many things and I have far too little officers for all of them. Thankfully the mayor understands and hired some professional helpers, so in total there will be fifty people working with you. So I expect to hear only the best from you Hatake.”

“Got it.”

“I mean it. No negative reports about you or anything related, otherwise I will find a way to…” Only as Nagato stopped and Kakashi saw the hesitating understanding and again _sympathy_ in the eyes of his boss, he truly understood how broken he must look that even his chef was trying to lessen the impact of some well-deserved words.

His shoulders sank for a moment down, then straightened again. There was work and if his work was done quickly, Kakashi could go home quickly, the faster he could return to his secret investigation. Before his colleagues would believe him, he needed safe proof; proof that Hiko was maybe right and someone else staged the murders and the clues which leaded into her direction.

But before that, Kakashi had to act like he wasn’t fazed by sleepless nights, cruel pictures and the still possible betrayal of a brunette on his person. So he nodded again, jammed the files under his arm and stood up, assuming he was dismissed in the face of Nagato looking a bit embarrassed down and Gai trying not to meet his eyes.

 

He didn’t even think about giving one last greeting before leaving the office. All the while Kakashi went through the files and informed the participating officers about their duty in a few days, his mind was elsewhere until he couldn’t take it anymore and typed Hiko’s full name into both search engines available, once a normal one and the one for the police staff.

The one for civilians bought naturally not the rape to daylight, more short mentioning’s of her name due to technical related things. In half an hour Kakashi learnt more about Hiko than in the last months, about the programs she wrote or invented during her juvenile years or even a game tournament she once participated in and got second place. Especially one program, one of her firsts was interesting, because obviously it was designed for police stations. It was an old version of the program they used right now at the KPD for looking things up, filing cases and writing reports and Kakashi suddenly remembered the SFU also used the exact same one. His superior Morino swore on the effectivity of the program, just as much as Kakashi had liked the simple design and the easy way to understand it.

So somehow, he got into contact with Hiko even before they met.

A smile lit up on his face as he searched through the data, only to become gloomy once more as he switched over to the police search engine. There was a link to the rape, to the numerous official complaints about her harpy-like behavior and insults she spilled over the years, to internal reports _from_ her, written about the state of the server towers and other technical things Kakashi didn’t quite understand.

Just as he wanted to get back to the task at hand to organize the troops he got under his command, a shadow fell over his desk. To his surprise it wasn’t Gai nor Itachi, but another raven.

“What do you want?” Kakashi asked Obito. His voice was neutral, only with the slightest hint of poison laced within. He couldn’t help it. His friend didn’t act like one, Obito didn’t even try to understand through what living hell the silver haired man had to walk right now, with memories and self-doubts to torture him without a break.

The Uchiha nibbled on his lower lip and clutched his cell phonein his right hand. For the first time in days he wasn’t looking angry or tensed, instead his whole body was almost slouching, missing the usual energy Obito displayed.

Kakashi’s interest was mildly peaked. He didn’t show though, only a light twitch of his eyebrow telling the Uchiha what he was feeling right now.

The raven gritted his teeth, then shook his head. “Rin says I’m an asshole. For not trying to… _speak_ ,” he pressed the word out of his mouth, “with you. She’s angry with me because of you.”

“And?”

 

Obito growled. “I’m pissed ‘cause my girlfriend doesn’t take my side. I’m angry for her being on your side while I’m the one who’s right. But it’s a fact Rin is a hundred times smarter than me, so I have to give her a point.”

Kakashi cocked his head, not smiling one bit underneath his flu mask even when the motion in his stomach was telling his mouth to move upwards. His opinion about the nurse just significantly raised, measured at her ability to correct Obito in his most stubborn mindset.

“I’m not forgiving you.” continued Obito after a pause and crossed his arms. The black eyes of his were glaring at Kakashi, daring him to say a single word. “I can’t understand how you are able to believe Hiko killed somebody. You should be the one who believes in her the most, you should be the first to defend your girl and the last one who gives up. That’s what it means to love somebody and you are not showing your feelings in a clear way.”

“Obito,” Kakashi sighed weakly out, “Maybe our ways of dealing with the current situation differ. I was never that kind of person who let emotions take the lead and I will probably never be. I prefer to act different, but I respect your own path, so I would appreciate if you do the same with me.”

“Maybe yours is not the right way.” Challenging the other raised his chin.

“Maybe.” answered Kakashi calmly, stood up and dragged in the movement the files with him. There was no way he was getting a calm second here in the main office, so he would go into the open kitchen and order his thoughts there. “And if we don’t do our best, each one of us, then we will never know which one is the right one. I would gladly accept your win if that means that I could return to the way it was before all this.”

Not waiting for Obito’s answer, the male strolled out of the office, aware of the confused stare in his back and nevertheless not really bringing himself to care about the improvement.

 

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“There should be multiple backdoors…”

“Not anymore. I blocked them.”

Hasty typing. “And not even leaving yourself a little nook?”

“No. That would’ve been just a temptation in the end. And every nook can be discovered from other hackers than myself.”

“Seems your flawless work comes back to bite you in the ass, Big T.”

“Laugh all you want Ginger. Laugh all you want.” sighed Hiko agitated out and curled her body into a ball. Lying on the sofa, she watched the other female working on her makeshift PC. Meanwhile to keep her hands occupied, her fingers twiddled with her cellphone, spinning the flat device round and round, sometimes pressing the home button to watch the screen illuminate and grow dark again.

Suigetsu vanished hours ago, what left the brunette and redhead alone in his cramped flat. Since then Hiko felt some kind of hollow sleepiness creeping over her, so she had settled down on her bed and tried to nap a bit, but her mind was running around in circles and wouldn’t let her rest. So she laid there, unable to sleep and also unable to think straight due to the lack of sleep while Karin continued to sputter possibilities for Hiko to get inside the town hall.

She adjusted her glasses with a practiced gesture. “And what if you disguise yourself? Some kind of… I don’t know, cleaner lady maybe?”

Automatically Hiko’s mouth curled into a scowl. “What? Disguise? Ginger, we aren’t in a movie or book or flimsy action flick. Nowadays you can fool cameras and such, but no matter how good a disguise should be, if I don’t get a decent purpose to be inside the building which can stand any controls, then I’m nonetheless screwed.”

“Already on it.”

“What?”

Karin turned and threw a smirk at her, an overconfident grin which reminded Hiko of the Cheshire cat. “A few days ago, I had to run some errands for Ebisu and in the stack of papers was a file for the next mayor ball. Namikaze wants to gather some funding for a school building or such, I don’t remember, but isn’t a party a great cover to get in and out unseen?”

“Karin… That’s actually pretty good.”

A party. Back during her academy days in one of the countless additional courses the teacher, a slightly bipolar man who named himself Zetsu, said that there wasn’t a perfect opportunity to breach into unknown territory, but a party was close to being perfect. Lots of people, crowding, alcohol and always an explanation why you had no clue where the bathroom was.

Hiko liked the idea more and more. The only real problem was to get inside, there would be security and people checking their invitations and even identity cards. Worry shouldn’t be one of her concerns; worry was right now a hindrance, an obnoxious obstacle which could be the fall or success of a mission.

A _mission_. Lightly smiling the brunette snuggled deeper into the cushions. Finally, there was something else to do than sitting locked up in a small flat and stare at a screen. The nervous energy inside her was giddy to get some release, like a wild dog after months of being tied down in an unfamiliar house.

“I will need an invitation,” she murmured and listened to the soft typing of Karin, “A dress, not shabby or revealing. The fabric has to cover my whole front and arms. Make-Up. A wig. High shoes. Wool pads, a paper strip, contact lenses, skin-colored straps to hide my tattoo, some jewelry… Anything else?”

“An USB-stick. Cellphone.” added Karin without a second thought.

“I have both. I’m lacking the other things. Not really, but…”

“What do you mean?”

 

Hiko rolled on her back, staring blindly at the ceiling. “I have some things hidden in various lockers around the city. I can give Suigetsu the keys and directions. The rest is yours.”

“Obviously the dress.” the redhead stated. Listening to the silent shuffle of clothes and the rolls of the chair getting moved, Hiko waited until she heard Gingers voice a bit closer to her position. “Then the shoes. Any color preferences?”

“Dark. Nothing flashy.”

Karin clicked her tongue. “Well, that crosses at least neon-pink, yellow and green out. Anything else?”

“The shoes not too high. If I have to run away, ankle-breakers will only get in my way.” Quickly she shoved the memory of the summer festival aside, of little cautious and nervous touches, running away and laughing together, leaning against a broad shoulder and thanking the heavens the man wasn’t pushing her away. Hiko continued, careful how to choose her words. “Then I will leave the Make-Up to you, so the skin-colored gloves. Maybe add a small purse to the mix.”

Karin cocked her head to the side. “So, you don’t need a wig? You have one lying around?”

“Yeah.”

Hiko went through a phase where she wanted to change herself desperately. So much indeed she purchased a beautiful black-haired wig over the internet. Wavy hair cascading over her shoulder, past her shoulder blades and down to the middle of her back, longer and with more volume than her natural boring brown locks. The wig itself was carefully packed away in the rented locker of the sports center where her judo lessons took place. Under a different name, of course.

The chair in which Karin had taken refugee groaned loudly as she suddenly threw her thin frame into the backrest. “Only the invitation will be a problem.” she said and nibbled at her lower lip.

During their talk Hiko had activated the cellphone, but then it hit her with the force of a wrecking ball. Fastly she typed the PIN, then clicked her way to the saved numbers. There weren’t that much, only Karin’s and Suigetsu’s and the number she received from a certain white-haired tall writer. A rich writer with thousands of sold copies, who surely had a stag of porn just beside a huge bag of money underneath his bed. A writer who was born in Konoha, famous beyond the borders of the country and surely important enough to get invited.

“I can think of a solution for the invitation-problem.”

“What-?”

With a snicker Hiko raised her free hand, the other already pressed the green button to activate the connection towards her invitation. “Let that be my problem Karin. Don’t worry, I think it’s actually genius.”

Then after the other party picked up and grunted “ _Do you know how late it is?_ ”, the brunette snorted into the speakers. “I’m well aware that you must be _very exhausted_ from staring all day at the butts of flirtatious women,” naturally she laced her words with a sliver of irony, “but I have some kind of problem and as I recall, you owe me a favor. Don’t worry, it’s not illegal and even quite interesting for your books.”

In the end, what was a better cover than being the female companion of a renowned writer without the need to show a ticket to the security at the entrance?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not proofread or beta'd.


	58. Preparations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The time until the the mayor ball starts closes in and Hiko and Kakashi handle the absence of the other with less dignity than anyone would've ever thought of.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, I stayed for the last days at a remote place (beautiful place at a lake, not going to lie) an there was no internet at all. Next chapter one of my favorite arcs of this story starts, so hopefully you will like it as much as I do. :)
> 
> (And my tumblr, for people who want to see stupid jokes, very occasional posts about the despair of travelling while trying to maintain a regular posting schedule and reblogs of better tumblr-blogs: my name is historicfailure with the blog-title "Whoops, my finger slipped".)

Kakashi was busy studying the drafts of the outline of the town hall as Naruto stormed into the open kitchen he had for himself until now.

“Is it true?” the blond boy asked without hesitation, “Was Kobayashi-san raped?”

It took the silver haired detective some moments to process what happened, but then he sighed out. Naturally Nagato had to release Hiko’s recently blocked data for the officers working on the case. Sasuke must’ve read them and told Naruto, who apparently stormed off in the same moment to find him.

“I can’t believe-! No, it’s not true, right?” Naruto continued. The cerulean blue eyes brimmed with emotions, sympathy and somehow also admiration. “She’s so loud and teases everyone! Never would someone like her…”

His booming voice faded slowly out in the realization that Kakashi wouldn’t shake his head, that his superior wouldn’t deny everything with a laugh and tell him there must be something wrong with the system. Instead Naruto took two steps backwards, shaking steadily his head like he needed to get rid of the mere possibility. “That can’t be… Not Kobayashi-san! She’s such a bright person, never… Why would someone do this?”

Kakashi had no answer. Why some person thought it was necessary to force his or her advances on someone who didn’t want any of them? Why would some cruel psycho select especially the small brunette for that purpose, why would he tie her to a bed and continue to systematically torture her, why vanishing abruptly after one week and then maybe –or maybe not- appear decades later once more? Questions Kakashi asked the whole time and he couldn’t answer a single one of them.

So, he got back to the blueprints and only listened to the faint steps of Naruto, who vanished quickly after it was clear Kakashi wouldn’t speak about this matter. Minutes later Kiba entered the kitchen, his large dog Akamaru by his side. But instead of directly asking if it was true, the male fidgeted around, opened his mouth a few times and then awkwardly tampered over to the huge fridge, throwing glances around and finally feeding the dog a big steak before he left again the room. Next was Tenten. The brunette walked briskly in, but in her tone was a certain tremble as she asked and Kakashi nodded slowly, not daring to look up from the papers in front of him and seeing the crestfallen expression on her features. The stream of people wouldn’t lessen, instead almost the whole main office came into the kitchen and more or less asked openly if Hiko was really raped.

Only Obito was missing, but naturally Kakashi assumed it was because he already knew. Kurenai though told him there was a different reason than the still present resentment the raven harbored.

“Obito looked like he could strangle the next who asked him about...” She paused. “So, the chief sent him home when he nearly growled at a caller who wanted to report a crime.”

“To avoid any incidents, I guess.” he murmured quietly. No real surprise. Since Hiko was named as the murderer – _the butcher_ \- Obito had been always on edge, tried to fight with the other people around him and never really made an effort to hide his bad mood. Just a matter of time until Nagato had enough and sent him home.

 

“I saw her scars, you know?” Kurenai knocked slowly on the table to gain his attention, but her words did the job. Kakashi raised his head again from the papers and measured the female from head to toe, all the while she shrugged a bit embarrassed. “When we searched for a costume. For the summer festival. She said something like she was a victim once and I never deepened that topic even when I wanted. I hoped…” The female officer sighed heavily and leaned with her hip against the edge of the table. “I hoped she would open up to me. Tell me what happened. Foolish, if I really think about it. To assume someone closed up like Kobayashi-san would tell a colleague what she went through…”

She told him. Kakashi was near to interrupt the brunette, to tell her Hiko had trusted him in that regard, but just in time managed to gain control over his betrayed feelings. Instead of furiously defending his ex-girlfriend, he grumped more or less agitated and stealthily sipped at the now cold coffee he made before everyone else decided it was for the greater good to interrupt his work. But somehow Kakashi understood the surprised, unbelieving and even angry cops. Hiko didn’t look like the typical victim one instantly imagined when thinking about rape. That her changes only occurred because she was raped nobody would even dare to think.

“I’m sorry for disturbing you,” said Kurenai after a while, “Guess you have work to do. Good luck.”

“Thank you. You too.” answered Kakashi automatically and watched for some seconds the female walking out of the kitchen, only to spot Ino, Sakura and Hinata waiting for their superior to leave, all of them with asking expressions.

He sighed and shoved the blueprints further away. There was not enough coffee in the world to prepare Kakashi for the flood of questions washing over him.

 

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_She tried to scream, but there were hands everywhere. Hands holding her down, hands muffling her voice, hands clawing into her flesh, trying to imitate a loving embrace. Hands pushing inside her, violating every possible rule of consent, while Hiko was struggling and fighting against those living restraints, shoving deeper and deeper, not caring about the tears streaming down her face._

_“Oh, you like that?” The silky voice chuckled evilly. “You like to suck on my fingers? So greedily, lewdly sucking like you suck my cock?” Long elegant fingers played with her tongue, pushed further until she choked and coughed. “You dirty little bitch. You deserve nothing else, nothing more than me playing with you forever. You are mine.”_

_Hiko mewled out, a desperate pitiful whimper as he started to finger her. Cold hands began their work, slowly caressed her inner thighs, crawling further and further upwards until they reached her pubic hair. Another attempt to scream, another failure and Hiko sobbed out as the wetness coming from her core trickled down. He was teasing her and her body, confused by her fear and the ministrations was producing slick wetness to make everything even more humiliating._

_Kabuto snickered. “Excited, aren’t we? Excited to be with me again? And not your stray dog who doesn’t know how to draw your most beautiful screams out? Soon, baby. Soon.”_

 

Panting Hiko shot upwards. The blankets were too heavy, the walls too close, everything blurry. Full of panic she scrambled out of the nest and leaned against the wall bordering to her bed, knees drawn to her chest and arms slung around them like it would help her to not fall apart.

Something touched her feet and scared beyond measure, the shorty flailed her arms around in the need to defend herself, but only Kuro hissed and speed away under the desk where Suigetsu’s PC rested.

“What…?” Hiko pressed her palms to her face. “Why do I have to…?”

The nightmares grew worse and worse. In her dreams Kabuto had already won the guerilla fight. In her dreams he was already celebrating the victory with the first round of brutal sex, the first of _many_ rounds in which he could again start to reform her mind to the submissive woman she was before.

Hiko didn’t want to live like that again. She liked her style now, the jeans with the cuts, the vests and black tops with the band names and logos on it, some nerdy print-shirts mixed into and the slightly teasing underwear, not revealing or outright slutty, just… rich. She didn’t want to endure Kabuto’s nagging and brainwashing again, camouflaged by apparently loving compliments and more or less bitchy orders. And it wasn’t only her outward appearance, her clothing and selected fashion style.

Grunting Hiko hid her face in her knees.

‘He would put me in those nasty cardigans again and the loose skirts and flat boring gardening shoes. He wouldn’t allow me to wear my hair freely, always tying them up into a pony tail. He would correct my way of speaking, would tell me what is proper to do and act. No loud laughing, always staying one step behind him and being a good little toy for him, always locked up in his flat or house or underground cave because he wants to _protect_ me. I would be caged again.’

With a wary sigh Hiko lifted herself off the sofa and took some papers into her hands. On the white sheet were different points and theories scribbled why and exactly how Kabuto managed to fool everyone, back then when he vanished into thin air and now, where he placed fake proof around the crime scene. He had to get her DNA from somewhere, some hair or whatever… Hiko added a pencil to the mix and tried to think a bit more, her forehead wrinkled in exhausted concentration. There was no need in getting back to sleep. The nightmares were already waiting for her.

 

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“You’re still here?”

Kakashi looked up from the lists of additional security people and turned his eyes towards Gai, who stood in the doorway to the open kitchen. His head swirled from all the names and qualifications, maybe also from the whole can of coffee he finished over the day with only little food to counter the stream of caffeine and even less motivation to eat. One look at his cell phone (the man denied the little spark of hope and the quick diminishing of the same when there were no new messages) and he knew it was probably dark outside.

“Apparently.” Kakashi said, sighed and shook his head. “Not every day you get assigned on short notice for the annual mayor ball with not much people to work with.”

Gai laughed quietly. “My dear rival, only you can pull such a youthful stunt off!”

“You think so? Well,” with a grunt Kakashi stood up and some bones popped loudly in the silence, “I guess then I have to do my best to meet the expectations.”

It was a huge responsibility. In any other situation the silver haired detective would’ve been overjoyed about being in charge of such a huge event, but right here, right now he couldn’t bring himself to care much. A duty, nothing more and if he could exchange this duty for something else…

Kakashi pinched himself into the back of his hand. The short flash of pain rescheduled his mind, grounded him. Also, his whining and lamenting about the whole situation was enough, he sounded like a little child. He was a grown-up man, a proud police officer and a successful SFU-member, not a whimpering ball of self-pity, regrets and “what-if’s”.

Yes, he missed Hiko. Kakashi greatly missed the warmth she provided, the closeness, the casual talks and her mere presence whenever he tried to sleep, but there was a time and place to grieve and that was not _here_ , not _now_. Carefully ordering the scattered papers and info sheets, the detective nodded into the direction of the door, knowing Gai was intently following his movements. “Are you up for some sparring? Nothing heavy.”

The little bruises at his knuckles weren’t fully healed yet. But Kakashi noticed how many training he missed in the timespan he hurried home to a certain brunette. Out of shape, almost drained he had finished yesterday the spar against his partner. Not wheezing and heaving in exhaustion, but Kakashi noticed he built down and it annoyed him. So, he came up with some objectives.

First: Finish the timetable and organization of the mayor ball. Second: get some training in while he was at it. Third: gather the belongings he had dispersed in the last months in Hiko’s flat. Fourth: rent a suit for the occasion.

“Always, my youthful rival!” boomed Gai and threw himself into his thumbs-up pose. “I’m always up for a good challenge to awake the spring of youth in my blazing soul!”

“Well,” Kakashi actually chuckled, “let’s go. After hours of sitting and organizing things I need to move a bit.”

Maybe the training and the surely intense spar with his partner would distract him. Hopefully.

 

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“Are you fucking kidding me!?” Enraged Hiko pointed at the _obscenities_ which laid out in the living room. “Those… Those monstrosities! Who wants to actually wear them?”

Karin wrinkled her nose in badly concealed disagreement. “A lot of women, _actually_.”

“Are they taking money for some horizontal business? Because I can’t explain otherwise why those dresses need to be so… so…” Wildly gesturing Hiko threw another disgusted glare at the five clothes Ginger bought with her, all of the shockingly short and before everything else, all of them revealing a big portion of the bosom of the wearer.

To everyone. For everyone to see whatever there was to see. In Hiko’s case, the scars, the battlefield she wore on her body around, always hidden underneath her clothes.

Karin scowled and crossed her arms, an expression the brunette only saw until now on the redhead while she dealt with Suigetsu. “So?” she asked, the tone dangerously low, “Continue, please. Enlighten me.”

Either way she was screwed. Over the days Karin lost her admiration for her alter ego tRuthseekEr and more and more returned Hiko’s ironical or sarcastically comments with the same amount of irony or sarcasm, sometimes even more than necessary. She was a sassy one after all and the shorty tried to deal with it, but this…

Those dresses were the end.

“Slutty. Suggestive. _Lewd_.” She let the last word vibrate on her tongue and watched how Karin’s face grew to an even angrier mask. “Just look at them! Those are for a club, meant to get flipped up for a quick fuck at the dirty wall! Ginger, a ball is something adults go to, not hormonal teenagers who want to lose their virginity to the next best pimp.”

And again. Hiko’s harpy personality broke through. A sharp voice, mean comments and the wits to _make_ those comments really hurt. By implying Karin didn’t even had the standards for an adult ball, she also implied that the redhead wasn’t old enough to work alongside her.

To say Karin was enraged would be an understatement. Hiko realized she might went a bit too far as she screamed agitated out and threw her hands into the air, eyes burning in frustration and annoyance. “Fine! _Fine!_ I get it! Just you wait, you never satisfied bitch, the next row of clothes will knock you out of your twisted panties!” With another snarl Karin grabbed the dresses she bought with her out of her own wardrobe and exited the living room, wiping in arrogance her hair over her shoulder like a true queen bee.

Only now Hiko allowed herself to break into a tiny grin. Apparently Suigetsu had been right all along. The furious redhead didn’t need someone blowing smoke up her ass, instead for the best results you needed her to push her a bit around. Hopefully Hiko wouldn’t pay the price for insulting her by another collection of raunchy and absolutely inappropriate dresses.

 

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_Her breathless groans were the best. Such needy and at the same time innocent sounds, like she wasn’t even expecting to feel so good from just his hands, fingers or lips._

_“More, please Kakashi! I-I… Yes, right there, don’t stop!”_

_She bent and twisted underneath his teasing fingers, her ice blue eyes glazed over in pleasure, the chocolate brown mane curling in delicate locks around her shoulders to her bare chest, hiding her assets from him. Every now and then, a nipple peaked through the thick curtains of hair, but the short impressions always vanished before Kakashi could get a hold of them. What a shame. She always squealed when he sucked on her nipples, graced the sensitive flesh with teeth and tongue, played with the nubs for his own amusement and her lust, so her sweet moans also fueled his own arousal to new heights._

_He chuckled and mocked the brunette with a quick nib at her neck, tasting the sweat of her skin. “How much I love those mewls from you, how they’re spilling from your lips in chants…”_

_“Kakashi, I can’t-!” Hiko whimpered into his ear, hands clawing to the sheets, one leg thrown over his shoulder to have a better angle while he stayed inside her warmth for a bit longer. He endured until now. Waited, teased, caressed, but not moved his hips one bit. He had endured the unconscious grips and tightening of her inner muscles, the shiver rummaging through her small form, but the male only could do so much._

_“What?” he growled and thrusted for the first time in ages forwards, “What can’t you?”_

_“I can’t… I can’t…”_

_“Tell me.” Another rock of his hips, another meeting and increase of friction. “Tell me Hiko.”_

_“Can’t taste you like this.”_

_Sharp teeth dug into his flesh and he screamed in agony. Like the fangs of a shark she bit into his neck, ripping and not caring that he tried to get away. Instead her jaw tightened even, while her claws held him into place._

_Kakashi screamed in agony out, felt how the sharp tools scratched over bones, how she even sucked his blood with happy and loud slurps, obviously even enjoying his twitches and weak defensive maneuvers, felt how he got devoured by the dark female which he loved._

This time he was quite calm when he woke up. Just a short inhale, then Kakashi looked at the ceiling of his bedroom and asked himself what those dreams were trying to tell him. It had been more of a memory anyway. Not the eating and cannibalism-part, but the way how he introduced the brunette to slow sex was branded into his brain. They had kept it up for hours, moving like tortoises. Nevertheless, the slow movements, the deliberate strokes over heated and sweat stained skin and tiny teases in form of kisses and nibs along the other’s secret spots were heavenly. Kakashi back then believed his heart would explode from the overall tension inside his body and with every caress on her part, with every single gentle hand gliding down over his chest or back and cupping his ass with such tender power he would lose it, lose to the emotions and to the woman below him, who was just as lost as him to the interactions between them. She even cried a bit and he was at least honest enough to himself that Kakashi could admit he also felt the tears pricking in his eyes when he _finally_ came, or more like, when he allowed himself to come with a low grunt. Afterwards Hiko had nudged him into the ribs, but the gesture soon turned soft and compliant against his chest and the woman said in the nice husky voice which send every time shivers down his spine: “Care for another round?”

And what an intense round it had been.  

Alone the memory was bewitching; bewitching enough for his body to ignore all rules or standards of proper fantasies and be electrified by the dream. Kakashi groaned as his dick went half hard and turned on his side, trying to ignore the ache in his lower regions, but not to avail. Instead of getting better, the humiliating arousal grew larger by the unwanted memories he couldn’t shake off, no matter what he thought of to interrupt the stream of images.

‘Hiko with cat ears. Hiko, half naked and the cute flush she wears when she’s excited and giddy. A sudden attack from her in a dark corner of the KPD, kissing and groping on her part and enjoying the sensations she can draw out of me.’

Kakashi choked on the sob which threatened to break free. Restless the male tossed and turned, in the back of his mind knowing he wouldn’t get any sleep tonight and that only a cold shower would save him from the urge to rut like a horny dog against the mattress. But like he wanted to punish his mind, Kakashi stayed right where he was, lying on his back, hands safely secured in the back of his neck to make sure they wouldn’t go astray and suddenly decide to make the best out of his unwanted erection.

His bed was cold when a new day broke on the horizon and the silver haired cop, freshly showered and still shivering, sat again in his living room, surrounded by the eerie pictures of the beat-up brunette, scribbling from time to time his thoughts down and marking sentences in the protocols of Hiko’s questioning.

 

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“How many times do I have to tell you this!? NO LOW-CUTTED DRESSES!” Fuming and trembling in anger Hiko threw the next dress into Karin’s arms, a monster of a ballroom-obscenity, inclusive the frilly laces and ribbons as decoration. And to top all of that, the cloth glimmered in a light white-rose tone, making her probably look like a muffin which didn’t escape the clutches of an overly ambitious baker.

But the brunette wasn’t finished with her little helper, especially since the little helper proved until now that her taste in clothes definitely lacked any similarities with Hiko’s. “Just look! Look at me, then at the clothes and then tell me if I would be able to run in those!”

Karin gritted her teeth. “They’re not that bad.”

“Alone the length! My thighs aren’t as thin as yours if you noticed! They would make me look even fatter than I really am!” Hiko hissed and held one as an example into the air. “And again: Too low! My breasts would fall out of this dress before I had even time to hold them in their place!”

The last days were torture. Like a caged wolf the shorty wandered up and down in Suigetsu’s apartment, always trying to think of any mistakes in their plan to invade the mayor ball. Adding the mostly sleepless nights, her sudden loss of appetite and the fact that Hiko really liked fresh air and now couldn’t even open one damn window because all of them somehow were in the radar of street cameras and the result was a moody short female with the patience of a bear after a long hard winter. Somehow hungry and impatient, the air inside the room getting hotter and heavier with each second she spent in there.

In her back she heard Suigetsu’s typical shuffle whenever he peeked through the living room door and tried to stay out of the way of the two women fighting.

             ‘Just ignore him, like usual. It’s not like he has something to add to the discussion.’

An unsightly red tainted Karin’s face. Just as Hiko wanted to point out the mistakes of the next dress, the redhead exploded and screeched in a tone she usually only used on her white-haired crush. “And who are you to scream at me like this, you bitch!? Get your head out of your ass! We’re not living in the goddamn Middle Ages anymore! Just accept the fact the fashion-world has turned while you were in your love-filled bubble full of sickening sweet moments all lived in front of the whole main office!”

“I’m perfectly aware we’re not in the Middle Ages, but right now I wish we would, because then I could accuse you of being a witch and get you on a fucking PYRE!”

The hint on her relationship with Kakashi and the reminder that they currently weren’t in the best state fueled Hiko’s anger even more. Her stomach coiled into a tight ball and her jaw hurt from the pure rage flooding her sleep-deprived body as she walked up on Karin, her face stretched into an ugly mask of pure disgust. “Don’t you dare to talk about me and him ever again if you want to keep your head attached to your neck.”

“About what are we _allowed_ to talk!?” Karin hissed. “The whole day you hole yourself up in here and complain about the dresses I bring you and no matter what I’m saying, it’s never okay! Not the KPD, not the investigation, not how the cops are doing or how they look like, especially your sweetheart! We’re not questioning your motives or your hunches, your whole story which is totally unbelievable without any proof and you give no proof at all, but we nevertheless listened and believe in you! So, if you do not want to answer one of those serious questions, then why the fuck are you not in the shitty mood to accept one of the dresses already!?”

Oh god. In seconds Hiko’s mood cooled down, went beyond the freezing point down into the deepest depths of hell, where not even the strongest flames of said hell could reach and melt some of the ice. Oh god. Oh god, oh god, oh my god. The scars on her chest seemed to burn underneath the protection of her simple black sweatshirt.

 

“They’re… not appropriate.” Hiko rasped and turned away. Unconsciously her hands lifted to cradle themselves into the rough fabric, fisting the material until her fingers hurt from the force she used.

Apparently, that wasn’t the answer Ginger wanted to hear. Now fully enraged, the red eyes almost torched a way through her back, so intense was the glare. “The fuck they are not appropriate! You just want to be a little nit-picker and complain about everything I do like a little child!”

“That’s not it.”

“IT IS! It fucking is! And face me, goddammit while I rip you apart!” Suddenly there was a hand on her shoulder and Hiko reacted on instinct. One moment, she just tensed up, then a hundred of different grips and possible ways of making that threat disappear flashed through her brain. The next, Karin’s whole body was sent flying with a judo-grip Hiko trained until her body could move on its own. As simple it was to hurt someone (like breathing, the brunette realized) the betrayed and slightly deranged look the other female wore after groaning and cursing under her breath was more than enough to send Hiko on another sudden guilt trip.

Lately the train to shame town was a common thing for the short female.

“S-sorry.” she stuttered out. Her hands were still holding the girl down, so the brunette forced her unresponsive fingers to open, what they did under flinches and jitters.

In return Karin got a hold on her before she could retreat. Even when the redhead was lying on the ground and Hiko was bending down, it felt for her like the redhead was in charge, a fact her mind rejected by all possible means.

_Hands clamping around her biceps, crashing her into the wall. A silky voice, giggling in sick happiness at her shocked state. “We never did it my way. You thought we did, but now I’m going to show you a whole new world of pleasure…”_

“What is- Hiko!”

A gurgle was drained from her lips.

‘Quick. Get back. Get back from the hands, trash around, defend yourself! Danger, Danger, get AWAY!’

Couldn’t breathe. Hiko gasped, heaved desperately, but once more her damn lungs weren’t doing their fucking job, they should pump oxygen inside, but they didn’t, they refused, refused the pure life wheezing out of her mouth and left the shorty with nothing but a painfully dry throat and dark spots before her eyes. From far away she could hear some muffled voices, then worried eyes in purple and red appeared in her vision.

Too thick. The air was too thick. Not enough room to breathe, not enough room to think, not enough room to barely _exist_.

Tears pricked in the canthus of her eyes, she could feel the burning traces they left while they ran down her face. Hiko couldn’t. She just… simply couldn’t anymore. Anything.

“G-g-g-et!” Even her tongue resisted the need to voice her discomfort.

Maybe it was Suigetsu, but it could also be Karin who understood to some point. She felt how they vanished from her side and left, going somewhere and possibly discussing her panic attack. She couldn’t care less what they thought of her. Still trying to catch some air, Hiko slowly lowered herself to the ground, clasping into the hems of her shirt until her fingers were numb. All the while tears continued to fall and heaves shook her body, until the first whimper tore itself from her lips.

             ‘I need him. I need him so much. God, why is this happening?’

 

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A headache was a pain in the arse. Kakashi didn’t really know what it was today what gifted him with one hell of a porcupine coiling in his forehead, but he would do almost everything to make the annoying and irritating pain disappear. Ears covered by his palms he tried to concentrate and work around the headache, but the noise in the main office wasn’t letting him off so easily.

Loud voices, especially loud voices (that meant something in this playhouse of insanity) shot right straight through the shield his hands had created until now. Another flash of pain and Kakashi internally hissed but kept an unfazed expression as he lowered his hands and raised his eyes from the papers he worked on.

Naruto and Sasuke were at each other’s throats. Nothing unusual. The blond was struggling in a great lockdown on Sasuke’s part, shoving his friend face forward into the next best desk, which would be Izumo’s, who just in time raised his coffee mug out of the radius of their fight. Nevertheless, Kakashi watched with little enthusiasm how files and papers fluttered to the ground in a big mess, noting down both had to clean that up the moment they finished to gauge their eyes out. But the reason for Naruto’s (naturally it was one of Naruto’s outburst or a comment of the raven which send him into a fit) scream let Kakashi flinch, especially when the blue eyes shortly flickered over to him, brimming with understanding and sympathy.

“Bullshit!” Naruto spat the single word out in obvious disgust and struggled against the tight grip Sasuke had over him. “Like you never did something you regretted later!”

The Uchiha for once had a flushed face, not in embarrassment, but in anger. “Shut up, you have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Kobayashi-san may be a hacker,” Kakashi’s stomach twisted, “but I bet she never killed someone! She couldn’t, believe it! Goddammit teme, she tried to encourage us!”

“That’s not the point. Personal commitment shouldn’t get in the way of an ongoing investigation. And why did Kobayashi vanish if she should be really innocent?”

A question Kakashi asked himself a thousand times per day. Also, the strange silky voice, whose owner seemed to know more about the situation than any other person, intrigued him in a bad way.

He missed something.

Naruto finally managed to wiggle out of the lockdown. Fuming and the fists clenched like he was ready to punch Sasuke in the face, the blond turned towards him. “I can’t believe you! You were just as relieved as me after her encouragement, you told me! Which sane killer would do so?” Naruto shouted.

“Exactly. Which “sane” killer. All the victims weren’t simply killed. They were tortured, cut open while they were alive and conscious, felt the pain caused by the murderer. You have to admit that _whoever_ did this wasn’t sane or at least decently wired.”

“Kobayashi-san saved my dad, okay!? She saved him from death!”

The office breathed collectively in. Kakashi already knew that Hiko alias tRuthseekEr warned Namikaze about a conspiracy against him, but he never saw it this way. That she actively saved the life of a man and the result of her actions was that Naruto defended the small brunette in front of his best friend, quite wildly to be frank.

 

Sasuke lowered his chin at the growled words. The raven was never one to get emotional, but to fight with the blond always bought out the stubborn side of his personality. “She’s nevertheless a criminal,” Sasuke hissed, “who needs to get captured if now for murder or hacking. You read her file, maybe she’s mentally unstable.”

Unable to help himself, Kakashi growled lowly. Thankfully the little sound was covered by a just as enraged sound from Naruto. His cerulean blue eyes almost flickered red and he bared his teeth like an angry carnivore would. “Just because she was a victim once? Is that your reasoning? Just because she was once at the receiving end, Hiko-san can't live without killing someone?”

Sasuke’s following silence said everything.

Dryly the blond snorted. Suddenly he jumped forward and curled his hands into the hems of the raven’s shirt. “Are you fucking kidding me!? Did you really read her file, looked at the pictures and tried to understand what she went through? Or were you the same unemotional prick as always teme? Huh? Answer me!”

Still nothing. Just as indifferent as ever, Sasuke avoided the angry glare and instead decided to fiddle with his fingers, not at all bothered by the fact that his friend was close to an official anger outburst. Kakashi got ready to interfere. Nothing was worth the again disturbed peace in the main office.

“God, you’re even more of a prick than I thought.” Everyone present was shocked to see Naruto back away with no further commotion. But in his eyes stood a disgusted expression no one had ever seen on him and even Kakashi had to stop himself from flinching away when the blond raised his voice, the same natural authority radiating his father also possessed. “Until you pull the stick out of your ass and see the truth, I’m going on patrols with Kiba. Wait, I think I forgot something… Right.”

The punch came faster than anyone could expect. Immediately after Sasuke stumbled backwards with a bloody nose and sputtering pained curses, Kakashi was in the space between them and hindered Naruto from going after his injured friend.

“Stop that, right now,” he said lowly and grabbed him by the shoulder, “or something else is waiting for you than a disciplinary punishment.”

“Either way I was finished with him.”

The whole hour afterwards spent with patching Sasuke up, sending Naruto to the chief and explaining to Ebisu why the whole main office was in an uproar, the silver haired cop couldn’t shake the feeling off that Naruto also lost some of his respect for him and that nagged him more than he wanted to admit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not proofread or beta'd.


	59. Getting ready for the party

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The evening of the mayor balls is here. Hiko is ready to pull through with her objective, however she has no idea Kakashi will also be present, watching over the crowd like a hawk.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes! Finally! Man, I'm so excited and nervous how you guys will like the following arc!  
> Enjoy the madness of my brain :D
> 
> Forgot it again: my tumblrURL is historicfailure and "Whoops my finger slipped". Just in case some of you guys want to chat me up there. :)

The fabric was soft. Almost too soft. Hiko felt the long tight sleeve and nearly cooed at the softness. Though the quivering of her stomach immediately returned after that short moment of distraction. One glance at the mirror and she couldn’t really believe it was really herself, not some kind of beautiful imposter who took her place unnoticed by anyone. Out of a girly instinct, she swiveled around and admired the way how the fabric tightened around her knees only to loosen when the physic started to work again.

Suddenly someone banged loudly on the door, what made Hiko jerk away. “Come on,” yelled Suigetsu on the outside of the bathroom, voice muffled due the barrier between them, “I have to take a piss!”

“Can’t you be a bit less direct?”

Karin. Hiko rolled her eyes. Three days of constant fighting, bickering, more or less screamed words or fists flying (Karin) and she had enough. Actually it would be nice to get out of this poisonous environment, even when today would be a tensed and stressful evening, with hiding in shadows and corners or possibly even running away.

But one thing the brunette had to give to Ginger. She knew how to clad someone in the right clothes, given the right impulse to consider the tastes of the one who needed said clothes. After her panic attack Karin didn’t make another attempt in giving her one of the frivolous clothes she picked earlier and just yesterday, she bought the most perfect dress Hiko needed in this particular situation. The delicate midnight blue fabric shaped her slightly chubby form to an hourglass figure, underlining her curves and hiding somehow the fat pad around her belly. As she had wished for, the dress was covering her whole upper body, only her shoulders and a big part of her upper back were free. In the long sleeves her arms looked thin and not like usual a bit undefined, formed by the many hours she spent at the desk and in front of her computer. And thankfully the heels of her shoes weren’t too high, only six or seven centimeters. Only the gloves had to be abandoned, but with the long sleeves hiding her recognizable tattoos and scars from the people, the brunette was okay with the compromise.

“Alright, alright.” Muttering underneath her breath, Hiko unlocked the bathroom door where she had changed to evade the stares she would get if one of the children would catch sight of her bite marks and let Suigetsu in. The young boy stumbled over the doorstep, obviously troubled by a full bladder, but paused as Hiko stepped into his line of sight. Unconsciously she wiggled under his surprised stare and wiped one loose strand of her brown hair behind her ear.

The stupid thing immediately fell back into place.

“You look…” He cocked confused his head. “Different?”

“I feel different too.” Foremost cleaner. A long shower had started the grooming experience, as Hiko called it and Karin almost broke into tears when she had told her she could do the make-up and the hair style of the wig.

 

The grime, sweat and tears from the last days were washed away by the blessed hot water and while Hiko just let enjoyed the rain fall down over her face, for some moments, she had been able to forget everything. The most blissful seconds she had on this Friday. Then the sound of Kuro scratching at the door and a faint yell of Suigetsu bought her back to the real world.

“My my,” Karin said as Hiko walked into the living room, “Look whose back to being human!”

“Do not exaggerate.” she mumbled back. One more time she checked the insides of the small purse she would carry, a small case with an USB-stick, her thin smartphone and extra wool pads. The younger ones didn’t understand for what she would use them, but the years spend with additional courses in the police academy weren’t wasted. Her teacher for disguise Zetsu would be proud that his second-best student still remembered his teachings.

While Hiko reminisced in her past, Karin moved out of Suigetsu’s comfortable gaming chair he owned and mustered her figure full of intent curiosity. “Nice. I didn’t think the dress would look that great on you,” the redhead adjusted her glasses, “but I must say the form suits your assets.” Since the panic attack the girl also stopped to touch Hiko unnecessarily. Instead of tugging like a mother hen at the fabric, Karin gestured towards the brunette's hips and breasts, which were delicately wrapped. “Only your hair…”

“What’s with my hair?”

“It’s extremely thick and long so I don’t know if we can fit them all under the wig…”

“Is that everything?”

Karin nodded. Absent-minded Hiko waved at Ginger, already scrambling through the other things she needed. Colored contact lenses, a pair of rimless small glasses with thin temples to hide the fact she was just as blind as a mole without anything to help her see, some money just in case and a skin-colored earpiece for some communication with Karin and Suigetsu for the most likely case Hiko would get discovered. “Get scissors. If they don’t want to fit, they go. I think I’ve seen a bunch in the kitchen.”

“Pretty radical.”

Hiko chuckled for the first time in days. “It’s just hair. You know, it is designed to grow back.”

 

(…)

 

The sound of scissors echoed through the room. Adorned by a towel wrapped around her shoulders, Hiko sat on a wooden stool and waited with closed eyes for the sign from Ginger. The redhead had demanded that she wouldn’t sneak a quick peek at her handiwork, so she complied grumpily.

Suigetsu joined them after a while. Most of the time it was like he avoided them, but Hiko realized he only seemed to avoid her. Pretty often when the shorty was in another room, she could hear faintly exchanged words and fights between the two younger hackers, though most of the time they now went over to exchange worried discussions or theories of what could have happened in her past.

Someday Hiko had to tell them. Someday, when this was all over and hopefully came to a good end. Someday, if this situation was ever fixed.

“How far are you?” she asked instead and got an appreciative hum in return. Most of the weight of heavy locks was already gone, but Karin still moved the scissors, cut, adjusted, hissed or clicked her tongue before going back to work, tugging at the formerly long strands and even going as far as to order Suigetsu around for an electrical shaver. He complied with a grumble about “pushy woman” and Hiko almost smirked, knowing what was going on inside their heads. Both were so goddamn obvious to the feelings of the respective other. Both had no idea the other felt the same thing, the same kind of giddy excitement, the same kind of strange satisfaction whenever the other laid his eyes upon them, if now in a fight or a little bickering…

A sigh escaped her lips. The worry for Kakashi was always present, though sometimes faded a bit into the background of her mind, became a white noise in the constant stream of thoughts which were nevertheless all a bit connected to the male.

‘I wonder what he’s doing right now. Maybe he reads his romance novels, leaning against the headboard of his bed, with a cup of tea resting on the nightstand. If no one remembers, the beverage will get cold, because he would get distracted enough to completely ignore the whole world. Or maybe he’s still at the office and watches… watches the whiteboard with all the pictures and my information, the interrogation I went through… Maybe he’s brooding over them, maybe he’s angry and takes his anger out on a punching bag, bruising himself until someone stops him…’

To call the feeling worry… The word didn’t take in account the deep guilt and fear rummaging through her body, the desperate need to know how the man was keeping up with the world, if he shut himself off of his friends or maybe even Obito… No. Hiko was sure, her brother wouldn’t…

Once more build a sign in her chest and she breathed slowly in, just to suppress the loud exclamation of her uneasiness. Oh yes. Obito would abandon Kakashi the moment the silver haired male dared to doubt her only the tiniest bit. And the logical man he was, Kakashi surely took into account that she could be a killer, the same homicidal psychopath which was displayed in the slices of the scalpel on the skin of the found victims.

 

Her heart ached at the thought of the two fighting. They just became such great friends. Itachi and Kisame the shorty couldn’t evaluate, but with the overprotective stance the blue-skinned giant took for her every time, she was at least partly sure Kisame would take sides with Obito this time.

‘Itachi, if some kind of merciful god exists, what I doubt heavily, please. Please continue to stay by Kakashi’s side, please support him while I cannot do it. Support him with all you can, words, actions, be there for him. Let Kakashi feel he’s still wanted by someone, that his presence and opinion are still appreciated. He will do the same thing for you, I’m sure. Because my love is the most loyal person I ever met.’

“Aaaaand…” A last clap of the scissor, then Karin stepped backwards, outward of Hiko’s reach. “You can open your eyes now, truth. Swords, give her a mirror.”

“Am I your fucking servant?” But the white-haired boy again complied, what thanked Karin with a snort and an eye roll as he sat down again. All the while Hiko stared into her reflection, flabbergasted reaching upwards to touch the now short strands. She would have to thank the stormy redhead deeply. Not only she made it shorter, the style was also appealing and for once Hiko really liked the image she saw in the mirror. Her cheekbones became more prominent by the ruffled bob Karin created and the natural curliness of her brown hair was also underlined, free from the pure weight of her previous style. The tips of her hair tickled her earlobes and one could see three small piercing holes in her right ear shell, lining up from top to the bottom of the sensitive organ. Still surprised she once let her fingers rake through the silky mass and chuckled embarrassed at the girly gesture. “Good job Karin. I like it.”

“What a shame that we have to cover it up.” The other girl shook her head, seeming a bit miffed and also somehow strangely proud. “But the quality of your wig is decent. Is it made out of real hair?”

“Yes. I’m lightly allergic to some kind of softeners companies use mostly to make artificial wigs, so none of that for me.” Still staring into the mirror, the short brunette reached for the pair of rimless glasses and placed them at her nose. Instantly the world around her grew clearer and the faint blurriness in the distance vanished into thin air. Behind her Suigetsu shuffled on his seat, Karin scrambled through a big make-up bag she bought with her after she came from her shift at the KPD.  
The next step in their preparation, adding the lipstick and mascara and highlighter and things Hiko had no clue about, so she again left everything to Ginger, who pushed her down one the wooden stool and removed the glasses. Hiko was losing her patience over the procedure but knew she would annoy the redhead in the case of moving even one single finger, so she endured and complied whenever Karin asked her to close her eyes or purse her lips to apply some lipstick. Towards the end the woman could understand why some females went nearly every second day into a beauty parlor. It was nice to get dressed-up without really worrying about something, only sitting and chatting lazily.

 

“Done.” In triumph Ginger presented Hiko the mirror. “Don’t worry, the mascara and highlighter should be waterproof. Tonight’s it’s going to be windy, so use a nice coat and the stola I bought.”

“Give me some seconds.” After a quick check-up on the time (ten minutes after nine) the brunette shoved her natural hair under the black wig and made sure no traitorous lock was ruining her disguise, then she placed the colored contact lenses carefully in their belonging place, dulling the vibrant icy blue to a dirty mud-brown. Finishing the look with the glasses, Hiko reached for the wool pads and winked suddenly feeling playful at the youngsters, who had asking expressions on their faces.

 

“Watch and learn.” she said and placed into the little gaps between inner cheek and teeth a pad. The feeling of cotton made her cringe, but she resisted the urge to spit out, knowing after a while the discomfort would fade. Another look into the mirror and the hunch became grim reality. The typical heart-shaped structure of her face was ruined, now Hiko looked at an unknown raven with a snub nose, shockingly red lips, big brown eyes high lightened by the rimless glasses and make-up, with long eyelashes and chubby cheeks, distantly reminding her of a hamster. But nevertheless, there was some kind of beauty lying in that image and as Hiko opened her mouth to shove a strip of paper underneath her tongue, the switch between a searched after criminal and a high society woman was complete.

“And?” Wiggling her eyebrows, Hiko turned to her spectators. Her voice was deeper and she was forced to speak slower, all that changed by a lonely paper. “Do I still look like me? Or do you think Mariko Tachibana will survive the suspicious looks thrown at her?” Mariko Tachibana was her alias for the evening. Hiko just hoped no security guard would ask her to show her ID, otherwise she would get a big problem. But there had been no time to prepare the belonging papers to the created person and so she had to rely solely on the presence of her companion to ease every distrust.

Not a safe base, but at least better than nothing.

Suigetsu cocked his head, then exchanged a quick glance with Karin. “No. I know you’re Truth, but I don’t think the people on the ball will notice anything. I didn’t believe such simple things could change a woman that much.”

“Not only women, also men can change their appearance completely using the same methods.” Hiko answered. Threading one more time through the pitch-black mane which tickled her shoulder blades and dangled to the middle of her back, Hiko adjusted the bangs hanging from her temples and checked once more if some of her natural hair was hanging out. “Okay. I think I have everything. Watch your phones, as soon as I reach the meeting point, I will call you. The whole evening, we stay in contact, alright?”

Suigetsu already threw himself into his gaming chair and started the PC, not without an obviously happy expression on his face that the grooming session in his living room ended. “You can count on me Big T! As long as you have some kind of GPS-signal I can guide you in the unlikely case of a flight towards the nearest exit.” Dramatically the boy posed, until Karin snorted and crossed her arms over her chest.

“You mean Truth can count on _us_ , asshole.”

“Wait, do you want to say you’re useful?”

Ouch. Hiko winced inwardly at the rude comment. Seriously, Swords had no idea how to flirt with Karin without the use of insults, but so it was the other way around. Both of them had no idea how to deal with those emotions properly. But she couldn’t do anything. Karin and Suigetsu both declined to need any help and like this Hiko had to watch them dance around each other, picking fights left and right, bickering like a long-married couple and sometimes even exchanging punches.

“Before you start your little war,” Hiko tugged the purse into her arms, checked once more if everything was there (it was) and then slipped into the midnight blue shoes, “I will be on my way.”

And maybe the fresh air would blow away some of the constantly nagging fear of discovery. The sooner Hiko reached the meeting point, the sooner this whole ordeal was over. The mayor ball, the nervousness, the worry, the panic, the confusion, the questions… Hopefully the risky maneuver would pay off. Cladded into a black coat and a light blue stola thrown around her neck and shoulders, the temporal raven walked into the night, already clipping the ear-piece into place and hoping that nobody would recognize her straight away.

 

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Kakashi couldn’t remember the last time he needed a suit for his job. There was this one time in the SFU, a Christmas party and Hanare insisted that they had to dress decently for the occasion. He wore now a similar suit in typical black and a white shirt underneath, with a respective tie in a dark green wrapped around his neck. He had struggled a bit with the knot, but somehow, he managed to tie the cloth into an appealing form. The flu mask had to go for this evening, instead Kakashi wore the same black mask he had worn all day in the SFU. Absent-minded he reached up to adjust the fabric, tugging it further upwards before looking again at the list in his hands with the names of all his subordinates.

When he had looked into the mirror at home, it was like time had turned back.

Rich women in delicate robes and men in simple, but nevertheless just as filthy expensive clothes slowly made their way into the mayor hall. The street in front of the large building was cramped with cars and no matter the differencing brands, all of them were big and exotic.

“Kakashi-sensei.” Naruto stood beside him, also cladded into a suit, but instead of a tie around his neck a red bow tie gave the black fabric some kind of life. “Why can’t I work at the entrance?”

“Because I ordered Kiba and Tenten to do that.”

“And what’s with Izumo and Kotetsu? Their job is also pretty-!”

“You honestly want to watch the back doors? I bet they’re still complaining.”

“Shikamaru has-!”

“Naruto.” Unnerved Kakashi tugged the list away and looked at the blond. “Patrolling around the dance room is maybe the most important part of the job. I will do so too, because a little bit more than two hundred people will come tonight. And as representatives of the KPD, we have to make sure to show our presence also to the crowd. Could you imagine Kiba bewitching the audience?”

Naruto thought for some seconds. Then he shook his head, unusual seriousness in his eyes. Nearly a sigh of thankfulness passed Kakashi’s lips, but he quickly send instead a few words out. “It’s a job only you can do, Naruto.”

The ultimate trump card for dealing with the blond mayor’s son. He was a sucker for being the only one who could handle a _really_ special job and so it was no surprise that the cerulean eyes lightened up the instant Naruto wrapped his head around the idea. A bright grin was send his way and Kakashi watched how Naruto even saluted, the hair slicked back and suddenly proud about one of the least important jobs today. But what Kakashi said was also true, they had to check the insides and people too, thoroughly, but he also knew the ordeal already of undercover and bodyguard missions in crowded places. To set an example, he would also go on patrols in the spacious main hall, which would serve tonight as the main place to dance, chat and the speeches Namikaze would give for the sake of the new school buildings. He also hired a band to play music and as Kakashi entered the hall, he wasn’t surprised to see the musicians tune their instruments and make the last preparations for the event on a small stage beside the big staircase leading into the higher levels. People in waistcoats were already walking around, holding on to service trays with champagne, other non-alcoholic drinks or little snacks and so were secretly guards standing around in shady places, not really hidden, but their presence not noticed by the first guests entering. Not many of them let their vision rake around, over the expensive marble ground in creamy white, the balustrade hanging over their heads and leading to the different bureaus which were currently vacated, the massive chandelier lightening up their surroundings or the wide stairs at the end of the hall, first leading straight towards the wall and then splitting up either right and left.

 

The crème de la crème of the rich inhabitants of Konohagakure knew naturally their way around in the town hall. Some Hyuuga’s were present, so was a subordinate of the Uchiha’s walking alongside them, a little bit looking out of place in the middle of those pale-eyed aristocratic snobs. But there was a man visiting and strolling in with a raven at his side which would’ve been able to take Kakashi’s breath away, just by the fact that he was in the same room as the silver haired cop (if not for his constantly depressed and slightly irritated mood).

Jirayia, the writer of the “Icha-Icha”-series. The distinct figure just laughed loudly about something his female companion said, who was only barely reaching to the chest of the author, nevertheless Kakashi knew why Jirayia selected her as a plus guest. The rimless glasses were creating an aura of intelligence around the woman, though her curves cladded into soft looking blue fabric said femme fatale. Never before Hiko he would’ve believed to wear that much clothing could be attractive on another woman, but that raven pulled the stunt off without even seeming to break into a sweat. The male watched with hawk eyes how the hips swayed from side to side, not in a forced way, but naturally. He watched how the raven elegantly took a flute of champagne and thanked the waiter with a smile, before the sharp look again returned to the slowly filling hall and mustered the present people. He watched with unwilling fascination how the woman walked across the room, by her side Jirayia, and the way how the skin-tight dress was wrapping the round hips and behind reminded him so much of Hiko that it hurt.

Disgruntled Kakashi tightened his jaw. Great. Was his libido that depraved his mind pictured the next best small woman as a replica of the brunette? Angry at himself, he was near to just walk over and prove himself she couldn’t be who he believed it was, but then the decision was ripped away from him.

“Pervy sage!” Naruto jumped out of nowhere into the way of the two people and suddenly Kakashi’s mind sprang into action, reminding him about his birthday and a particular piece of information he obtained back then, which would’ve prepared him for the moment of utter confusion right now if he had remembered that in time.

 _“Great. Now he will all day read this book. God, I had_ plans _. How did you even get this!? It’s not even published yet!”_

_“My godfather is the author and when he heard Kakashi-sensei is a fan, he nearly pressured me in giving it to him…”_

Kakashi was close enough to listen, but not to be seen by the three people, so he just did that, listen to the warm welcome the author received.

 

“Hey kid! You’re looking more like a man than the last time I saw you! Got yourself a bona fide girlfriend, mhmm?”

“How do you know? Hinata is the best, kind and really caring! And she looks stunning, you should see her, she has those really beautiful eyes! I have the feeling…” Naruto blushed, what made all three of them smile. Jirayia squeezed the shoulder of his protégée, all the while nodding full of understanding. “You know, your aunt Tsunade can be also kind and really caring about me, if she decides to let me get some words in.”

“So, she’s still angry?”

“A bit. But in a few days, I think she will miss me enough to send hateful text messages again. Ah!” The author slapped his forehead with enough force to send a grown-up man to earth. “I didn’t introduce you! Sorry.” Apologizing he looked back and forth between the young cop and his companion, who just took a sip from her champagne.

“No worries.”

The raspy and sensual voice was coming from the raven, who just wiped some of her tresses behind her ear and tilted her head. “My name is Mariko Tachibana. I’m pleased to make your acquaintance.” To add to the elegant picture, she lowered her chin in a ladylike manner. Standing in her back, Kakashi tried to look away from the uncovered shoulder blades and a big portion of her backside, but his eyes were filthy traitors. Raking over white, creamy skin, almost mesmerized by the way how Tachibana’s muscles moved, tensed and relaxed. Some tightened underneath the surface as she shifted on her feet, her hips standing out more as she did so and Kakashi’s eyes quickly flew upwards again.

She didn’t wear a bra right now.

“I’m afraid I’m no good as a conversation topic,” the raven added with a low chuckle, “so I may ask why you are present on such a lovely evening?”

Puffing his chest out, Naruto answered without a worry in the world. “It’s my job. You know Tachibana-san, my occupation is the one of a police officer. Tonight, we’re guarding the place.”

“We’re? Then the two, young people at the entrance are probably your colleagues?”

“Yeah!” The blond grinned brightly. “And our boss for tonight is also here!”

“And who might that be? Is he around?”

“Well, he was a few minutes ago, but now I have no idea where he could’ve went… Hey! There he is! Kakashi-sensei!”

Kakashi winced at the enthusiasm his subordinate radiated as he waved him over, out of his hiding point and into the vision of the mysterious female. Goosebumps teetered over his thankfully hidden forearms as the silver haired cop walked as casual as possible over.

Tachibana had tensed when Naruto said his name. His instincts spiked up at the unconscious gesture and when he stood in front of the woman and on top of that up to close, he needed a few moments to concentrate.

 

She still smiled and the snub nose curled lightly. “Pleased to meet you, Kakashi-sensei.” There was a hint of mockery shining through, so he forced his mouth into a degenerated grin, knowing nobody would see his pitiful attempt anyway. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Tachibana-san. And my full name is Kakashi Hatake.”

“My, so you were spying on our talk earlier.”

“More like I was walking by and wondered why my subordinate wasn’t doing his job.” He raised an eyebrow, what countered surprisingly Jirayia, who laughed loudly the hint off.

“You’re the famous Kakashi-sensei I heard so much about! Thank you for taking the little idiot over there under your wings, otherwise his mother would worry far too much.”

“Hey!”

In his back the band began to play. While they had chatted, the room filled with more and more people and now in the air was buzzing with life and filled with lots of smells and sounds, a jazzy melody woven into the background. Tachibana started to sway a little to the music, sipping from time to time at her champagne. Her lips looked so familiar, how they closed around the edge of the delicate glass, but Hiko would never wear such a bright red color, she would either use colorless lip balm or a darker berry color to surprise the cop once in a while. Neither her cheeks were that puffed out, Hiko’s face was more heart-shaped and the eyes of the rich woman were of a dirty brown, lacking the vivid icy blue he cherished.

‘Get a grip on yourself. Yes, maybe she resembles Hiko a bit, but Mariko Tachibana isn’t a _criminal_. She’s the companion of your favorite author and you should use your chance to get to know him better, all the while checking on the other people around. And you should thank him for your birthday present.’

Nevertheless, a huge part of his brain was fixed on the smaller woman, calculating how tall she would be if her high shoes weren’t obscuring her height or how much resemblance he could find in the way how Tachibana held herself, from her gestures to the unconscious reactions of her muscles and the tiny movements of her eyes.

There was something irking Kakashi about the woman. She was… just strange.

 

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Her heart continued to pound awfully loud. Hiko was near to excuse herself from the round, maybe under the disguise to powder her nose or a similar stupid reason, though her legs were strangely weak and she feared they would give in the moment she would dare to move.

Why was Kakashi here? Why was he here and why the hell he didn’t find out the second he set his hawk eyes on her that it was his traitorous girlfriend sweating underneath the damn thick wig? Why did he look like he was alright, minus the obvious dark bags underneath his black eyes while he chatted with Jirayia and Naruto? And why the goddamn fuck he discarded the usual flu mask for this sexy beyond comparison dark fabric, covering nose and lips and chin from any other person? (Why he never wore it before in the secrecy of her or his apartment? Hiko would have jumped him immediately.)

Hiko needed all her concentration to stop her eyes to focus entirely on the silver haired cop. Not only was the new mask confusing her hormones. The well-fitting suit, underlining the slim waist and his broad shoulders and the lightly crumpled tie, almost unnoticeable in this utter image of perfection were endearing.

Hiko gripped the champagne flute tighter. And she wasn’t the only one who noticed. Every time a woman passed by, hungry eyes and badly hidden dirty looks were thrown at the cop, who continued to talk with Jirayia, blissfully unaware of the attention he received. To call the ugly feeling burning in her guts jealousy was just right. Maybe something a little bit fiercer when a boney lady strolled along, glanced shortly at Kakashi’s backside and nodded approvingly, like he was a fine piece of meat on her platter. A growl built up inside her chest, but Hiko restricted it.

‘Currently you have no right. Not as Hiko and absolutely not as Mariko Tachibana, who doesn’t even know the handsome detective in front of her. You’re a polite and calm woman who’s interested into the political course Namikaze sets for Konoha and naturally wants to donate lots and lots of money for the new school buildings. Not that you have much money to spare…’

“Tachibana-san.” Startled Hiko looked up into the smiling face of Naruto. “What are you doing? I mean, your occupation.”

She already thought of something. “I’m a freelancer in the same department as Jirayia-san, mostly for scientific texts in german language. They are not that entertaining as his novels, I must say.”

“You know he has already a relationship?”

Hiko had to smile warily at the slightly aggressive tone the blond used. “I’m aware that he’s in a rather… unusual bound with someone and also aware of the fact she’s right now a bit… miffed about his habits of doing research. Do not worry, I don’t want to pursue a relationship with your godfather, even when he has quite a lot of interest in my features.”

Naruto blushed at the two-faced comment. “Uh… Alright, I think you seem like an honest person, so… yeah…”

“I assume you want to say you believe me.” Hiko said gently.

Naruto blushed even further, then nodded, full of adorable shyness and so cute she forgot for a second all of her worries and laughed loudly, what caused the two men to interrupt their deep conversation about their beloved erotica.

 

The temporary raven didn’t expect to feel the deep stare of her love on her figure and like that, she felt how her cheeks grew warm under the intensity Kakashi displayed. When he opened his mouth, the female was feeling so nervous that her knees were again pudding.

“German, you say? Interesting choice.”

Hiko had the distinct hunch that she fucked up, though she had no idea where the thought came from. Instead of immediately backing away (what would’ve been probably the smartest thing she could do), the short woman stepped up to the challenge, noting not only Jirayia was a little bit confused by her sudden change of demeanor.

“Is the language not appropriate to your taste?”

“Excuse me?”

“I’m asking myself why someone would question my choice of work. German isn’t a crude language like many believe, indeed there are some words I grew quite fond of, so to speak. Also, the german philosophers have some points I can’t dismiss that easily.”

“Which would be?”

“For example,” Hiko knew he was trying to ruffle her feathers and Kakashi managed to do that all too well, “Nietzsche. A bright mind. A lot of his theses circle around the human moral. An interesting concept to think about.”

“I’m not at all questioning the purpose of such deep topics, I’m just curious. Wasn’t he the one to announce that “god is dead”?”

“Right.” Endeavored to make Kakashi shut up, Hiko scrambled for the info she collected to back up her story. “But Nietzsche didn’t wish god to be dead. He saw himself as an observer, who announced simply an observation he saw in the historic society. Mainly he noticed the Christian moral changed by the changes happening back then, namely the quickly growing interest in science and the stubborn holding on old structures, to the point where he had to say: god is dead, meaning the Christian morality was too.”

 

“What would naturally consist of the well-known red strings leading through our society.”

“As a police officer you must be interested in that part of philosophy. Yes, due to renewal of the world around them, Nietzsche believed those were too old to survive the era of science, especially as they were present in laws and official rules. Don’t steal from others, don’t kill…”

Suddenly his eyes grew cold and again Hiko wished to be swallowed by the earth. “Don’t lie to your closest ones. That’s one of my favorites.”

Uh-oh. Did she go too far? Her stomach dropped to the ground out of panic Kakashi would instantly rip the wig away from her. But he did nothing, the cop only mustered her once more from head to toe, measuring and possibly also calculating if such boldness was possible. Hiko gulped. “I have to agree. Though in our time lying became almost a sport. At least among the reigns of criminals, detective.”

“Unfortunately.” Kakashi cocked his head, then smiled. Not his real, warm and kind smile, but a forced and almost painful grin, as much the brunette could say underneath the black fabric of the obscuring mask. “As enjoyable as it is to talk with both of you, my colleague and I have some tasks to fulfill. If you would excuse us…”

Only after a few seconds, which Kakashi used to drag Naruto away in an inhuman pace and Hiko stared dumbfounded at the spot her boyfriend only stood some moments ago, she realized what exactly she had said and what impact her words had on his already cracked faith in her.

The reigns of criminals. Hiko, who lied to whole time about a big part of her life. Hid things from Kakashi. And now some stranger came along, bundled him up in some strange discussion about german philosophy and lies. Naturally his nerves would hit the fan. Naturally he would try to flee from the stranger.

Hiko would’ve done that too.

“Care to explain why one of my most loyal fans just ran away like a swarm of wasps was chasing him?” Jirayia bend down to her ear level, whispering silently out of the corner of his mouth. “We had such a nice talk about my latest installment and plans for the next issue of “Icha-Icha”…”

“Not here,” she whispered back and nodded fiercely at an empty place right in front of the band, “Too many people.”

“Then we have to dance.”

“What?”

Jirayia still spotted that damn unworried smile, maybe with a hint of his perverted ideas showing through. “Classically we have to dance to exchange important information. That’s just the cliché and I want to try if it can actually be useful for a book.”

Hiko didn’t quite pinpoint if the author was serious. Her hands started to shake as she thought about getting so close to the man, to feel the big hands on her body, on her shoulder and hips, being so close and press her body against his… Her mind was racing around, trying to find a solution to the dilemma. Jirayia was nice, sure, but…

Automatically Hiko searched for the silver mane in an ocean of black and brown and when she finally found him, the tight fist around her heart eased the tiniest bit. Alone the mere sight of Kakashi, leaning casually against one of the pillars which were the support for the balustrade surrounding the whole room was simply balm for her tensed nerves. His arms were crossed over his chest and there was this special aura surrounding him, maybe a reminder about the days in the SFU. Nobody dared to walk up on the man, even when a few women around him were obviously checking him out, despite a little bit crumpled tie and the slightly less expensive clothes he wore.

He must’ve borrowed the suit from somewhere, because Hiko never saw one in his wardrobe.

“Fine. But no touching in inappropriate places.” She couldn’t stop herself from throwing another last glance towards the silver haired cop and in that moment, he also looked into her direction. Their eyes met and out of instinct on her lips grew a warm smile, before she was aware of who she was and impersonated right now. Just as quick as her mood lifted, the bubbling emotion fell again and Hiko turned away from her love with an aching heart.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I looked over it, though couldn't find more mistakes. If there are more, I'm sorry.


	60. Checking out

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The cat and mouse game between Hiko and Kakashi is on. Neither of them is beneath using dirty tricks.

Again. His eyes were again drawn to the mysterious woman who danced now with Jirayia. A whole ball room filled with people and the only person which was worthy being watched was Mariko Tachibana. Kakashi deemed all the other people quickly harmless. The only one he couldn’t really evaluate was her.

The short moment where she smiled at him… He would swear on his pride as a police officer that he already met that raven before. The friendly and open expression on her face just fueled his suspicions.

             ‘ _Already met. Pff. Just admit it, you thought it was Hiko for a split second._

No… Maybe. It’s just…

_The little gestures. The way Tachibana tries to push the long hair behind her ear and fails. The cautious touch at her glasses to adjust them. The way she walks, not to talk about the curves. They just look like Hiko’s._

Yes. Yes, godammit yes.’

Tachibana was like a cruel reminder of what was wrong with his life. Unnerved Kakashi swatted another waiter away, all the while never leaving the short frame out of sight. From his point of view, he could watch Jirayia and Mariko dancing to a calm jazz song, their stance friendly than everything else, so to speak. According to some interviews he had read, the writer would use any chance to get to know a woman who peaked his interest better, but there was nothing Kakashi would’ve expected from his favorite author. No indecent hands roaming accidently over intimate places, no sly looks or dirty lecherous stares. And adding the difference in height, Jirayia should have an almost miraculous sight at the bosom of the raven. Nevertheless, his eyes never strayed further down than the woman’s neck area.

_“Kakashi-sensei? We have a problem at the entrance.”_

Tenten’s voice got obscured over the ear piece, though the electronical cackling in the background vanished after some seconds. Kakashi couldn’t miss the loud noises coming from her side of the line, some yells and something like a snarl.

“Do not worry, I’m coming over. Just stall a bit.”

_“Thanks. And please hurry up.”_

One last look in the direction of the starkly differentiating couple on the dance floor and Kakashi got flooded by an unexpected wave of jealousy at the sight of Tachibana pressed so closely against Jirayia. She just shouldn’t be so close to the leech. She shouldn’t be holding his hands or allow them on her hips. She should briskly brush them off and walk over and sling her arms around his waist, pleading for forgiveness in the same sweet voice Hiko was able to use when she tried to shove him into the direction she wanted…

 

No. No, no, no. Tachibana wasn’t Hiko. No chocolate brown locks, no vivid blue eyes, almost no resemblance between the two women, except…

Except the same smile they shared. Kakashi nearly stopped dead in his tracks when two images suddenly overlapped, first the raven, then a memory of Hiko who smiled up to him, full of love and care and _sincerity._ They were the fucking same.

‘Don’t turn around. Don’t run towards her and drag her down from the floor. You don’t know anything. You have only a little idea running around in your head, nothing else, only an illusion which could become reality, but it could also dissolve into thin air. Collect more proof, then you can drag her out of this perverted writer’s arms and... Just…’

With a little sigh the cop walked down the hallway, just in time to listen to a hearty laugh of Jirayia, before Kakashi blocked everything else out and concentrated on his job. Later. Later he would investigate Mariko Tachibana further.

 

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“So…” Jirayia swiveled them around and stared at a point above her head, “my loyal fan just left the room. Care to explain your very interesting reaction?”

Stoic Hiko kept her mouth shut. Before they entered the mayor hall, she had advised the author not to draw any attention on her, but unfortunately the sudden appearance of Kakashi, practically jumping straight into her face had her thrown off of her feet. She broke one of the two rules the brunette set for the evening and the other was “No unnecessary touching or roaming underneath the belt area or I will fucking destroy your kneecaps”.

Until now the warning had been respected. Obviously Hiko should have included the avoiding of personal questions or digging into her background story.

“To start a conversation about philosophy… Nice. Really good material if I think about it.”

Hiko continued to stare blankly ahead. The song changed to another and a smooth cover of “Take me to church” underlined the guilt which was feasting at her insides.

“He was really good looking, if one can tell under the mask. Nice built. Not that I’m into men, but as a writer, I can openly say that he’s a fine specimen.”

Her teeth hurt from the amount of strength she put into her jaw. Either she would scream at Jirayia or curse wildly, spilling every possible and imaginable insult she could find in her creative brain. Still, her body fulfilled its role without a flaw, turned, swiveled around and moved her feet accordingly to the music.

“And didn’t I sense some sexual tension woven into-?”

“My god! He’s my boyfriend!” Hiko snarled.

Jirayia’s eyes lightened up in badly hidden glee. “Really? With you being an on-the-run criminal and he a dedicated cop? Is this some kind of strange kink you two have?”

“We… We broke… _I_ broke up with him before…”

Before Kabuto could do anything to Kakashi. Before he could hurt him, before he could torture Kakashi like he tortured her, like he violated her in every possible way. Before… A shudder went down her spine at the thought of one of her greatest fears becoming true and not the comfortable kind of shudder.

“Uh-oh. I know that look.” The tall man shook his head. “Women and their worrying. I swear, if every time Tsunade overthought something I would’ve gotten a cent, I would be a rich man!”

“You are a successful writer.”

“And?”

 

Hiko sighed out. “Your last book sold at the first day a million times. I don’t even want to know about the other shameless smut you wrote and sold every other day of the year. So, the cents which you would’ve gotten are either way pointless.”

The roaring laughter following her statement let the surrounding people turn towards them and the attention let her cheeks flare up. Thankfully the make-up which Karin applied was thick enough to dampen the bright red to a less embarrassing pink.

By now Hiko had completely forgotten they were dancing at all, the motions came to her in her sleep, so she was a bit surprised the man stopped and freed his grip of his hands. Self-conscious the female wiped them clean of the sweat on the dress, then looked once more into the faces of the people, if now to see the amusement at the outbreak of the writer or light confusion, paired with understanding.

At least they weren’t pointing at Hiko, screaming about the butcher being in their middle to slaughter them all.

Yes, more than once she had heard snippets flying around the room, all going on about Konoha’s very own serial killer and also more than once the rich ladies and gentlemen commented their shock that the murderer came from the reigns of the police force of their city. Hiko winced every time someone in her proximity started a conversation with a sentence about the incident, the corpses, the blood… And she could only remember the solemn expression in Kakashi’s face as he walked into her living room that evening, a bit lost, a bit angry, but mostly so utterly defeated by the whole situation, that she just wanted to hold onto him and never let go, protect him from the world outside of her apartment and from the ghosts hunting him.

“So much sass in such a little woman.” Still a bit giggling like a schoolgirl, the man straightened himself out and leaded her down from the empty dance floor. His hand was covering hers completely and as soon as they left the attention center of the audience, Hiko let go of his hand like the flesh had been replaced by hot iron and was burning her own palm.

“I’m just telling the truth.” she answered with a shrug. Suddenly a wave of cold air rushed in, together with a loud voice booming all over the place, which belonged without a doubt to a female. Funny enough Hiko had her eyes on Jirayia and the writer immediately paled when he looked over her shoulder at the incomer.

She just had to turn around to see who exactly was able to scare the shit out of the writer.

The newcomer was as stated a woman. A tall, blonde woman with a bust all present men could drown in (a huge part of the crowd probably wanted) with casual pigtails hanging down her back. Seriously, either she won the lottery in the genetics part or she had some long visits at the hospital to help them inflate into those… _melons_. To top that, she wore a long, attention seeking red dress with only tiny straps holding the upper part into place, but the finishing touch was the long white lab coat draped over her shoulders. And she looked royally pissed when her golden eyes flew around and landed on Jirayia and Hiko, only to squint in badly concealed anger.

Oh no. That blonde meant big trouble. Saying by the reaction the white-haired man showed he recognized her and apparently it was also the other way around, if the stomping into their direction was any indicator.

 

“Found you and your newest slut!”

Hiko blinked confused. She was near to turn around and search for that “slut”, but then realized the blonde meant her and a little chuckle escaped. If they would be going per definition, the brunette was the farthest away from being a slut, though she wouldn’t say anything for the sake of her cover.

The furious woman laughed dryly. “Not involved with anyone, eh? Not meeting anyone for the sake of your research? I bet you can’t even keep your dick in your pants while hopping from bar to bar!”

Jirayia was sweating. Literally. Hiko couldn’t believe the man could look that embarrassed, with droplets clinging to his forehead and nervously fidgeting around, his eyes always fixated on the face of the busty woman. “Tsunade, it isn’t what it looks like…”

“Then tell me what is going on here, because I have a very clear view on this right now!”

“We’re just acquaintances, nothing more.”

“Acquaintances my ASS!” screamed Tsunade and the people in their proximity who had looked into the direction of the fighting couple abruptly turned away, maybe scared away by the dangerous aura the blonde female emitted. “You were hugging that little dwarf just moments ago, holding her hand even!”

“Actually, the word “dwarf” already implies someone is small, so saying “little dwarf” is redundant in this situation.”

The words were faster out than Hiko could think and only when Jirayia sighed full of tortured despair out, Tsunade really exploded. Pointing at Hiko, she let hell loose (not literally, that would even send the shorty flying). “Who do you think you are!? Nothing else but a desperate woman in search for a rich man! But I’ll tell you something! You will absolutely _not_ get your filthy claws on _this_ man, understood!?”

Tsunade flushed her body firmly against Jirayia’s chest, who couldn’t suppress a little sway of his eyes onto her generous bust.

In Hiko’s mind fought two fractions: one was the annoyance and even slight anger at the needless insults the other female spilled so carelessly, the other was boundless amusement at the whole situation. Here she was, cornered by a jealous Tsunade (it must be the on-off-woman Jirayia talked all evening about and didn’t she know that loud woman from somewhere?) and forced to ease the tension somehow, even when she had no idea how to do so and originally just wanted to get into the bureau of the mayor and search for some data which would hopefully help her solve the crime case she was entangled in. And the cherry on top was that Kakashi was also present, looking stunning enough to make her breath hitch and her knees growing weak whenever he looked at her with his intense onyx eyes.

Hiko raised her hands in a defensive pattern. “I have no intention in getting my filthy claws,” just in time the female stopped herself from making exclamation marks in the air, “on what is yours. Honestly, if I could, I would have skipped him some time ago. The whole evening he’s just talking about his ex, about her kind nature and how she is his inspiration and such… A total waste of time, if you ask me.”

 

Jirayia looked full of uncertain hope at Tsunade, like he was watching an interesting tennis match going on between the two women. She clawed with more force than before into the fabric of his suit, angry whiskey-colored eyes squinted and the red lipstick only underlining the fuming rage Tsunade emitted.

“I’m the ex!” she screeched out, “I’m his inspiration, you imbecile-!”

“Tsunade, that’s enough, you shouldn’t…”

“No, it’s not enough!”

Just as Hiko wanted to bring in a remark involving popcorn and the great show which was presented in front of her, a shadow fell upon her and when Kakashi slid into their little circle, the temporary raven nearly choked on the breath she just inhaled.

Calmly the cop raised his hands and to her surprise, the blonde woman immediately shut up. “I’m sorry to interrupt, but it looks to me like you two have something to discuss.” Kakashi gestured towards Tsunade and Jirayia. “If you may search for a more secluded place. In the meantime, I would like to talk a bit more with you, Mrs. Tachibana. Our chat about philosophy made me think and I would like to share my newly gained insights with you.”

“Miss. I’m not married.” she said automatically.

“What a shame. Such an elegant woman like you should have someone waiting for her.” His eyes creased in a smile, a true one on top of that and in the back of her mind Hiko noted the (far too easy) retreat of the older couple to god-knows-where, maybe to make up with a passionate and at least R-rated move or to scream at each other a tiny bit more before the first alternative came into their minds. But everything vanished as she heard Kakashi _flirting_ with her.

Yes, he wasn’t bound right now. Yes, maybe he could use some light and flirtatious words, the chilled atmosphere and the music making them dance. Kakashi had so much to worry about, he fucking earned the right to forget for some minutes about the harsh reality.

But Hiko would accept the hell with open arms before she would join him in his attempt to forget or even worse, watch how he tried to woe one of the pretentious females in this room. Disgruntled, but with the façade of an ice queen she raised her eyebrows for a fraction. “And I’m a bit scandalized. A dedicated and surely handsome police officer like you is not in a relationship with a fine woman? It’s just as much of a shame as my state as a free female.”

The black of his eyes darkened. “There are… currently some circumstances.”  
“You’re avoiding the question at hand.”

“There was never a question.”

“Fine. Are you in a relationship?”

 

Silence followed, stretched out like a tenacious piece of gum. Only when the shorty turned to Kakashi, she saw the clenched jaw and the little wrinkle between his eyebrows, signs she couldn’t miss after all those months she spend with him. Kakashi was agitated, though not fully angry. He didn’t want to talk, but he was too well-mannered to leave her without an answer, so he already sorted the words out he would use, weighing every single syllable like they were made out of gold.

Then the silver haired man sighed. “I suppose…” Hiko held her breath as he shrugged, “I’m not.”

Oh. She shouldn’t feel hopeless, disappointed and depressed. She broke up with him, so it was his right to decline any relationship. Nevertheless, the sadness was feasting at her insides as Hiko reached for another glass of champagne presented by a waiter and by chugging that lump in her throat together with the alcohol down, she tried to concentrate again.

“Like I said. What a shame. But maybe tonight will be your lucky day. Many women would give their right hand for a night-!”

“I’m not interested in only one night.”

The drink went the wrong way. Hiko choked, but brushed his hand aside, even when he only wanted to help and pat her back. There was no way she would survive the contact of Kakashi’s fingers on the arc of her spine right now, with nothing to protect the female from her own compliant reaction to the touch. Like a weak kitten she would arch into the palm and try to search as much warmth as she could, to be comforted and feel loved by the cop.

Kakashi retreated slightly, but his presence was still a lingering reminder of her failure by her side. Though the brunette couldn’t miss the quick glance over her frame, resting at her curves and secretly checking her out, the pervert he was.

He was flirting. He was seriously flirting with the alter ego she created, was attracted to Mariko Tachibana, the freelancer who translated german educational texts. Strange jealousy coiled in her stomach at the uncomplicated made-up woman, who was able to chat and laugh freely with the silver haired cop. Hiko wanted that too. She wanted to be carefree, to enjoy the evening in a rich environment, maybe dance a little bit without having to worry about her skin itching from the touch of another human.

“Thanks,” she rasped and swallowed the remains of champagne, “I think I will survive.”

Kakashi’s eyes creased into the half-moons which let her stomach flutter every time she saw the expression on him. “Maa, just when I wanted to do some first-aid-measures…”

“My, detective, what a silver tongue you call your own.”

“What can I say? I exist to please.”

“A dull aim, in my opinion.” Hiko snorted in annoyance. “Humans are conceited creatures and out of my experience I have to say that other people tend to make one play games for their own entertainment, only to drop you at the most convenient time.” Another sip from her champagne flute and she let her eyes rake over the crowd around.

 

Some couples had started dancing, slowly swaying over the dancefloor to the sound of some smooth jazz, underlined by the voice of the charismatic female lead singer. Waiters were busy distributing finger food and drinks, all of them walking through the groups and quietly offering their goods for the rich ladies and gentlemen. In the distance she spotted the blond mayor together with his gorgeous wife, Namikaze in a respective black suit but a hideous orange tie and the red-haired Uzumaki dressed in a fancy green dress which looked like thousands of vines had the sudden urge to grow around her figure. The infamous pair walked obviously lovey-dovey hand in hand and every time someone came near them, Namikaze smiled full of sincerity, meanwhile Uzumaki nodded full of grace at the person. In most cases even the most annoying flies had to give up at the aura of invincibility surrounding them, what left only their friends and dear workers speaking with them. Hiko had the hunch the couple liked it that way.

“You’re not trusting anyone in here, not even us police officers?” Kakashi asked. Hiko turned to him and noticed he wasn’t trying to get some insight into the other people around. He was totally transfixed on her, not even his eyes strayed from her face, intently staring, measuring.

Measuring. When the thought crossed her mind, the temporary raven immediately straightened and gripped the again half-empty flute tighter. The whole time Hiko thought Kakashi wanted to forget and concentrated on Mariko because Jirayia was his favorite author and vanished with the angry Tsunade, but the silver haired cop wasn’t one to just bluntly go up to a woman and flirt like that. Not that she ever experienced Kakashi in a flirtatious mood, only one time though, when he was slightly buzzed after an evening with their friends…

 

_“Hey. Heeeeeey.”_

_Kakashi leaned heavily on her shoulders, his breath which reeked of the alcohol he drank today ghosting in waves over her face. With a little sigh Hiko decided to ignore him and instead concentrated to partly drag, partly support the man up into her flat. Never again she would allow Kisame to bring some strange flask out of his hometown out in the open. That drink was deadly, for every single one of them. Only the women –Rin and Hiko- were smart enough to avoid this… blood of the devil._

_“Heeeey. Hiii-chan…” A low snicker escaped him, actually it was more the giggle of a schoolgirl. “Listen.” her buzzed boyfriend demanded while Hiko tried to stick her keys into the lock to her flat. “Listen.” Then he giggled once more, just when the door finally opened._

_“What is it?” She would definitely don’t like the things going on right now on his mind, because there was a certain sparkle in the onyx eyes which told her Kakashi was up for mischief._

_The man leaned down, lightly swaying and searching for his balance. “You know...” He breathed deeply in, maybe bracing himself. “Let me tie your shoes.”_

_“What?” Quickly the brunette glanced at her shoes, but there were no ties to begin with._

_“Wait… Because I don’t want you to fall for someone else.”_

_Hiko’s eyebrows wrinkled. What. The. Actual. Fuck._

_But Kakashi didn’t notice her confusion, therefore continued to blabber strange things out, spotting all the while a crocked smile. “If you were a laser, you would be set on stunning. If I could rearrange the alphabet I would put ‘U’ and ‘I’ together. There must be something wrong with my eyes, I can’t take them off of you.”_

_“Wait.” Hiko clicked her tongue after the last one. “Are you hitting on me with cheesy pick-up lines?”_

_Proudly Kakashi nodded. “Is it working? And you better know I have a whoooooole lot more where those came from.”_

_“You’re drunk.”_

_“I’m not drunk, I’m just intoxicated by you.”_

_“Oh god…”_

_“When god made you, he was showing off.”_

_“Please, just go to bed.”_

_“If I go this way, will I be able to reach your heart?”_

_Against her will Hiko had to break into a laugh. Her boyfriend just tried so hard to land on her with such outdated and corny lines, paired with an innocent grin hidden underneath the white flu mask that she couldn’t help herself and slung her arms around Kakashi. “That you still have to ask is ridiculous,” she mumbled into his chest, “and that you use your lines on me too.”_

_Like a child he nosed her hair, burying his masked face in the strands. “I have one more.”_

_“Well then, I’m waiting.”_

_“Can you kiss me on the cheek so I can at least say a cute girl kissed me tonight?”_

_Naturally she fulfilled Kakashi’s request and gently moved her lips to meet his cheekbone. Then an idea came to her mind. “That’s for calling me cute.” Another kiss on the other masked cheek. “That’s for trying to seduce me with pure cheese.” And as Hiko removed the flu mask and kissed Kakashi on his lips, she whispered: “And that’s for making all of them work.”_

The point was, Kakashi wouldn’t flirt with a random woman, not without serious commitment in mind, if Hiko really thought about it. Especially right after a quite disastrous break-up with a so-called murderer und guaranteed hacker over a pitiful and without a doubt cruel note spelling out that she left him for someone else. As merciless as it sounded, but the silver haired cop had to be damaged by that.

“Miss Tachibana?” His warm voice was laced with amusement, or at least something eerily similar to that emotion. “I’m still waiting for an answer.”

Hiko cocked her head to the side, all the while forcing the small smile on her lips to remain. “I apologize, I was lost in my thoughts for a bit. Yes… What was…?” Quickly she tried to concentrate again. “Right… The question at hand was if I have problems with trust. You could say I’m trusting some people more than others and even the title officer can’t make my trust issues disappear.”

He was at least suspicious. Somehow, Hiko had no idea why, Kakashi with his damn hawk eyes and the bright mind was wary of Mariko Tachibana and tried to either clear the suspicion or unmask the brunette with oh-so innocent questions. Did she say something which could betray her? Forcefully Hiko tried to recall all her answers, but the string of thought was warped and twisted, with all the nervousness and adrenaline constantly running through her veins. There was a possibility that she already managed to blow her cover up. But Hiko believed that Kakashi wasn’t entirely sure if she was really the one who he thought she was, otherwise he would’ve already clasped a nice pair of handcuffs around her wrists. Though he still searched for clues and for that purpose the cop was talking to her, nearly glued to the hems of her dress in the way he clung to her side.

New insights her ass. The idiot just wanted to confirm if Mariko was the one she claimed to be. Well, two could play that game.

 

Like she was unfazed by the realization, Hiko sipped at her drink and even gained the attention of a waiter, who offered her some delicious looking bites of cheese and grapes. She took two on a napkin, thanking the female with a weak smile and waited for Kakashi to find his tongue again after her exclamation.

To her mild surprise the cop was still smiling, only his eyes grew noticeable colder. “Even when we work hard for the sake of the citizens, to protect and serve so to speak?”

“A nice mentality. Unluckily not everyone shares your high standards.”

“Unluckily yes.”

Play low and keep everything under control or set the bar higher? No, be nice and safe. What preached Zetsu until Hiko swore her brain melted? ‘Don’t risk anything or you’re getting eaten by a Venus flytrap.’ A strange comparison, nevertheless a fitting one.

Hiko nodded slowly, then proceeded to pluck apart the grapes from the cheese. Her stomach was a tight knot and she didn’t think she was really able to actually eat something, even something as tiny as the finger food they served here. “Let’s not talk about something depressing tonight. The restauration of school buildings should be a happy occasion to gather, not to talk about the benefits coming along.”

“You mean the food, the drinks…” Kakashi’s voice sounded a little bit deadpanned at so much (illusionary) arrogance.

“I talked about the students who get finally modernized classrooms and sufficient learning material or for example healthy food for lunch, but never mind. Food, drinks and music for the rich are so much better.” There was so much irony dripping from her words Hiko felt like she overdid it, but when the silver haired cop’s eyes again curled in the adorable curves, she didn’t really care much anymore. Too important and nice was the warm tickle in her limbs which awoke at the familiar chuckle and dark voice.

God, she had missed him.

The band switched to the next song and strangely enough Hiko knew the melody, a wonderful jazz piece, easy to dance and enjoy. Swaying to the music, the woman first even didn’t realize the question, though she couldn’t ignore the outstretched hand.

“Talking about the music. Want to dance?”

 

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Tachibana blushed. And Kakashi just immediately knew that either this raven was the death of him or just had to be Hiko. Otherwise he couldn’t explain the sudden flash of raw lust pulsing through him at the sight of the flushed cheeks and the knowing sparkle in the brown eyes. One thing was for sure: she had a special side which intrigued him, the same way the shorty could, but at the same time Tachibana was noticeable colder. The whole time they talked she was wary, carefully picked her words and avoided to dig deeper even when he left on purpose some opportunities for her to attack. Hiko seemed always open to everything, was censoring her words only when she saw an urgent need to, but otherwise… Mariko and Hiko were frightening similar. But nothing Tachibana said could confirm his hunch, only the smallest of possible hints strengthened Kakashi’s idea. The comment about his silver tongue, the scowl when he attempted to flirt with the raven, the small movements of her face and the traitorous tiny switches in her expression whenever she had to concentrate again on something only the female knew about.

Kakashi knew in theory how to de-mask an undercover agent, but Mariko or Hiko seemed to know the guidelines and rules like they were engraved into her mind. No obvious gestures showing, she managed to just simply slip through all his questions and that frustrated him. He didn’t want to refer to any drastic measures, but his patience was worn out. If he could hold her for a moment, dance with Tachibana like he had danced with his brunette, then he would be sure. (What he would do if Tachibana really proved to be Hiko wasn’t part of his plan currently.)

“I’m sorry, but I don’t dance.” Tachibana interrupted his thoughts with a shy response. The blush eased, but there was still enough resemblance to the brown-haired woman to let his heart pound harder. Kakashi couldn’t give in to those confused feelings. He had to concentrate.

The cop continued to smile, upheld the forced happy expression with sheer willpower and the determination of someone who didn’t have to lose much. “No worries. I can dance well enough for us two.” And as Tachibana still hesitated and glanced uncertain at his offered hand, the silver haired man stepped closer and dropped some carefully chosen words, hoping just as much as counting on a passive-aggressive reaction. “But maybe you’re just too scared to try.”

There. A flame lit up in the brown eyes, squinted and eyebrows wrinkled just like he had hoped. “Scared? Me? Because of _dancing_? You wish.” And that was it. Like she never had something else in mind, the raven laid her slender fingers into his palm and allowed him to guide her towards the dancefloor, full of feminine elegance and back perfectly straightened.

The moment their hands made contact Kakashi would swear a lightning hit him, the impact zone coming from Tachibana’s finger tips. She radiated warmth and even when only so little skin touched his, the heat travelled along his veins into every part of his body. It was like since Hiko’s vanishing Kakashi was constantly cold and he didn’t even notice, only to nearly burn and melt in the proximity of the raven. What was this? This attraction to a stranger, only days after his girlfriend which he treasured more than the signed versions of his Icha-Icha-books left him apparently for a total douchebag and was a criminal on top of that, and now an ordinary small raven awoke nearly the same longing in him his Firefly could?

Kakashi hated how much he liked Tachibana’s hand in his. He hated the casual smile on her face as she swiveled around and held her arms apart, already thrown into the proper stance of a dance. And he absolutely hated the fluttering of his heart at the sight.

 

Challenging she raised an eyebrow. “Now the detective is scared, huh?”

“You wish, Miss Tachibana.” Like that Kakashi laid his right hand on her hip, concentrated to the max on the feeling, then let his other hand in hers and stepped closer until they were at a decent distance. “Ready?”

The eyes behind the glasses creased in a teasing grin. “Whenever you are.”

Kakashi waited for a few seconds, at the same time assessing Tachibana’s waist underneath his hand, then fell into step with the song. His brain worked faster than ever before, so it seemed to him, trying to recreate the evenings they spend in Hiko’s flat dancing just like this, only a little bit closer, her body flushed against his stomach, her arms reaching up around his neck and her knees nudging into his whenever they slowly swayed to the rhythm of the music. Tachibana followed his steps without a problem, not even fazed by Kakashi’s hand tightening from time to time. Only the still slightly raised eyebrow betrayed her emotions.

There was something about her which unnerved and calmed Kakashi. Mariko Tachibana didn’t look quite right, like she was too perfect to be real. There must be something he could do to make her masks drop. There had to be.

The raven sighed when they circled the floor for the third time without exchanging one word. “Obviously you really can dance for the two of us.”

“Mhm.” Just a tad bit closer…

“You can call me impressed.”

“And you do great in keeping up.” Only… A little bit… Stealth was his second nature, so Kakashi had to get into the exact same position he and Hiko always had and not let Tachibana know about his objective. He wasn’t that illusionary to believe she would like a stranger (if she was really Mariko Tachibana) to feel her up and claiming he thought she was his missing girlfriend. Like it was a coincidence, Kakashi lowered both of his hands. His right slid further down and landed at the edges of Hiko’s… Tachibana’s hips, the other was tugging the female accidently closer.

“You know that dancing is considered as a social activity. And you, detective, are right now quite uncouth, if I may say so.” the raven said. The strange thing was, she didn’t even look mad. Instead she still smiled and even chuckled with her dark voice; a sound which sent shivers down Kakashi’s spine because of the fucking familiarity. “Don’t look too serious, otherwise the people might think you’re no fun.”

Her knees brushed now with every step against his legs. A bit too high, but her high heels were obscuring the woman’s true height, so no surprise. And apparently the raven didn’t notice the increased contact, thus showed no signs of rejection or disapproval. Was it just Kakashi’s wishful thinking or did the woman smile lovingly at him?

And then it hit him. Tachibana opened her mouth to say something, but the following words were blurred out by the rush of pure victory in his ears. The cop looked at the right time at the right place, namely her lips and when she opened them, he saw something which shouldn’t be there, not in her mouth or to be exact, underneath her tongue.

A slip of white paper.

 

His father told him once about an old and simple trick to rearrange his face and change his voice. Over the years Kakashi used wool pads and paper himself to change both, but after some time he learned to merely rely on his own skills in darkening or raising his voice to fool targets.

 _Finally._ No reason for Mariko Tachibana to change her voice. But Hiko Kobayashi had a reason, a very good one. Kakashi’s mind spun in dark triumph. Abruptly he flushed their bodies together and reveled in the familiar set of curves molded against him. The same generous bosom, the same well-shaped hips, the same unforgettable figure Hiko possessed. There was no way he could forget the shorty in his arms and like this, he immediately recognized her body. The silver haired man allowed himself to drop his arms to an intimate hug around her waist, his hands lying on Hiko’s bare lower back and feeling just as much knowing that the woman should realize her cover was blown.

Hiko struggled in his grip. “Excuse me detective, but this is rather close, don’t you believe?”

She was obviously nervous. Her voice trembled, shook in her hidden emotions, but she kept her brave façade up. Kakashi was once more baffled at the willpower of the brunette (the black hair must be a wig; the texture was completely different from her own silky locks). Even he hadn’t that much guts to come to an official ball in the middle of an investigation going on with nothing more than a wig, some wool pads and the presence of an absent author protecting him and still Hiko tried to upheld her masks. She was something else, that much he had to give the shorty.

“I don’t think so,” he hissed and leaned closer, looming over Hiko with just a few centimeters parting them, “I don’t believe we’re close enough right now.”

“Detective. That’s inappropriate.”

“It’s also inappropriate to break up with only a note left behind and just run away from everyone.”

Hiko’s bottom lip trembled. Brown eyes (colored contact lenses, why didn’t Kakashi notice before?) instead of the vivid blue he loved were blinking up to him, in them standing clearly what Hiko felt. Shame. Guilt. Happiness. And foremost a deep residing fear, dulling everything in comparison.

He needed to confirm. He needed to hear from her that it was really his ex-girlfriend. So Kakashi formed her name with his tongue and watched with grim satisfaction the last remains of her cracked masks crumble to the floor after he hoarsely whispered the four syllables out.

“Found you. Hiko.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I tried to proofread, but... Well, as always, not really free of mistakes. A little disclaimer -.-'


	61. Thank you for your services

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kakashi found Hiko and he has no intention of letting her escape.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My tumblr, if anybody is interested in chatting me up or my bad and dark humor:
> 
> historicfailure and he blog-title is: Whoops, my finger slipped.

Fuck. Fuckedie-friggin’-fuck, hundreds and thousands of insolent fucks. Honestly, that was everything going on in Hiko’s brain, just a string of “Fuck” in all varieties at the realization Kakashi found out her true identity and managed to gain that insight without her noticing. She couldn’t think straight, there was just fear, absolute paralyzing fear and dread clawing into her insides.

Kabuto would find out. He would know she meet Kakashi, he would know she had talked to him and then he would come and kill him. Would just take a syringe like he did to her and fill it with poison, with a strange chemical like he did to her, but this time the liquid wouldn’t be for a temporary sleep, but a permanent one…

Kakashi continued to dance with her over the floor, not caring about the looks they received at their inappropriate position for two strangers. His arms were a cage and his hands, lying on her lower back burned her skin with the same intensity as his eyes, brimming with badly concealed anger. Hiko was rendered useless under his touch and look.

“Hiko. Answer me.” he snarled, silent and deadly. Before Kakashi had been a bit unbelieving, but with every second the shorty tried to digest her masks falling apart, his temper had time to spike up, probably kindled by the last week. The horrible cruel week filled with nothing but disappointment and betrayal from her, giving the silver haired cop so much to think and learn about…

A sharp spin ripped Hiko out of her thoughts. Confused she looked upwards, directly into the coal eyes and swallowed hard at the sight of a clearly silently fuming cop. “Yes,” she whispered, broken and defeated, “No. I… Kakashi, I can’t-!”  
“You can’t? But you still can write a note, right? You can still snoop around and hack, right under my nose! You can still plot something, in the middle of the mayor’s ball!”

“It was never my intention to hurt you!”

He snorted in disbelief. “Lies. You knew it would destroy me to be left like this. You knew how guilty I would feel, how much I would blame myself for the break-up, because you know my history!”

The whole conversation was held in hissed whispers, all the while they still swayed over the dance floor, maybe not with the same vigor as before. Nobody noticed that a cop got a hold of the infamous butcher in their middle and that both danced like there weren’t things to do and places to be.

Hiko shook sharply her head, all the while trying to escape the too tight grip on her hips. “You don’t understand,” she pleaded, “I’m trying to fix this, I’m trying to turn things back to normal!”

“Normal? _Normal?_ Things just can’t go back to normal!” Kakashi clicked his tongue and finally slowed their dance. In her nervousness Hiko stumbled over her own feet, accidently pressing her chest harder into his body. Home. That was the first thought which crossed her mind as her head nuzzled out of instinct in the crook of Kakashi’s arm, one of her favorite positions to press her face against and into. But the split second was ripped away from her as he jerked backwards, shied away from her innocent touch. “Don’t.” he warned, his usual smooth voice tensed like the strings of a violin.

 

He had to loosen his hold around Hiko’s body to avoid her. One second, he was right in front, a warm comforting aura and wall to lean onto, then the next, Kakashi was gone, faster than a flash, leaving the brunette with nothing but an afterimage of his body prickling on her skin.

His sudden retreat was hurting more than Hiko could’ve imagined. Sickness spread at the disbelieving expression on his face and pain pulsed in slow languish waves in her stomach, while her heart contracted stronger than ever before, nearly jumping into her throat and choking the woman effectively. Hiko stepped backwards, tears threatening to flood the weak barriers. The Kakashi she knew so well wouldn’t step away. He wouldn’t just leave her like this, he would crouch down and tug Hiko with him towards the ground, hug the living daylights out of her form and not let go for a while, because the male enjoyed such moments even when they mostly occurred when the shorty suffered from a panic attack. And he didn’t want the female to be scared. Kakashi said so, he didn’t want to see her so thrown out of her natural behavior.

Never ever she would have thought to such an expression on Kakashi’s features. The agitation, the disbelief, hurt, wounded pride, sheer raw _sadness_ … All those things Hiko swore to never put him through and now she did exactly that. The realization she created this unfamiliar stranger hurt more than anything else, burned, ripped, pierced and shredded her heart into pieces.

“Sorry.” Fighting the tears was so hard. Hiko’s voice was raspy, laced by the crippling anguish. Shaking her head, the brunette stepped backwards, her blurry sight set on the man she loved with her stubborn little heart, but he rejected her and she could even understand the silver haired man. “I’m… So, so sorry. You don’t know how much I regret…”

The last word drowned in a broken sob.

And to her shock a hand closed around her wrist, too sudden to react properly and defend herself. Nevertheless, Hiko tried to escape, feeling the tears burn in her eyelids and making it hard to see, but everything what happened was that the large appendage tightened.

“Thank you, detective,” Jirayia waved dismissingly at the other man, “for taking care of my companion. Mariko can be a bit ferocious, but that’s just a part of her charm, eh?”

Kakashi looked like he was ready to murder someone and that someone would be the stupidly grinning author who continued to talk, obvious to the rising murderous intent. “Anyway, I wanted to introduce her to an old friend of mine. See you around and watch out for my nephew, alright?”

Hiko threw one last look at Kakashi, who stood in the in the middle of the dancefloor, hands clenched into fists and even underneath the obscuring black mask she could see the pure cold rage at the interruption of their… talk. Then Jirayia dragged her into the mass of people and their rising and lowering voices washed every other thought away, leaving the brunette with nothing more than the poisonous guilt nagging and feasting at her mind.

 

In a calm corner between two pillars and hidden from the eyes and ears of the rich people the author let go of her wrist and Hiko absent-minded rubbed the lightly bruised skin, all the while her knight in a designer suit scowled.

“I don’t have much experience in invading a huge event, but dancing with my police officer boyfriend seems even to me like a big mistake.” Jirayia murmured and threw a glance in the direction where they came from. Hiko followed his eyes and could distantly make out a silver light in the middle of black, brown and blonde, and her heart jumped and ached at the same time.

“Don’t forget,” he continued, “it’s not only your head on the platter, also mine will be served if ever comes out I absolutely knew who you were as I let you come with me.” Nervously he ruffled through his white hair, then shrugged, the serious words soon forgotten. “Now wipe away your tears. I really want you to introduce to someone and tonight he’s a busy man. However, I believe both of you would be grateful to meet each other for once.”

Her nose was blocked, so Hiko sniveled pitiful before attempting to answer. “Who?” She didn’t want to talk right now. Like a flu her feelings covered her brain, dampening every other crave than rushing over to Kakashi and threw herself into his arms. Until now the shorty thought she missed him. In reality it was much more than this, like comparing the ice cubes in a drink to the ice berg who was responsible for sinking the fucking ‘Titanic’. Truth was, knowing he was near and that he would deny Hiko such a simple thing as a touch or a gentle hug was even more crushing than the thankful ignorance of Kakashi’s state.

A snort caught her attention. Jirayia was grinning, the wart right beside his nose moving upwards as another low laugh rippled out of him. “Aren’t you curious?”

Hiko nodded weakly. Naturally. But the answer was obvious, especially when Jirayia waved at someone in Hiko’s back who turned quickly around to greet the newcomer.

A man with blond hair, crystal clear blue eyes and the fit physique stuffed into a well-fitted black suit who resembled Naruto a whole lot was coming closer, spotting a big goofy grin. He waved back at Jirayia, then the eyes settled on the short female.

“Hello,” Minato Namikaze said and rubbed with his knuckles over his forehead, “nice to meet you Tachibana-san. Jirayia-sensei said we had one topic to talk about.”

Automatically Hiko took the extended hand and was surprised that his touch wasn’t immediately repelling her. “Nice to meet you too,” she murmured, swallowed and forced a little smile on, “and thanks for your services for the city.”

Embarrassed the man raised his hands. “Oh no, I’m not that important. The whole day I’m just sitting behind a desk and sign documents, the real workers are the ones actually working on the problems of Konoha, like the police or the secretaries in the town hall.”

From every other man the sentence would’ve sounded dishonest, though Namikaze managed to make it sound like he really meant it. He possessed the same boyish childish charm Naruto had and unconsciously used said charm to bewitch the people around him. Hiko could easily imagine him in the court where he had worked mostly before aiming for a political career, sweet-talking the judges and disagreeing court.

Hiko cocked her head. “I see. And I agree, the ones working in the field are important, but there have to be the ones to take a lead and mostly you are the responsible force in the back. For example, I really liked the idea for lowering the CO2-emission you proposed, rebuilding the busses and other transports to run as hybrids or the lowering of power taxes for fabrics if they would use greener methods to produce their goods.”

 

Hiko had to concentrate to scramble all those details together. Again and again she had to rip her mind away from homey pictures of Kakashi, who cooked breakfast in nothing but his underwear and the morning coat she gave him or the gentle little gestures like holding hands or leaning against her. Every memory was a sharp edge, cruelly reminding the female about her mistakes and foremost about the one big mistake which threatened now the life she desperately wanted to live.

Namikaze blushed. “Really, the Go-Green campaign was Kushina’s idea. I had nothing to do with it.”

“Nevertheless, your initials are now on the document.”

“Yes… Uurgh, Jirayia!” Flustered the blond man nearly _pouted_ at the perverted writer. “Did you bring Tachibana-san just to embarrass me? If yes then you can stop, she did her job very well!”

The white-haired man shook his head while laughing. “No, but now I wish I did. Tachibana is just an… admirer of your work, if I had to clad it into words.” He winked full of mischief at her. In every other situation Hiko would’ve rolled her eyes, but yet she was too entangled in her dark fantasies, so she just smiled thinly. The brunette never told him that she had something to do with the rescue of Namikaze, therefore was a bit shocked to hear the writer talk openly about the incident. Then Jirayia got unusual serious, measured at the straightening of the mayor at the tone his maybe-teacher used. “Minato, can we talk somewhere private? Maybe in your bureau?”

“Sure. Private or _private_?”

“ _Private_.”

Minato’s eyes widened. A sharp nod and a silent conversation between Jirayia and him followed. Looks were exchanged and Hiko just knew the mayor tried to hide a nod into her direction, at which her companion nodded once more, still radiating a business-aura. Bored the brunette let her eyes rake over the people in their proximity, partly hoping, partly scared to see a certain man walking up on them, a furious expression in his masked face and with a dozen of police officers in his footsteps. But no one came.

Restless Hiko watched the crowd, her vision springing around from one person to the other, but the one she was searching for didn’t want to be found. She only felt his intense stare in her back as she climbed the stairs, a few steps ahead of her Jirayia and Namikaze were whispering to each other. The mayor threw once in a while asking glances at her, thus Hiko preferred to let her eyes drop to the ground instead of facing anyone yet.

She only wanted the attention of one man and at the same time he was the only one who didn’t want to give her the kind of attention the brunette craved for.

 

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There she went, straight up into the upper levels. Kakashi stared from his hiding spot at the exposed back of the woman and quickly retreated when Hiko looked one more time around, obviously searching for him. From behind the pillar he watched how she tilted her head, the black fake hair falling around her plump features and the rimless glasses blinking in the artificial light, one hand gently sliding over the thick stone railing, made out of the same white colored stone as the stairs.

Kakashi wanted to hate her. He wanted to be able to get angry on his behalf, wanted to scream and shout and trash things, wanted to show how pissed and wounded he was. But Kakashi learned a long time ago that a raging fit wouldn’t solve anything. Logic did. Plans also. And planning some logical and thoroughly formed ways to capture the shorty was a wonderful plan to channel his anger into more productive paths.

“Did it work?” Tsunade stepped beside him, her arms crossed beneath her generous assets.

“Not entirely. Jirayia made a bee line before I could escort her outside. Nevertheless, thank you for your help.”

The blonde woman shook her head. “I knew it. The old geezer vanished too fast for my taste.”

Tsunade had been the disruption at the entrance. One of her friends had seen the writer and the masqueraded woman, dancing across the floor and send a message to the doctor, who tried to make her way into the party with the excuse “I will rip her apart and punch another hole into his chest!” Tsunade was the reason Tenten called Kakashi. And when he appeared at the entrance and saw the angry female throwing a fit…

As a cop, Kakashi had to remember faces before anything else. And as he recognized the doctor as the bad driver who parked just as bad as she was able to lead a calm discussion, his mind already started to work. To buy Tsunade with a free entrance and the chance to make a scene in the middle of the ball was easy. Kakashi was pleased when he saw how well his plan actually worked, with Jirayia torn apart from his… from Hiko and the loud female throwing a fit. Like they had planned Tsunade separated Jirayia from Kakashi and Hiko, what gave him the chance to investigate the short woman alone.

He clenched his teeth. And then she had pressed himself against him, if now in mischief or accidently. In the same moment his body betrayed his logical mind, the proof, the whole load of evidence which pointed into her direction. Everything Kakashi wanted was to close the hug, to feel her form molded against his, filling the void in his heart which resided there since she left. There was even the damn scent of faint vanilla and warm raspberry in the air, despite Hiko not using her body lotion for a week!

 

And her words… Hiko pleaded him, begged him to _understand_. Said she regretted to put him into so much pain. She said into his face that she wanted to fix everything, in her dulled brown eyes standing… so much Kakashi couldn’t name nor actually wanted to think about. Since years he never was anything else but a cool, level-headed cop and this single case managed to make him into a lump of clashing emotions, one mightier than the other. Wrong, he thought to himself, one woman made him into the mushy and easily confused man he was currently. Back then in the SFU Kakashi wasn’t that easy to manipulate by Hanare, though Hiko was a whole different story. Just like she made him feel loved and accepted, cherished even, the short female created a moody and constantly on edge police officer with exactly one goal: capture the brunette before he would go crazy.

“Apparently,” Tsunade sighed, “you have no chance to get Tachibana now, am I right? With her in the proximity of the mayor and all that.”

Kakashi mirrored her stance and crossed his arms over his chest. Just in time to watch the trio vanish at the end of the stairs, Jirayia and Namikaze talking happily and Hiko one step behind them, her eyes lowered to the ground. The woman radiated melancholy and the sight turned his stomach upside-down.

“Doesn’t matter,” he mumbled more to himself than to the blonde at his side, “I will follow them.”

It was his job after all. Guarding the mayor ball. And what if a certain brunette really was an insane killer and baited the blond mayor and his favorite author into an abandoned room to murder them in cold blood? Certainly, nobody would complain when a detective patrolled around the whole building and also not when he randomly would check-up on the bureau of the mayor.

 

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“What is this all about Jirayia? I know you like the aura of mystery, but I’m growing more and more impatient with every minute.” Minato sat down with a sigh in his big black chair, Jirayia waited in a corner of the room, leaning against a wall with an equally smug expression on his face. The damn geezer couldn’t suppress the expectations on the upcoming confrontation and Hiko really wanted to wash his head, but there were other things to do. Her stomach fluttered in nervousness at the reaction of the mayor. For the first time Hiko stood face to face with one of the people she rescued and was only seconds away to revealing her identity to him.

How would Namikaze react? Would he want to shake her hand? Would he call the police, terrified to the very core? Or would he take the news silent and with the composure of an adult man?

“Mayor Namikaze,” the cerulean eyes set on her as she spoke up, “Jirayia has only little to do with this. And I can only guess why he arranged this meeting, because it wasn’t my idea.” Her fingers trembled as Hiko adjusted the rimless glasses. “Anyway, as nice as our meeting after all this time is, I have… a _problem_ ,” the word tasted bitter, “and only you can help me.”

Minato’s forehead wrinkled. “I’m afraid I don’t quite understand what’s going on…”

“So to speak we already had some kind of exchange. Only by mail and the exchange consisted of one e-mail I sent you, but I followed the… cleaning-up afterwards with big interest. Not every day a hacker discovers the conspiracy against the mayor after all.”

Silence. So Hiko pushed a bit further. Taking a step forward, she reached her hand out for a steady handshake, her eyes fixated on the blond. “Pleased to meet you, Namikaze. My name is Hiko Kobayashi, but you know me probably under my other name: tRuthseekEr. Or the one the press invented and I highly despise: the butcher.”

Her amusement was despite her dire situation beyond measures. Minato’s jaw literally dropped, the shock of the sudden revelation getting the better of him. Wordless he threw a glance at the white-haired pervert, again at Hiko and back, all the while pointing totally flabbergasted at the brunette. After a few more minutes of empty staring and the same play unfolding before her eyes Hiko snorted. “I must say I have to reconcile about my vote for you, Namikaze. If your reaction to something surprising is everytime the same, I’m not convinced anymore you can lead Konohagakure.”

The blond choked, coughed and finally was able to close his mouth. Nevertheless, the stare was immediately back on Hiko after Minato survived his coughing fit, sharply measuring her. Okay. Hiko took everything back what she said just now. Working as a lawyer, she supposed, did that to people. And Namikaze had been one of the better ones. The blond leaned forward, his hands pressing palm to palm together and the fingertips barely touching his chin. “There’s something I still don’t understand. How did you two met?”

Jirayia chuckled and shrugged. “What can I say? I’m a sucker for damsels in distress.”

The click of her tongue came in the same second the author finished the sentence. “I can remember that situation the other way around. Wasn’t there a mugger with a knife?”

 

“Only at the second time.”

“Ah yeah, right. The first time was in a dirty bar and you wanted to buy me a drink. A nasty one, on top of that.”

“Hey! You didn’t even drink it!”

“On purpose. And I needed the money.”

Jirayia gestured full of desperate pouting at the younger male. “See?” he asked, his voice shaking in badly suppressed laughter, “See with what I have to deal the whole evening?”

“Guys! That’s not the point!” Agitated the mayor threw his hands into the air. “I’m questioning my sanity right here! I know who Kobayashi-san is, her face is all over the newspapers together with the tip to watch out and call the police when seeing her! Can I have a decent explanation why exactly I shouldn’t alarm the security?”

Hiko breathed in. Time to be honest, honest enough to convince the man before her she was innocent. “I guess,” she started slowly, knowing Jirayia listened closely, “my story –and my problems- begin with the appearance of the first corpse, your secretary and as you know, the weakness in your cyber defense I used to get into your system…”

The next minutes Hiko spilled everything Minato and the writer needed to know. The background story to Danzo and how she thought the man “worked” his way up in the political ladder, with murder, tricks and threatening’s. All the surprisingly convenient retirements, vanishings or sudden deaths of people in Danzo’s way, the numerous people who only mildly protested against restrictions the former aide had wanted to put up and who were never seen again. Then Hiko explained shortly how she invaded the servers of the town hall and how she found out about the plans Danzo had for the blond sitting in front of her. Minato wore a stoic expression, but in his cerulean blue eyes flickered a worried light at the new details the brunette revealed. And finally, the woman briefly went through her involvement, the evidence against her alter ego tRuthseekEr and why she thought she was targeted.

After an eternity Hiko’s mouth was dry from all the uninterrupted talking, but she was nearly done. The shorty controlled the urge to speed through the last sentences and looked straight at the former lawyer, though her fist clenched und unclenched with the up and downs of her voice. “Now you know everything I know so far. The only thing I’m asking… No, begging you is granting me access to the personal electronical data Danzo left in your system. Maybe there’s something in there what can help me to prove my innocence. Naturally you first have to judge me. But be warned: No matter which decision you will take, I’m not going into prison.”

That would mean Kabuto would come out of his hole. And that was the last thing Hiko wanted to cause. Especially if that meant her psychotic ex started a manhunt on the silver haired cop down in the ball room.

 

Minato was silent. Nothing betrayed his emotions; his poker face was incredible. But the brunette didn't play out of fun for years with her brothers this ridiculous game. Mainly she lost, but her own poker face was at least decent. She waited, hands crossed in her lower back, spine like steel and inwardly jittering at the measuring stare the blond mayor gave her.

The silence stretched out. In her back Jirayia shuffled around, too active to stand still for a long time. With her life as a hacker, waiting was a bit of Hiko’s second nature and like this she wasn’t one bit fazed as Minato finally spoke up, wearing the sharp look of a man capable of judging a person in the matter of seconds.

“Based on your story –and I don’t say yet that I believe this construct-,” the blond mayor leaned back into his chair, “my former aide is a cold-blooded mastermind with a murderer at his leash, who killed his way to an official position by ordering said killer around.”

“Yes.”

“And Danzo Shimura ordered the killer to dispose of Fuu Yamanaka, one girl and a therapist, only to blame you and your alter ego for the homicides.”

“More or less.”

“Because you interfered with his plans.”

“That’s my guess.”

“And now…” Minato stood up and started to pace up and down, “you want to gain access to the town hall’s system to look through the files Shimura stashed here.”

Hiko shrugged. “I was thinking about downloading them, but that’s all in all the whole story.”

“And you have absolutely no proof to back your story up?”

Minato wanted to decline her question. Despair wailed up, too mighty to oppress any longer. With a weak cry the woman slammed her hands flat down on the desk. Both males flinched at the sudden and harsh sound, what used Hiko to let her words flow out of her mouth, to make _hopefully_ a change. “I know I have no proof. I know that, maybe better than you or you,” she pointed at Jirayia, “can imagine. But I have a reason to try and solve my problems, a reason which is more important than anything. And the only way to achieve my goal is to gather evidence; evidence for my innocence. I have nothing else what I can give you but my skills and the vague promise for a favor from me _if_ I manage to set things straight. But I promise on my pride as a police officer and hacker that I will return the favor if you let me alone for ten minutes with the database.”

 

Minato had an unreadable expression, arms crossed over his chest and steel in the blue eyes. Silently Hiko continued, voice shy and hesitating. “I beg you. Please. I… I have nothing else. When… When there’s only a tiny chance to find _something_ … I would do anything for that chance. Absolutely anything.”

             ‘Please let this be enough. Please. I can’t spill more, not without breaking into tears.’

Jirayia interfered, but Hiko kept focused on the mayor. “Minato, I assure you, Kobayashi may be a hacker, but I don’t think she’s able to kill somebody. You know I have-!”

He stopped mid-sentence. Minato had raised one hand to halt his mentor, seriousness surrounding him a like a shield. “I know you have a good sense when judging people,” the blond came to an abrupt stop at the window behind the desk and stared outside, blindly looking at the snow-covered fields, “but you should understand I want to assess her myself. After all you taught me that in the first place.”

“True…” Jirayia sighed.

One look over his shoulder, then Minato continued. “And you, Tachibana… Kobayashi-san. TRuthseekEr. I’m not your judge. Those days are behind me. Right now, I have to do what’s best for my city and a criminal roaming around would demolish the state of my police. I can’t just ignore the logical facts and those spell your name out, blurry but just clear enough. Logically I had to call the security and get you arrested. However…”

Hiko’s heart had sunken down at his words, she already saw her chances diminishing into thin air. Thus, the organ pounded again awfully loud as the mayor continued, his voice brimming in a familiar warmth she immediately connected to Naruto, the goddamn sunshine-boy he was. “However, I also can’t overlook our… past. I never expected Danzo to plan a conspiracy to such a deadly extent, thus was shocked to realize that many people were involved. I’m thankful you gave me the chance to clear things in my way up and foremost I’m thankful for being alive. And I heard quite a lot of stories about the infamous harpy of the KPD, how you encouraged my son from time to time.” A friendly smile was thrown into her direction and Hiko would deny any signs of weak knees later. “Considering your actions which speak a different tale than the half-proven hunches and their weak ground, I’m willing to give you full access to the town hall-database, under one condition.”

Faster than a lightning, the male stepped around the desk and stretched his hand out, all the while the shorty could only glance bewildered back and forth the limb and the face of the mayor. “I would like to shake the hand of the individual who saved my life and the city from utterly destructing changes. Thank you for your services tRuthseekEr. Thank you for saving my life.”

She never expected this. Never Hiko would’ve believed to ever face someone affected by her doings, never in her wildest dreams she would’ve thought it could be the mayor of Konohagakure standing in front of her, with a gentle grin on his face and actually thanking her for her crimes. There was no denying the lump in her throat as the female accepted the hand, feeling only the tiniest bit embarrassed and sick when his skin slid over hers.

“I did nothing worth of praise, just a bit hacking and snooping around.” she let out, ignoring the shy pride warming her stomach.

“Wait, I have some kind of Deja-vu.” Jirayia mumbled out of his corner.

Minato laughed loudly. “You too? I thought I was the only one!”

Hiko clicked her tongue at the silly laugh both males broke into. “Really?” she asked and shook her head, “Can you please just show me your computer? As nice as our meeting is, but I’m not going to stretch out your hospitality for longer than necessary.”

Besides, she didn’t know how much longer Kakashi would wait and start the hunt for the prey, in this case the short female. She was at least partly concerned he didn’t arrest her right there on the dancefloor. One second swirling around, the next the handcuffs clicking closed around her wrists. Absent-minded Hiko rubbed the covered limbs.

 

Why was he still waiting? Kakashi already had Hiko captured, rendered useless by his mere presence so close to her own, but he stepped backwards just in the moment when he probably wanted to silently escort her outside of the room. Naturally the cop didn’t want to cause an uproar. The butcher in the middle of the crème de la crème of Konohagakure? The guests wouldn’t like it and in return the media would jump at the mistake of the security like wolves would jump on a little lost lamb.

Minato nodded seriously and gestured with badly hidden charisma towards his desk, where a slender work PC waited. “Sure, sure. Do you need any help? The password, maybe?”

She blankly looked at him while taking place in the rich chair and adjusting the keyboard to her taste until the brunette was sure the mayor got the wordless message of disbelieving disappointment.

Minato rubbed the base of his neck, his face the epitome of embarrassment. “Right,” he mumbled and avoided the jab into his ribs by Jirayia, “you already invaded our security.”

Hiko was already connecting her helpful USB-stick to the system. Her eyes hindered by the colored contact lenses itched, but she pushed the urge to rip those stupid plastic pieces out and thrown them in the nearest trash bin away. “And improved the fire walls by the way. I mean, before I came along your defenses were good, even above average, but there are a few people who are just like me, minus the moral compass. Same set of skills, same dedication, just a bit less nice and a lot more ruthless.”

“Ever thought of creating your own business?” Jirayia asked. He strolled casually over and watched over her shoulder how Hiko hammered like a maniac on the keyboard and overthrew the password in mere seconds. A new personal record. Nodding at the quickly rearranging pages, the white-haired man continued to settle ideas into her head. “I mean, you have probably more knowledge about PC-defense systems than anyone else in Konoha.”

“There’s always someone better out there.”

“Right. But when you never try, you will never know right? Was actually the same with my books.”

Hiko grunted. Her mind was concentrated on the data and absent-minded she typed the commands which would hopefully lead her to any deleted files in Danzo’s archives. No time for some life-advice from a perverted old writer with too much time on his hands and a strange on-off-relationship with an easily agitated doctor going on.

But he kept pushing, hands pressed to the desk and Minato listening to his mentor like he never heard the story before (Hiko would swear on her pride as tRuthseekEr the mayor already had the honor quite a few times). “I was certain there were better authors out there. I was sure of it. But nevertheless, I sent my first script of “Icha-Icha-Paradise” to hundreds of publishing houses until one saw the potential and contacted me. After years of getting no results my editor Hiruzen Sarutobi,” Hiko recognized the name as the mayor before Minato Namikaze, “helped me to refine my story.”

“Great,” the brunette said, “but were you ever accused of murder and hunted by the whole police?”

 

He didn’t answer. Her eyes rolled automatically and as she copied the existing files on her stick, the shorty added bitterly: “Yeah. Would’ve amazed me.”

Thankfully both men knew when to go completely silent and like this Hiko’s ten minutes of undisturbed snooping around went by. Thousands of official files and hundreds of unofficial ones, deleted and waiting in the electronical trash bin, wandered into her trusty stick until there was nothing left to restore and copy.

Then her phone vibrated. One look at the display and she cursed weakly before accepting the call. “Sorry Swords,” she mumbled and turned away from Minato and Jirayia, who both seemed curious who was able to disturb her without getting screamed at, “I forgot.”

On the other end Suigetsu laughed. _“No problem Big T. Did you achieve your goal?”_

“Yup.” While assuring the boy, the brunette tugged her USB-stick with the important information out of the PC and placed the small device in her purse. Not a great spot, but later in a less watched environment she would hide the stick in the small bag taped to her thigh, just to be sure. With Kakashi after her ass, every little precaution could save the Hiko and in the end save the silver haired cop from an unexpected attack. Quickly shutting the PC off, she connected Suigetsu’s call to the earpiece. “I’m ready. But there are some… hindrances.”

_“Anything you can’t handle?”_

“One person.” A handsome masked detective, hell bent on capturing Hiko and interrogating her.

In the background Karin gasped. _“Sorry,”_ she said and apparently wrestled the phone out of Suigetsu’s hands, _“Hatake was assigned to guard the mayor’s ball! I saw his name standing in the captions, but lately Ebisu is such a push-over. I forgot, sorry Truth, I’m really sorry!”_

“Forget about it.” Nevertheless, Karin would get some poisonous glares when Hiko was back. “Just lead me out of here.”

Silence on the other end. Maybe Suigetsu needed some moments. Inwardly the brunette shrugged, then turned with a forced smile to the two, present people, who had silently discussed while she talked with her hacker-friends. “Thank you very much for trusting me, Mayor Namikaze.”

Jokingly the blond saluted only with index and middle finger, a bright grin on his face. “I think with this we are on equal terms regarding any favors.” Suddenly he was serious and Hiko knew the following words would demand something of her, thus she was willing to listen, but if they would cage her movements, she had to decline. “Can you promise not to hurt one of the civilians of the city? I would hate to correct my picture of you.”

A snort escaped her throat. “The only one I’m actively planning to hurt is the one who got me in all this mess. And I doubt he’s a citizen of Konohagakure.”

Maybe Kabuto had been intoxicated or high on his own drugs, but one evening, he had talked about himself and Hiko, the lovesick little girl she had been listened closely and tried to brand every personal information into her brain. At least that worked very well and so the woman could recall even years later some things about the psycho who destroyed a big portion of her life. Kabuto was an orphan, raised in an orphanage far away from Sunagakure, he said back then, in the middle of “loud and slobbering misfits”. Kabuto had whined a lot that evening, but then stopped abruptly mid-sentence and glared at Hiko, like she had bewitched him to spill that much about himself.

She was pretty sure she wouldn’t break her promise to hurt a citizen of Konoha while even the glassed-eyed maniac had no idea who his parents were.

 

Minato seemed assured enough. They greeted each other with a weak nod, a gesture between equal forces, accepting the other because of their standing and what they did to serve the city.

Fatigue came over her mind as Hiko inhaled. For some seconds she allowed to relax and pushed the countless possibilities of failure away, banned them into the most dusted corner of her brain. At least she could continue to investigate now, with all the files Danzo tried to hide apparently. She couldn’t wait to read through all of them.

A little smile split her lips. “Thank you too, Jirayia.” A funny little bow from the writer. “I know that your decision to help me must cause you some problems, but if I ever find the chance to repay you for your help…”

“Naah,” he waved dismissingly, “do you believe I will ever dream about such inspiration? I can smell the next couple of “Icha-Icha”-books coming! Actually, my fingers were itching to write again, but I was missing some ideas, but now… Wonderful, just wonderful. Great material.”

He looked so excited that Hiko didn’t dare to tell him he could wander into prison for helping her and in that case, he could write for a few years only disturbed by three meals per day and an hour outside in the prison garden. Not to talk about the fighting to get at least paper and a pen from the guards. The brunette sighed inwardly and decided it was only partly her problem to worry about. “Anyway…” she said and walked slowly around the desk, aware Jirayia ogled at her curves like the old perverted geezer he was, “I will leave this ball now. A beautiful party and I really admire your goals, Namikaze. To rebuild the schools in Konoha was needed since years ago. If I had any money to spare I would give it to you, but currently I have –as you know- personal problems which swallow all of my income.”

“With the help of the probably rich ladies and gentlemen down in the ball room I will achieve my goal nonetheless.” Minato answered with a little cheeky wink, which again let Hiko’s knee grow a little bit weak. Damn the Uzumaki’s and their friendly unintentional flirty attitude! Walking past the two men, the brunette opened the door to the bureau and stepped outside, only to stumble surprised backwards as her eyes caught the sight of the silver haired cop, leaning casually against the wall across the floor, arms crossed over his chest and head lowered.

As he heard the door being opened, Kakashi snapped out of his daze and a dark light appeared in his onyx eyes when they fell upon Hiko, who breathed shakily in. “Good for you to remain here. For a moment I thought I wouldn’t get to see you again.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Only proofread by me, what doesn't mean much. Sorry for any mistakes.


	62. Hunting call

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After Kakashi makes up his mind, he hunts Hiko down, determined to make her spill everything she wants to hide. If only it would be that easy...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is the reason this arc is my favorite. You will notice pretty quickly why. :D
> 
> For anyone who wants to chat me up: my tumblr is historicfailure with the telltale-blog name: Whoops, my finger slipped.

To say his blood boiled in anger when Hiko finally stepped out of the bureau was an understatement. Kakashi was near to tremble in his rage, anticipation and hesitant optimism at the situation as he stared into the fake brown eyes, widened in shock at his sudden appearance. Exactly the reaction he had aimed for. Behind her the faces of Jirayia and the mayor itself became visible and both men were more than just a little bit confused at his presence. Irrational jealousy flooded his veins and his hands clamped down on his arms, painfully digging into his own flesh. The pain helped the man to fixate on the task in front of him.

“Hatake-san,” Namikaze said and fiddled quite nervous with the sleeves of his suit, “Is everything under control or why are you waiting in front of my bureau?”

Kakashi forced his features into a dry smile. “Oh, nothing serious,” he said full of cheer, “Everyone is calm and the funds raised will surely exceed your expectations. No, my reason for waiting here is the lovely Tachibana-san. We didn’t finish our conversation before Jirayia-san stepped between us.”

Hiko paled noticeably underneath the make-up. Snow-like skin and black hair. The ocean blue fabric of her dress only complimented the state she was in. Nevertheless, Kakashi missed the usual natural charm of the shorty.

‘Get a hold of yourself. Right now, she’s nothing but a criminal, has to be. You want to arrest Hiko, so you can interrogate her about your hunches or force her to admit the homicides.’

“Woah there Hatake!” Said writer stepped in front of Hiko, protectively pointing at Kakashi like he was the criminal. Unconsciously his eyes narrowed. Protecting Hiko was _his_ task, his task alone. Then the detective realized what happened, the protective stance towards her hadn’t vanished, _wouldn’t_ vanish as fast as he hoped. “The whole evening you’re totally fixed on my companion. I also want to talk with her a bit.”

Jirayia’s voice was stern. Gone was the warm tone he used while they had talked about his books, gone was the friendly easy-to-talk to author he had displayed in the official environment. Kakashi decided to ignore the exclamation and stared right at Hiko, who stuck her head out of the cover the human shield provided.

She was… desperate, if he read the female right. Her delicious red lips were tightly pressed together, a wrinkle between her eyebrows deepened and as Kakashi watched her and Hiko realized he was staring, she formed words with her mouth, slow and deliberate.

 

_“It’s not what it looks like. I can’t say more.”_

And then, after a short moment of hesitation: _“I only want to protect you.”_

Protect him? Hiko wanted to protect him? From what? The question flared red up and burned holes into his stomach. All the while those goddamn fake brown irises were slashing with the sharpness of knives wounds into Kakashi’s resolve to stay professional. No hug or gentle reassuring touch, calming the man whenever he reached out to the short woman. No smiles, always there, always present and the most beautiful ones only reserved for him. No fingers carding through his hair and tugging from time to time at the tips, just as loving as teasing. No kisses, short, long, dragged out, peppered ones over neck and shoulders, little ones at his wrist or temple or even sweet blown kisses, shared over some distance and only nearly just as satisfying as a real one. No warmth, no closeness, no home, nothing. Just… emptiness where the brunette occupied space before.

Despair settled, weighing Kakashi down and covered his whole landscape of thoughts like a too heavy blanket.

Why couldn’t she tell him more? An asking look was send her way, but Hiko shook only her head and hid her face behind the fake black strands. Immediately the anger was back, but weaker than before. Kakashi was foremost one thing and anger had never been a lasting emotion in her proximity. The world seemed to roll around like a carousel and confused the male with every crazy spin.

“Fine,” he mumbled, his voice far from that of a serious detective, “just…” Kakashi’s tongue felt paralyzed, so he only nodded sharply into the direction of the door leading to the hallway which would spit the trio at the beginning of the stairs out, which would send them again downward into the middle of the rich guests, where he couldn’t arrest Hiko without a commotion.

But… Did Kakashi really want to arrest the brunette? After all his heart ached with every beat as he could only watch the female walking outside, flanked by Jirayia and Minato Namikaze, the first staring self-confident ahead, the latter obviously deeply interested into the play which had enfolded right in front of his blue eyes, but he didn’t dare to ask. While they passed by him, the silver haired man leaned heavily against the wall and searched for support. The back of his head met the concrete hardness, but not even the cold stone could cure his confused thoughts. He would’ve continued to stare blankly ahead if not for the sharp high interception in his ear piece.

A screech, piercing Kakashi’s eardrums and nearly ripping the sensible organ, just as Hiko passed him. Masking pain was his second nature and thankfully the black SFU-mask helped to cover the physical discomfort, nevertheless the man nearly doubled over and was close to rip the _damn thing_ out, but when the trio was gone, Kakashi tried to assess what just happened. He tapped into conversation with Izumo and Kotetsu, who both had visited a quick lesson with Shino to understand the base for their communication line.

“Izumo?” he asked.

_“Yes Kakashi-senpai?”_

“What does it mean when there’s some kind of interrupting noise in the line?”

_“I assume only you heard it. What kind of noise?”_

“High, screeching.”

_“Were you in the proximity of other people?”_

“Yes.” Kakashi tried hard not to push Izumo to hurry up. With every second he wasted explaining and asking about that strange noise, Hiko would get farther away. He would swear she was finished with whatever the brunette planned to do and she also knew he had recognized her as the one she really was. So Hiko would search for a quick escape. “So, what does it mean?”

_“Shino said such a noise would be unlikely, but he explained when two different lines of communication get too close, they would overlap for a short moment and create such a sound. I think someone else has also an earpiece. Someone who doesn’t belong to the police.”_

 

Kakashi jerked out of his daze. Someone else? There were actually two possibilities. First, the unlikely case of the mayor keeping in touch with whoever and not telling the security. Or second, which was highly possible, Hiko wore one. And that scenario would only make sense when there were other people actively helping her.

Immediately the cop followed the brunette. When someone was helping her beside the occasional random people forgetting about Hiko at the most convenient times, then that meant…

Both possibilities, Hiko being a criminal and Hiko being innocent and falsely accused still could be true. But at least one human could be a weakness in her until now flawless hit-and-run-strategy.

The balustrade was high above the heads of the crowd enjoying themselves though Kakashi had no difficulties to spot the small brunette. Her companions were easy to recognize, a tall white-haired man and the mayor in person. No, Kakashi didn’t even need those lighthouses, her form was branded into his brain, despite the masquerade she had put up. And once more his eyes strayed from their professional path and openly admired the way Hiko’s dress accentuated her natural charm, her round hips swaying whenever she took a step and her bare back, the muscles moving and _nearly_ showing hints of her behind.

             ‘ _And what a lovely ass it is.’_

A groan bubbled up at the unwanted voice. Out of instinct he clawed into the massive stone railing and the badly healed cuts from his intense training session strained, stretched over his knuckles and he thought they would start to open and bleed again. The whole time he stared like a creeper at the small brunette and inside him grew the wish he could read her thoughts right now.

 

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

             ‘Why does he have so look so hot when he’s angry?

_‘I absolutely agree. A nice Kakashi is already great, but a pissed Kakashi… Sends just those special tingles down your spine, right?_

‘I shouldn’t have said anything. Now he will only try to dig deeper.’

_‘You only tried to explain yourself. Nothing wrong with that.’_

Hiko cursed her subconscious cockiness. Also, her nervousness was taking over, manifesting in obsessed nibbling at her fingernails. The little flashes of pain weren’t helping much, but Hiko kept hurting herself, knowing just as well feeling Kakashi’s eyes lying on her back the whole time she was escorted through the middle of the crowds. Her comrades in crime weren’t one bit fazed by the close call with the detective, instead Namikaze was already back to casually chat with people passing him and Jirayia wore his infamous careless smile. In the distance Hiko spotted Tsunade, who talked animated and surprisingly calm to some Hyuugas, easy to recognize by their unique pale eye color and the long straight brown hair.

Why Kakashi let her go? The question ran circles in her mind. He just had to openly rip her wig down, then everything would’ve been clear. There were no other people who could witness the butcher getting captured, so no media uproar. Just an author and the mayor, who both should be interested in keeping things low. Kakashi had apparently a free hand, so why didn’t he tug his handcuffs out and arrest her?

And then his look… Sickness, foul and poisonous spread at the far too fresh memory. For a second the silver haired man was in her eyes a lost child, not comprehending the situation around him to the point of just hoping for a little bit of comfort. Comfort from Hiko. She wanted to jump into his arms, tell Kakashi everything would be alright again once she cleared the mess up, hum and sooth him. But she couldn’t, there was still the threat hanging above her head and so over Kakashi’s.

“Is he still watching?” Jirayia whispered over her head towards Minato, all the while waving at a guy he seemed to know distantly. Somehow Hiko had the hunch he wasn’t talking about that guy.

Ruffles from her other side, then the blond mayor answered, hissed straight through his teeth. “Yes. On the balustrade.”

“Fuck. Any ideas?”

Yes. She needed to get out of here. No matter what her feelings were, no matter how hurt, pained, wounded she was, Hiko had to get out of this literal death trap and deliver the achieved data to Suigetsu and Karin. “We have to distract him,” she mumbled, “or else he will catch me.”

Smooth as always, the author halted one of the waiters running around and grabbed three champagne flutes. He distributed them and the cold liquid swapped in the glass as Hiko tightly gripped into the concrete object like her life depended on it. “And again: Any ideas?” he asked and used the little breather to look around.

Slowly the brunette thought Jirayia didn’t do this for the first time. Hiding and protecting a criminal from an impending imprisonment or police forces. He reacted too fast and was way too relaxed for his own good. Even Hiko’s nerves fluttered nervously like the wings of a hummingbird and her stomach was hanging lower than the moment she saw Kiba and Tenten at the entrance, checking the invitations of the arriving guests.

“Not yet,” a sip from the drink to calm her mind and the bubbles tickled in her throat, “but… give me five minutes.”

“Make that one. He’s coming into our direction.”

 

What? Quickly Hiko turned around. Her dress swiveled around her legs and as her eyes caught Kakashi, how he slowly made his way through the people, his own eyes fixated on her, the brunette nearly took a few steps backwards at the intensity he displayed. A few guests automatically stepped out of his path, frightened by the threatening aura the cop emitted with every step.

This time he wouldn’t care about a commotion. This time he would immediately arrest her the moment the detective got his hands on the female, fuck the consequences and fuck the rumors and media spreading them.

“I think I have to take my leave,” Hiko said, already stumbling backwards, “Thank both of you for your help.” With that she nodded once at Jirayia and once at Minato but didn’t wait for any answers. Kakashi was already too close. So Hiko turned into the opposite direction and tapped at the same time into the connection with Suigetsu.

“I need directions.”

_“Now?”_

“A few minutes ago.”

 _“Okay…”_ Hasty typing on the other side. _“Okay, you’re in the big entrance room, yeah? Straight ahead should be a hallway. Turn left and at the second crossing you go right.”_

“Get it. Stay on hold.” Hiko weaseled her way through the crowd. Champagne splattered over her dress as she hectically sprinted into a small empty spot between two people, who were muttering about “rude, uncivilized women”, but honestly, she had other things to care about than scandalized rich ladies and gentlemen. She started to run as soon as the space allowed and slowed down only little when others stepped into the way, circling them with only minimal distance between their bodies. More than once Hiko brushed expensive fabrics or felt the warmth of another body, but every time she managed to avert the crash which would end the flight quite abruptly. Behind her she could feel Kakashi also running. But unlike her, he was facing obstacles, like women pulling stunts like accidently jumping in front of him, tripping and hoping he would pick them up, sweep them off their feet, so to speak. To Hiko’s inner smugness he didn’t even spare those pitiful thirsty females one glance. Instead of being the perfectly educated man he was, Kakashi just averted their expecting raised hands and continued to chase after the shorty.

Then the worst happened. One second, she moved without any problems, the next her toes got caught in the wide robes of a blond huge woman. Hiko stumbled, relocated and just when she thought she found her balance again, her right foot gave away. The pain erupting in her ankle at the foreign motion was tearing at her insides, begging to be released by a loud cry. Tears stood in her eyes, lessening only a tiny bit the itching of the contact lenses, but everything else got insignificant but the burn, brightly clawing into the limb with the force of a small dog who caught his favorite toy. Knives were pressed into her foot with the next step and with every following step Hiko had to suppress groans and hisses. Limping forward, going on, new knives being shoved into her flesh, scorching hot and making the woman finally gasp out, quickly biting down into her bottom lip to stop any other pesky sound from betraying her solution.

 

Through the haze the shorty noticed the stares which were thrown her way. Some were pitying, some were a bit miffed and some confused, especially when they caught the silver-haired man in her back, still chasing Hiko.

She must be a sight to see, she thought absent-minded.

“Miss?” A waiter managed to grab her shoulder. Out of reflex Hiko slapped the hand away, at the same time fighting another wave of grief stabbing into her foot.

“What?” Her voice was raspier than ever as she stared up to the male.

He gestured to the by now nearly empty flute in her hands. Most of the champagne was anyway on her dress, thus the dark fabric hid the unsightly wet spots perfectly. “I need to take care of this.”

That conversation took too much time. Without an answer Hiko almost threw the champagne flute into the vague direction of the waiter and was gone before he could complain about _anything_. She could already feel Kakashi breathing down her neck, at least her imagination told her so and the possibility of be caught by him, to get him into danger was enough to make Hiko run faster, despite the flash racing everytime she settled her right foot on the ground through her whole leg.

She could see the hallway where she was supposed to flee through, but then…

“Stop right there.”

Kakashi, with his long legs and not inhibited by high heels and a maybe bend ankle, finally closed the distance between them. His strong hand grabbed her shoulder, but in comparison to the earlier touch of the waiter Hiko didn’t feel the need to slap his hand away. She was far weaker than him, was too paralyzed to use one of the judo tricks up her sleeve and honestly didn’t really want to get away, thus the shorty’s only choice was to stumble alongside the detective, who didn’t know or cared about her invisible injury.

Hiko tried to speak up. “Kakashi, I’m-!”

“Silence.” he hissed immediately. His fingers around her shoulder tightened even more, only when they rounded a corner, he threw another glance at her. “I don’t want to hear anything from you. Just undisturbed calm _silence_.”

His cold eyes followed an icy path on her skin, making her nerves jitter in nervousness. An emotion unknown to Hiko. For the first time she was somehow full of angst in his presence. She didn’t know this man, never saw him before, never talked or argued with him. This Kakashi… was an enigma and seeing –experiencing!- the hard words and calculated phrases let Hiko wish she would’ve been a tiny bit faster.

 

He leaded the brunette randomly into a more secluded area, down the corridors until no person crossed their path. His hand was like a trap, the steps fast and unrelenting and his back –the only thing she could watch without craning her neck- radiated anger. Kakashi had a lot of sites and Hiko took great pleasure in knowing most of them, but this furious and distant male was unfamiliar; unfamiliar enough to jerk unconsciously backwards as he suddenly turned around to face her. From the distance she could still hear the band plying and absent-minded she also recognized the melody, a danceable tune, fitting for an official ball, happy, melodious and fast paced. At the same time a stark contrast to the drama enfolding in the forgotten shadowy hall Kakashi tugged Hiko into.

In his eyes stood some kind of furious despair. “What have you done?”

“I haven’t done-!”

“Don’t play your games with me.”

“I’m not playing any games! Kakashi, please-!”

A low growl, then he stepped closer. Scared off Hiko backed away, but the silver haired man followed, step for step until she was trapped between the wall and an angry cop. Deliberately Kakashi hovered over the shorty and placed his hands at the stone wall beside her head. “Then what is this?” he asked. His fingers slid suddenly underneath the edges of the wig, revealing some of her short brown tresses. “A wig? And wool pads? Really? Remove them, now.”

Hastily Hiko complied and spat the two pads and the thin piece of paper out, too scared to disobey. Kakashi watched with deep eyes the process, but as soon as the objects were out of the way, he was instantly back to snarling and growling. “I don’t know if I should be impressed or out of my mind at the sheer insanity you display here, waltzing into one of the high society events of Konoha with nothing more to protect yourself from discovery than a wig, wool pads and a horny writer! Why are you here?”

Hiko flinched as Kakashi ripped the black fake hair away. Only a whimper escaped her, born out of fear and the dawning realization her hunt for the truth was over. For a moment the male examined the wig, then he discarded it with a lazy twist of his wrist.

“Why. Are. You. Here?” he asked coldly.

Hiko could only stare into his eyes like a rabbit hypnotized by a snake and shake her head, steady and with trembling knees. Kakashi leaned closer, inches parting them. By an innocent bystander they could be mistaken for one of the perverted couples searching for a little bit of privacy to make-out, but nothing could be more wrong than that assumption.

“Why are you here?” he asked again, “I know you have a reason. You may be brave to the point of reckless, but you’re not dumb. No, there’s something going on here and Jirayia and Namikaze are also in it. Am I right?”

No words left her mouth, but something must’ve betrayed the brunette, because Kakashi snorted sarcastically. “So am I. What was it? Blue prints? Access to the files of the SFU? Secret data? Aaah. So, it is data.” Another dry chuckle ghosted over her face, accompanied by more sharp questions. “What data? What info is important enough to give up your hide-and-seek-game and come today?”

“Kakashi, I-!”

“ _Don’t. Talk._ You have no idea how pissed I am.” Kakashi snarled. His warmth enveloped her body, his smell intoxicated Hiko’s mind more than the alcohol did, but the raw emotion lacing his voice was sufficient to keep the concentration up. He leaned once more closer and his breath ghosted over her face as the detective continued to speak. “You have no idea how worried I was the first days, how many nights I tossed and turned by thinking about you and me and us,” his hands wandered down to Hiko’s shoulders, gripping hardly into her naked flesh and holding the woman in place, “how many things you hid from me. My god, you’re a hacker, you hacked things right under my nose and I didn’t even notice! You invaded Sabaku Savings and lied into my face, you said the one responsible for that got away!”

 

“Listen, please.”

His eyes burned holes into her soul, so intense Hiko feared to get devoured right there on the spot. She swallowed dryly and automatically her vision flew to the masked lips, hidden underneath the black fabric. However, Kakashi noticed the little traitorous motion. Hiko could tell by the way his body tensed, how his jaw clenched and his eyes squinted the tiniest bit or even by the small crease between his eyebrows.

“It’s not what you think it is,” she whispered, “Everything.”

“You didn’t hack these companies?”

“No. I-I did.”

Admitting her crimes was easier than she believed. But coming out with them would’ve felt better if it wouldn’t involve Kakashi standing up to close and demanding to know what was going on. Quickly Hiko continued, stumbling over words and swallowing single syllables. “B-but I never killed those people, I never could. You know me Kakashi, you know I hate violence just as much as you do. Especially… something like that.”

He grimaced. “And the hunting knives? The secrets underneath your bed? All the files, the pictures, the… the…” A visible shudder disrupted the image of the stoic man Kakashi showed to the world.

“Protection,” Hiko answered, “Hidden long before you came into my life.”

“From what? From who?”

“Tell me. Apparently, you found all of my files, so you found also my very _own_ file. You know who scares me the most in the world.”

Hiko waited, but Kakashi stubbornly kept his mouth shut. In his eyes she could see the truth. He knew exactly about whom she was talking about, he saw the pictures, the result of one week filled with beatings and non-consensual sex, read the descriptions, the medical reports, the psychical examinations, simply everything stuffed into the small yellow dirty envelope. Maybe he brooded also over the information just like Hiko did, late at night with nothing else but his fantasy to clad the clinical words into pictures. She had no problems with that. Her memories were more than enough for that task.

Unconsciously the shorty leaned forward and finally touched the silver haired man. Only her fingers shortly brushing over his flanks, trailing the fabric and the hard body underneath. Kakashi jerked in surprise like nobody touched him for a long time. Her heart clenched at the thought of the silver haired man having to face the whole situation alone. “So, you know. You know what happened to me, every disgusting detail, every bruise and every broken bone. You read my testimony, you know how scared I was. Hell, I feared for my life. I thought I had to die there, on the cheap bed, tied to the furniture, naked and covered in blood, sweat and… other liquids. I gave up, I was ready to die. You have no idea how horrible that realization is when I look back. I _never_ would do this to another human being. Believe me.”

Underneath her fingers his flanks tensed, muscles twitched in badly concealed nervousness. Was it only the long time period in which she hadn’t touched him or got the cop more ripped? Hiko inhaled his special scent and hastily continued, not sure when the temporary paralysis would vanish. “You asked if I hacked anything while we were together. My answer is no. I never hacked a company, a factory, a business or anyone else in the whole wide world while we were friends or… lovers. You… you occupied everything.”

 

Life came back to Kakashi. He raised his head and their eyes met. “Means I was a hindrance.”

“No!” Desperate Hiko shook her head. Strange. Usually she had to deal with flying hair in her face when she did so, but tonight there was nothing and the missing weight confused her for a split second. “That was no good. I’m no good with words, sorry. No Kakashi, you’re… you’re my reason. Don’t you understand? You’re my reason for everything I’m doing right now.”

“Then why running away?” Angrily Kakashi raised his voice. “Why writing that note, why leaving without a word, why not explaining one goddamn thing to me?”

“I have my reasons!”

“Reasons? Other reasons beside me?”

“Yes.”

He clicked his tongue. “Then wouldn’t it be logical to explain your human reason what your other reasons are, because I’m very interested in them since I found out my _girlfriend_ apparently killed three people, vivisected them brutally while I was sleeping in her bed, only to return to her work place, happily smiling and acting like nothing happened.”

Hiko felt her heart dropping a few levels. What? Kakashi really believed into the… He really thought she was able to… Deep down she knew he practically had no other choice but to think she was an insane killer, but was this stupid dummy for real? (It was also her fault, the brunette admitted to herself. There was rock-hard evidence on one side and hunches and vague theories on the other. Kakashi was for the biggest part of his life a police officer, a SFU-member, someone who had to believe into proof to survive. But the logical part of her brain got pushed over by the anger breaching a path through her brain.)

Kakashi wasn’t finished and Hiko could only stare deadpanned upwards while he averted to look into her eyes, instead he favored a spot at her crown to focus on. “The whole time I’m asking myself how I could miss this. Nearly a year I got to know you and now everything I thought was true is turned over! I just don’t know what to think anymore!”

“You make a U-turn the moment something disturbs your picture of me?” she asked. Insecurity shook her voice, bend the syllables with the unbelieving melancholy washing over her.

“It’s…” Suddenly he crashed his fist into the wall beside her head, a frustrated expression on his upper face. “On one side there are testimonies, DNA on the third corpse which is yours and the lies about your secret identity as a hacker don’t make it easier to believe in you. On the other side,” for a short moment Kakashi leaned his forehead against hers, “there are my feelings getting in the way. I just don’t… _know_.”

Shocked by the gentle ministration Hiko searched for Kakashi’s black eyes. She just needed to see what was going on and by staring at his hair or the masked mouth she wouldn’t get any insights.

“Look at me,” she whispered and clawed into his flank, “please. Look into my face and say clearly what you think. Hell, you don’t even have to say anything, just… look at me.” The last word was broken, cracking under the force of the wildly spinning storm inside the woman.

This whole evening was a pure catastrophe. Everything had been prepared in a rush, everything had happened to fast, way too fast for Hiko to actually think things through. Sure, she obtained her goal and the data she needed, but for what price? A bend ankle, guilt running amok and a badly hurt man; the same man who owned a huge part of her heart, the same man Hiko swore to protect from any harm and now? Now she inflicted the exact same kind of pain on Kakashi and Hiko detested herself and the selfish scared egoistical part of her which had reigned back then when Kabuto called.

 

Tears threatened to run down her cheeks as the shorty reached upwards, gently cupping the face of the male. He was like always warm and his body heat scorched the almost healed injury Hiko inflicted with coffee on herself. She was near to jerk back, but when his eyes finally met hers once more and she could see his emotions clearly standing in them, the brunette swallowed the instinct to back away.

Anger and sadness were prominent, but first and foremost Kakashi was utterly confused. He said so himself, he didn’t know and he didn’t understand any of the things going on, so he tried and tried to breathe some sense into the situation, but pieces to the puzzle were missing. Pieces Hiko held tightly onto. His confusion was covering any other emotion, but she was also sure he was disappointed. Disappointed in _her_.

“Can you see me?” she asked. The question echoed in the space between them, their lips only parted by mere centimeters and his thin black mask. “Can you see the Hiko who greeted you whenever you came home? Can you see the short harpy which gets all buttery, ready to melt the instant you use some corny pick-up lines on her? Can you see the woman who repeated over and over how much she loves you and pleaded not to forget that?”

Her fingers trailed the edges of the mask, drawing the lines of Kakashi’s cheekbones and spreading gingerly over the features, hungry for any kind of caress, if now given or accepting. Kakashi nibbled on his lower lip, the shorty could see even underneath his obscuring mask and with her thumb she stopped him from hurting himself further. “Can you? Can you see the woman who fell hopelessly in love with you?”

‘Please don’t say “No”. I already feel the tears coming, so please Kakashi. My love. Don’t say you can’t see me, because then I would totally break down. And I can’t afford that.’

Like he was reminded of something painful, the detective closed his eyes and lowered his head, run over and maybe even defeated by the memories rushing in, called by her words. No decline nor an approval, therefore a gruesome mix of light hope and heavy anguish coiled in her stomach. Desperate the female stumbled over her own tongue, throat raw and choking on the things Kakashi needed to know.

“Listen, I’m the hacker tRuthseekEr. But I already laid down my thoughts on the matter in the main office, remember? I didn’t even involve my personal feelings back then, those were perfectly clear logical reasons. And you know what? The third woman is… was my therapist. I told you about her.”

A downward twitch of his chin. At least something.

“Ryuzetsu was the greatest woman I will ever met in my life. She helped me, she treated my fears, guided me towards a life where I could at least partly live with myself as a person. I puked when I realized who was leaning against the railing of the bridge.”

“I know.” Two tensed words, strained and spat out.

Hiko pushed further, not pausing in her attempt to stroke those sharp lines of worry and anger out of his face. “Why should I kill her when all what I am now I owe this woman? Why should I vivisect this wonderful person?”

“Killers can have a lot of different reasons. Some serial killers first select some unfamiliar persons before going for the main prey.”

“Are you even listening to me? She was my _therapist!_ Because of her my nightmares decreased, because of her I let my brothers again into my life! Because of her I gave you…” Hiko let the words sink in. And boy, they settled in. Life returned to Kakashi as he straightened abruptly, energy radiating and breathing some of it into the brunette, who jittered in a sudden wave of lust.

 

“But I can’t just believe you Hiko,” the silver haired man said. “I can’t just forget all the evidence.”

“Which evidence? The DNA? Someone could have placed it there! One man picking the lock at my locker in the police station and he would’ve obtained lots of samples, if now hair or tiny scraps of my skin! The oh-so-random times I was asked to come earlier to the police station or stay longer, nobody else in the IT-office except for me? I bet my reports vanished. Am I right?”

“Or you never wrote them.”

“Fucking bullshit Kakashi! I was sitting next to you while writing them! You even commented on them and you saw how I fucking sent a whole bunch to Nagato!” she yelled. This frustrating stubborn mule!

Kakashi snarled, low and hoarse. “Then how do you explain Anko’s report about you being-?”

“Are you kidding me?” Hiko growled loudly. “She saw someone looking _a bit_ like me, not actually me. Take another small woman, put a cloak over her figure and some sticker on her forearm and voila! You have another Hiko Kobayashi at hand, placing corpses everywhere around the city!”

Over the days of wandering up and down the cage Suigetsu’s flat became, the shorty had a lot of time to think about possible methods to blame her in the place of the real murderer. With the help of the files neatly ordered in the KPD-system and accessible through the ghost-account she build, Hiko saw through every one of them. And the methods she mentioned were the ways she would’ve also chosen, because they were relatively easy and bought results. Only one essential part was necessary to get unseen and undiscovered through the control mechanisms of the police station of Konoha and about that…

About that possibility Hiko didn’t want to think at all costs.

Her hands were still lying on his face, still and lifeless. Her fingertips graced Kakashi’s skin and as rebellious and frustrated as she felt tonight, she curled them underneath the rims of the mask, teasingly sliding the fabric a tad bit lower, revealing more white skin to her curious fingers.

His jaw clenched when he felt the motion. “Hiko.” The little snarl swinging in the dark voice was doing wonders to her mood. Getting bolder, she dared to smile at Kakashi, mocking the male with the gesture. “What? Is something wrong?”

The cop shook his head, not strong enough to shake off her touch though. His arms trembled at the corners of her vision. “Don’t do this. Stop.”

“Why should I?” Fabric slid lower, nearly past the tip of his nose. Kakashi wheezed out as the shorty tilted her head and moved closer, her knees hitting his. “Maybe I don’t want to stop.”

“You have to.”

“But I don’t want.”

“Try harder.”

“I also don’t want to try harder.”

They were now chest to chest, too close not to notice the loudly pounding heart of the other. Their position was not as intimidating as before. Just like in one of his cheesy romance novels Hiko was struck between a stone wall and a chiseled, good looking cop who caged her. Kakashi went frightening still as Hiko flushed their bodies together, but not his famous self-restraint nor the visible and invisible masks could hide the tension residing in his form.

 

The embrace was dangerous, but that was exactly the thing which sent delicious shivers down her spine. Therefore, the following reaction of Kakashi was welcomed and answered with the same passion he showed.

With a low growl he ripped the mask completely down and before Hiko could revel in the familiar features and the small beauty mark, Kakashi smashed their lips together, immediately overpowering the small woman.

Finally. Hiko moaned into his mouth and he eagerly used the chance to invade hers with his tongue and she let him more than willingly. God, she had missed him. Missed his hands tugging her closer and coming to a stop on her ass, squeezing the flesh possessively, missed the hum vibrating in his chest, pressed against her own, missed the special taste she automatically would always connect with the silver haired detective. Just like an answer to her sounds, Kakashi groaned back and lifted her body up. A well-known motion. Like that he hadn’t to crane his neck downwards and Hiko didn’t have to stand on her toes. Slinging her arms around his neck and burying her fingers in the silver hair, Hiko allowed Kakashi to sweep her off her feet.

She was totally lost in the kiss. The whole building could crash down around her, the brunette wouldn’t care at all. After the days of worrying, panic attacks and emotional rollercoasters this was blissfully simple, a welcomed anchor in the middle of the sea. Hiko moaned loudly when Kakashi squeezed her behind, pressing her body closer to his. The fabric of her dress was cool against her feverish skin, at the same time she cursed the dress for being in the way. She wanted… No, needed the man she loved close, skin to skin, touching, bumping together and swallowing each other’s sounds. And apparently, he felt the same. His hands slid right under the hems of her dress, touched naked skin with desperate urgency, past her thighs and only shortly roaming over them, before hardly gripping her butt and squeezing the sensitive flesh, all the while his mouth moved feverishly against hers.

Never before his kiss had felt like he was craving to devour the female. Kakashi claimed his property with all of his force, bruising and punishing Hiko for leaving him behind and she could only comply and answer his tongue and lips. She tried to react, to show how much she loved the stubborn blind mule and put every single drop of her feelings into the kiss. Everything. He was allowed to do everything, if only he was staying and continued to kiss Hiko, hug and care for her. Getting captured in the blissful state Kakashi always managed to put her in, like an innocent butterfly entangled himself in the sticky net of a spider, she forgot about the whole evening, the only thing really mattering was him…

A bite into her bottom lip, then they parted, though Kakashi went over to mouth her neck, peppering bites downwards to her bare shoulder, leaving Hiko breathless and dizzy. When his teeth graced her pulse point only to suddenly nip at her bare collarbone, Hiko gasped out and threw her head back. Maybe she would get more of this when the silver haired man had better access…

“Kakashi…” One hand entangled themselves into his silver tresses, the other was tightly slung around his neck as she moaned his name out. He nodded hastily, his nose ruffling the fabric of her dress. A whine escaped as the man abruptly backed away, only to again meld their mouths into a series of short, but intense kisses together, all the while jamming single words into the pauses in between. “I shouldn’t… This isn’t… But it feels…” His breath ghosted in waves over her face as he stuffed the words into the breaks between kisses, silent admissions that he was also hurt, also disturbed by the abrupt changes and was just as excited to hold Hiko as she was to be held. Desperate the silver haired cop buried his face in the nape of her neck, maybe hoping she didn’t hear him.

_‘Do this. Right. So good.’_

Hiko nodded slowly, her cheek pressed to his temple and combing carefully through the silver mane. Impulsive she pecked the sensitive spot right underneath his ear and smiled the tiniest bit at the shudder running through his form. “I know,” she murmured back, “I understand.”

And she really did.

 

His warm lips edged a path up and down her neck as Kakashi spoke. “Please Firefly,” the man snuggled closer and tightened his hold, “Tell me the truth. I can’t stand the darkness anymore. I need to know what’s going on. Please.”

The pet name gave the brunette the best kind of jitters, making her stomach flutter and her chest grew tight out of sappy satisfaction. She was far too weak against a pleading Kakashi and his kind whispers, the shorty cursed herself shortly for getting so affected by them.

‘I’m protecting him! I can’t say anything, not now, not when I have nothing to work with!’

_‘But you pain him. Every moment you keep silent, Kakashi keeps getting wounded. And he could help you.’_

‘Kabuto would find out! I just can’t- I can’t risk it! The chance of Kakashi getting killed is… I wouldn’t survive…’

Inwardly Hiko shielded herself from the reaction. Squeezing her eyes shut, she clawed with all her might into his back and hair, one leg slung around his waist, the other steadying her body from doubling over, all the while his muscles tensed gradually while she whispered into the air. “I can’t. Kakashi, I just can’t tell. I’m s-sorry, I’m so _so_ sorry…”

A sob broke free, unwanted and making Hiko feel so damn worthless and weak, just like Kabuto probably intended to make her feel. He always had a talent for humiliating her and this scenario was just the peak of the iceberg. To deny Kakashi any information, torturing Hiko with the knowledge she was hurting him and the cop by letting him dwell in the darkness was just Kabuto’s kind of amusement.

His chest expanded. Exhaling loudly, Kakashi staid where he was and alone that fact was a surprise. “You think it’s Yakushi, right?”

Hearing his name made the brunette flinch. Out of instinct, she snuggled closer and almost cried out loud when Kakashi didn’t retreat nor loosened the hug. Instead he continued to talk in his calm and smooth voice, soothing the shorty in more than one way. “Then please explain why you think he came back. Please. Give me some hints, I can do the rest, I just need something to start with.”

She shook wordless her head.

“Firefly. I’m begging you. What is going on?”

“I. Can’t.” The words were cracking. If she would talk about Kabuto, he would appear out of nowhere. If she would spill everything to Kakashi, he would already wait in the shadows and know before the sentences would even have left her mouth. It always had been like that. Kabuto knew everything about Hiko before she even knew it. He was always there, always watching, always around. The old fear resided deep inside her bones and she hated how big his influence over her personality still was.

She hated him. With every fiber of her being.

“Then you leave me no choice.” Kakashi mumbled. With one arm he still held her into place and close to him, with the other he reached towards his pockets. Handcuffs jiggled, the small pieces of the chain clanking together as he slowly tugged them out. “Hiko Kobayashi, you’re now under arrest. Everything you say can and will be used against you…”

 

Hiko expected nothing else. But in her mind formed really quickly a plan; a plan bold enough to be called crazy and centering around the device she discovered during their make-out-session in his other pocket. While Kakashi went on with his endless speech, the shorty reached out to his lower back, careful and already doubting if this was the best decision, but then her fingers were scratching over the plastic surface of the weapon Kakashi always carried with him. More than once he had given her the taser and explained her the handling. So, it was just as easy as breathing for Hiko to rip it out and activate the taser, only to press the diodes into his right side.

“Wha-!” Then speaking became impossible for the cop as the lowest setting still made him jitter and shake in his shoes, while Hiko watched with wide eyes how the expression on his face displayed the utmost betrayal he felt at the moment. Kakashi staggered for a few moments on his feet, only to collapse suddenly in front of the brunette, his muscles twitching under the remaining electricity running through his veins. The handcuffs cluttered to the ground, loudly resonating on the hard ground.

“I’m sorry.” The words tasted foul as she said them. “I’m sorry, but I can’t go into prison. If I’m getting arrested, he will-! Doesn’t matter, actually.”

His fingers curled and uncurled in their attempt to grab her ankles. But they were easy to avoid, thus Hiko stepped around them. But she couldn’t ignore the stuttered sentences Kakashi spit out and they caught her ice cold.

“This… I-Isn’t o-over.”

She threw a glance at him and the sight hurt. The whole evening was a torture, but especially this image would burn itself into her brain and create more nightmares. Kakashi, lying helplessly on the ground, his black mask pooling around his neck and a mix of anger and disappointment clearly battling on his face.

Before she could really think about the decision, the brunette kneeled down and hesitated a second, then adjusted the mask over his features, until they were hiding everything again from the world. On another impulse she kissed her fingers and pressed them against Kakashi’s cheek, even though the wrinkle between his eyebrows told her he didn’t like the gesture.

“Please, trust me this time. I didn’t kill those people. And…” Hiko quickly wiped the stream of tears away which ran over her face and surely destroyed the maybe-waterproof make-up Karin applied. “You wanted a hint. Investigate Danzo further. He’s knee deep involved, I’m at least halfway sure.” And again, to make her pitiful personality complete: “I’m sorry.”

Making her way down the hallway, the shorty stumbled over her own feet, ignoring the groans in her back, the knives stabbing in her foot with every step and the wig on the ground. The only thing counting was the stick almost burning a hole into the bag strapped to her thigh.

 _“Uuh… This is awkward.”_ Suigetsu was truly a little cheeky bastard.

With a sobbed laugh Hiko raised her hand to press her palm to her ear where the still active earpiece sat. “You heard everything. Great.” She totally forgot about her companions listening to every word she spoke and now they heard how much of a mess Hiko truly was.

This ball sucked hard.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Only proofread by me, what doesn't mean anything. Sorry for any mistakes.


	63. Like a horse with broken legs

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Their encounter wasn't really what he hoped for but Kakashi is a fighter and follows the fleeing Hiko.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It can be, I repeat: It can be that the next chapter will come in two weeks or that I change the upload frequency to the same pattern. I still have some chapters to post, though surely they run out and I have to write some more so I don't stop posting. It's only a possibility, not a certain thing.
> 
> My tumblr, if somebody is interested in following a stubborn hobbit who doesn't know how social media works:  
> historicfailure and the blog-name: Whoops, my finger slipped.

The feeling returned only slowly to his limbs. Nevertheless, Kakashi tried to gather himself and his shattered pride from the ground and glue the single pieces back together. Working his way upward with the help of the wall he and Hiko leaned against only minutes ago and heavily made-out, he could only listen to the already far too weak clacking of Hiko’s high heels, vanishing fastly in the distance.

Out of his reach. Once more.

Hiko used his own taser to knock him out. Blinded by the triumph of capturing the brunette and the high of the heated kiss they just shared, he had mistaken the prodding fingers for another gentle ministration, not the search for his back-up weapon. Frustrated Kakashi slammed his fist into the wall.

He failed again. Not only that he didn’t notice her criminal doings, now he even failed at arresting his by three heads smaller ex. Kakashi practically cornered Hiko, there was literally no real chance of escaping, but his own stupidity and perverted mind destroyed even the sure catch.

She was surely heading for the back exit. Gritting his teeth, the detective raised his hand to the earpiece and tapped into the connection to the two officers stationed there. “Izumo, Kotetsu! Hiko is here!”

_“What?”_

_“No way!”_

“She saw me and is now fleeing. Make sure no one goes through your exit. Short brown hair and a dark blue dress. If you see her, I want to be immediately informed.”

 _“Kakashi-senpai? Maybe it’s the connection, but your voice doesn’t sound like usual.”_ Izumo was too attentive.

 _“Now that you mention it,”_ Kotetsu fell quickly into the same annoying concerned tone, _“you really don’t sound so good Hatake-san.”_

Kakashi was near to snarl into the mic, but stopped himself just in time. No time for discussions. He had to stop Hiko from leaving. Another failure would only add to his nightmares. “My voice or my current state are not of your concern. Just do as I say. Watch out for her, she’s armed with a taser. To every police officer present,” he opened the channel that every of his subordinates could hear him, “Hiko Kobayashi managed to get inside the building. Watch out, she’s armed with a taser. Short brown hair and a dark blue dress and is currently headed for the back exit, but alarm also the security around here. But secretly, we can’t afford some kind of panic outbreak with nearly hundred people running around.”

Grimacing Kakashi stretched his fingers. They tingled and were still a little bit numb, but foremost ready to use again. Also his legs weren’t shaking anymore, so he tried to stand without the support of the wall.

Nearly perfect. Sufficient enough to be able to walk and run after the brunette. Though the next time Kakashi nearly kissed the ground, he blamed his stumble on the uneven surface.

 

She had a little head start. But he saw how she limped away from him, not daring to put any weight on her right foot. Down in the ball room as Kakashi finally made up his mind from all the doubts and insecurities and chased after the brunette, he couldn’t miss the terrible moment when Hiko nearly fell over. Inwardly he had winced in sympathy at the sight of the woman’s right ankle getting bend to impossible levels. That the shorty was able to walk after that without screaming out in pain earned her some points. Kakashi knew Hiko would favor dying over showing she was wounded by anything, but he never would’ve guessed she would be this stubborn.

             _‘The short hair looks extremely cute on her.’_

‘Can you shut up? I have other things to do!’

             _‘Just saying. It’s not like you were totally mesmerized for a split second, right?’_

Kakashi groaned embarrassed. His mind was partly occupied by an insane constantly horny clown. Though he couldn’t deny his excitement at the sight of Hiko with short hair. She was really good looking with her long brown locks, but the short tresses, framing her face and even more curly than usual just suited her image of a small pixie. And the detective had to admit while he fastly walked down the hallway and absent-minded searched for the female, that his outbreak and the angry kiss following was also caused by the new haircut. Especially after those hideous obscuring wool pads vanished.

Their whole conversation passed by before his inner eye. How scared she seemed while Kakashi hovered fuming in fury over her, how quickly her emotions switched to anger, sadness or gentle happiness during his accusations, how she cried into his shoulder, her slender fingers gripped with surprising strength into his suit, how desperately open she had been while they kissed each other. There was no sign of a manipulative psychopath in the brunette, no falseness, nothing which should make his instincts tingle in the special uncomfortable feeling. In his prime time in the SFU Kakashi could pick the criminal out of a group of two dozens of people and he was pretty sure his instincts didn’t dull significantly over the one year away from his old job.

He tried to summon his earlier frustration, but there was nothing left to dwell on. Eased by the conversation and their shared embrace, by Hiko’s honest reactions and the oh-so-obvious love radiating from her in waves, Kakashi just couldn’t grab a single straight thought. Everything only circled around the shorty and her words, her incredible heart-shredding words.

_‘“Can you see me? Can you see the Hiko who greeted you whenever you came home? Can you see the short harpy which gets all buttery, ready to melt the instant you use some corny pick-up lines on her? Can you see the woman who repeated over and over how much she loves you and pleaded not to forget that?”’_

How close he was to say yes. Kakashi sharply ruffled through his hair. If his feelings for the brunette was a hole ripped into his chest - a suitable comparison to his state - then the hole got at least halfway filled again by their exchange. He came to an abrupt halt at a crossing, not knowing where Hiko went. A small black streak on the stone ground, typical for the heels of high shoes leaded down the left path, so he followed the hint and continued to search after his fleeing… _the_ fleeing female.

And then the mysterious remarks, the vague hint Hiko spilled to him. Danzo Shimura, again. But Kakashi couldn’t imagine Danzo and Kabuto Yakushi meeting and teaming up. And what was her stammered response while he laid jittering and trembling on the ground, paralyzed by his own weapon?

 

“If I’m getting arrested, he will…” he murmured to the rhythm of his steps. “I’m not going into prison. If I’m getting arrested, _he_ will…” Kabuto. Hiko meant Kabuto. Unconsciously or not, she spilled more than she wanted. In her opinion, her rapist managed to contact her in for Kakashi unknown way and apparently told her to keep her mouth shut. Or else.

What else?

The unknown caller at the day of her flight. Like a flash the idea hit him and Kakashi stopped dead in his tracks. The unknown caller, the silky voice, mocking and trying to rile him up by telling things only people intimate with Hiko could know. Back then he automatically assumed the brunette told the caller everything about herself, but if Kakashi was right – _if Hiko was telling the truth_ – then Kabuto had called and threatened Hiko to do everything not to get arrested or else…

Kakashi caught a whiff of vanilla and raspberry. He had shortened the distance to the shorty, so he doubled his speed and followed the unmistakable trail of delicious scent. By now he ran down the hallway and in the back of his mind he registered that if she wanted to escape, her current route was one of the dumbest he ever had to encounter. Nowhere near the exits, it was only a matter of time until the police would catch Hiko, despite his mistake.

‘Why? Until now Hiko calculated and acted with utmost accuracy. Why isn’t she running away? Why is she that aimless?’

But to his shock she wasn’t as aimless as the shorty portrayed. At the next crossing of hallways he found her high heels, carefully draped where the two walls met. Only the weak scent was guiding Kakashi now and when he reached the end of the trail, the detective found himself in front of an open window. Icy cold wind brushed over his heated face. While he and Hiko played their twisted cat-and-mouse-game, some kind of weak blizzard seemed to hit Konoha. Thick clouds were blocking the stars and the moon, snow was falling from the sky and the wind stabbed tiny ice scraps into the upper part of his face. Flabbergasted Kakashi could only look outside and watch how a dark small figure made her way through the field of snow, leaving a trail of naked footprints in the white cover. It was like a scene out of a nightmare; a hell the silver haired man didn’t want to see unfolding right in front of him.

But even from above he could hear the colorful curses dropping from her lips. (Later he would wildly deny the little grin at hearing those well-known phrases.) That and the dim lights in the far distance, illuminating the small street was weakening the nightmarish atmosphere.

The window and ground parted at least three meters. Either Hiko jumped down or considering the certificate about parkour lessons found under her bed, she climbed. Would also explain why she left the high heels behind. No sane person would climb a wall down with a squad of cops in her back and with high shoes on her feet.

So Hiko wasn’t dumb. Actually she made the wisest decision in a dire situation, cold, logical and calculating the risk like a true SFU-member. But quick thinking was always her forte.

He had to go after her. So Kakashi only hesitated for a moment, before grabbing onto the railing of the window and following Hiko.

 

Darkness and harsh winds enveloped his body as he stood there, behind him the inviting warmth and security of the town hall, before him the cold winter night. Hiko pushed forward, ignoring the coldness and the pain in her leg, her arms slung around her body to resist the harsh season. The silver haired man clicked his tongue, measured the distance between his feet and the ground, then decided to fuck the consequences and jumped. For a short cruel moment there was the possibility of some broken bones crossing his mind, but as the snow lightened the impact, Kakashi already pushed those scenarios aside. Only a grunt escaped him as he landed and immediately moved out of the snow pile he landed in.

Back in the SFU, he was called “Hound”. And like a dog he wouldn’t let go of his prey, namely Hiko, who was only barely in his sight, a small slender dark figure in the middle of the white hills.

She chose a good place to climb out of a window, the next street was located a few hundred meters away and they were at the back of the building. No one would come here, so no one would see her making a beeline for an escape. Nevertheless she risked at least frostbites and even frozen toes.

First, the cold wasn’t bothering. Too high was the adrenaline and euphoria of the mere chase, deliriously reminding Kakashi about his past and the high whenever he managed to capture a criminal. But then with every step along the little path Hiko created and the wind crashing with brutal uncaring force against him and blinding the cop with single snowflakes from time to time, Kakashi started to pity the brunette in front of him, who wore even less clothing than him. At least his shoulders and legs were covered, but the shorty was only dressed in that piece of revealing fabric, her back nearly bare, her shoulders exposed and from her knees downward naked.

“HIKO! STOP! For the love of god…” Kakashi didn’t know if his yell was reaching her, but the hasty glance over her shoulder was answer enough. So he tried again. “STOP RIGHT THERE!”

“NO! I CAN’T! YOU SHOULD-!” Normally he would’ve laughed as the shorty stumbled and nearly collapsed in another pile of snow. But the man only gritted his teeth and stomped through the piles, not caring about the flakes of snow sneaking their way underneath his dress pants and shoes. It was just too cold to survive for long out here. What the hell was she planning?

Squinting his eyes, Kakashi measured once more the distance. Hiko nearly reached the street and he made his way partly over the field. Nevertheless he was pretty sure to catch her in the end. She was injured, was probably freezing to death already and was bare footed. On the other side, Kakashi was trained to endure extreme weather, he didn’t slack of his training regimen and was better clothed to face a snow storm (not well clothed, but measured at Hiko’s appearance he had an advantage).

 

“GO BACK!”

Turning around, the small brunette gestured wildly around. Even from the distance Kakashi was able to notice the mighty tremble flaring through her figure and instantly sympathy got a hold of him. Shielding his eyes from the storm, he shook his head. After a few moments where Hiko only looked at him, the man realized she hadn’t saw the gesture.

“I CAN’T GO BACK!” he screamed. There were too many factors plying into his decision, his pride as a police officer, his duty as a protector of Konoha, the need to know what was going on, his own stubborn nature, the mysterious riddles surrounding and invading the homicidal case, just too many things Kakashi just couldn’t let go easily. So his words were true: he couldn’t go back. He couldn’t pretend like he never noticed Hiko at the town hall.

Said shorty was stumbling now from the snow covered grass on the sidewalk, her arms again slung around her chest in her attempt to keep her body temperature up. Kakashi’s eyes were transfixed on her figure while he was making his way through the by now heavy falling snow. Out of the corner of his vision the detective noticed a car nearing with high speed, but didn’t think much of it. Until the black car stopped right beside the brunette and the door was pushed open from the inside. Panic made him double his speed. Inwardly he prayed the car was just a coincidence, only a nice human being asking if Hiko was alright, but all of his hopes of finally capturing her were shattering when the female wasn’t even hesitating while climbing into the vehicle.

Despair crawled through his veins as he watched the car door falling shut. Not again. Hiko was leaving him again, this time right in front of his eyes and he couldn’t do anything against it.

No matter how many times he would try, things which were out of his reach would keep vanishing. Full of frustration, the heart tightening in painful waves and falling to his knees, Kakashi stared at the get-away car, how it slowly disappeared in the heavy snowfall.

             ‘My little Firefly. What are you doing to me?’

 

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Hiko couldn’t stop shaking. It was like a cold fire resided deep inside her bones, from within her very core relentlessly freezing her body to a massive ice block. Inside the car Karin apparently thought it was a good idea to heat on full levels, but it was the worst she could actually do. People with frostbites shouldn’t be immediately exposed to high warmth, instead lukewarm tea and surroundings were better. A thing she learned from all the guidebooks she devoured. Hiko voiced her opinion, well, tried to.

“D-d-d-d-d-d-dddd-!” Her tongue was still frozen.

“What?”

“T-t-t-tu-urn t-t-t-t-tem-perat-t-t-tur-re d-d-d-down.“

„What…? Oh, sure.“ Karin adjusted her glasses, then her fingers meddled with the AC. Only a few minutes later Hiko felt the difference in temperature and breathed still jittering out.

 _“Hey Big T.”_ Suigetsu’s voice echoed over the earpiece. _“Everything okay? Are you out?”_

“Y-y-y-y-y-!”

_“I take that as a yes. So Karin made it in time. She must be one hell of a driver.”_

Despite her popsicle-state Hiko managed to roll her eyes. Could Swords get his head out of the gutter and try to woe the fiery redhead seriously and not through insults and fights? Why couldn’t he directly make her some compliments? And on top of that, could he stop pestering Hiko behind Karin’s back with his feelings? She had her own problems to deal with.

“Beside you must be a blanket,” Karin interrupted unknowingly, “and a pot with tea. It should be cold enough to drink it by now. I especially didn’t use a thermos to transport the tea. I hope apple-cinnamon is okay?”

Not really her favorite, but the shorty wouldn’t complain. Grunting a weak response, Hiko reached out and tugged both blanket and pot over, while the redhead nodded and stared ahead at the dark and only dimly illuminated street, features concentrated and hands clenched around the wheel. The quick escape plan was entirely Karin’s idea, except Hiko’s free climbing scene at the façade of the town hall. Every second counted with Kakashi in her back and surely alarming all the other police officers. Every other exit was protected by the KPD and no matter how many weapons Hiko called her own, she would never use them again against people which were dear to her. Seeing Kakashi lying because of her on the ground and with the utterly betrayed expression on his face, was the most terrible thing she ever had done in her life. Never again. Never _again_.

Numbly her fingers wrapped the scratchy blanket around her shoulders and tugged her legs and feet closer. In the process she brushed the right ankle and a new wave of pain flooded the limb, but not as strong as before. Maybe the snow cooling the overused muscles was more of a blessing than she thought. Hiko exhaled loudly, before loosening the tape around her thigh and examining the USB-stick closely. On this little device was her fate, maybe her past and possibly also her future.

‘Please. In the last hours I reverted back to a beggar, always pleading and hoping someone would grace me with enough kindness to believe in me, but now… One last time. One last goddamn time, please, god or whoever is responsible for this, I beg you. Please. There must be some kind of useful information hidden in those files. Otherwise everything would be useless. And I had to run away.’

Because going back to Kabuto was unthinkable. Going back to him would be a disgrace for all the years she spend trying to overcome her trauma, the depressing process of rehabilitation and all those talks with Ryuzetsu who tried to make her loosen up and accept her feelings as what they were: hard and unforgiving, but also a given fact. Nothing to suppress and cage, a lesson Hiko only fulfilled years after her last therapy session as she confessed to Kakashi.

 

Hiko leaned forward and pressed the stick against her forehead. Slowly she closed her eyes, tiredness washing over her, together with a horrifying mix of disappointment in herself and disgust at her actions.

“Hiko?”

The first time Karin called out her real name. Startled a bit by the hesitating voice the redhead used, she opened wearily her eyes and stared at the chaos reigning outside.

“What?”

The other female fidgeted on the driver’s seat, Hiko only heard the groans of the material getting pressured and the rustles of clothes. “Come on,” she mumbled tiredly, “I’m near a hypothermia and tired as fuck. Just spit it out.”

“I’m… Aargh, forget it.”

“Karin…”

“Beforehand end the call with Swords.”

 _“What?”_ The white haired boy screeched into her ear. _“No! I want to hear this! I want to hear what she has to say! Come on Big T, you can’t throw me out-!”_

Without an ounce of feeling sorry the shorty ended the call and ripped the annoying earpiece out. Then she went over to peel the contact lenses out of her eyes and sighed in relief when the itch immediately was erased. “Go on Karin,” not caring about anything, the brunette let the contact lenses drop on the seat beside her, so the earpiece, “He won’t hear us.”

Outside of the car the world seemed to be buried under the snow. The windshield wipers did their job and kept Karin’s field of vision relatively clear, all the while pushing her bright red glasses up the bridge of her nose. “We listened to your conversation with Hatake-san,” the redhead said silently, “and I just wanted to say sorry for invading your privacy.”

“You had no other choice.”

“No. We could’ve muted you. We could’ve went into another room. Anything to avoid your conversation.”

“And instead you sat and listened enthralled like children in front of a television. That is what you want to say, right?” Exhausted Hiko leaned her forehead against the cool glass of the window. Napping sounded great. Sleeping even better. God, a lovely bed, soft blankets and Kakashi lying in the cushions, inviting the shorty to just jump into his arms and forget about the day… Forcefully she ripped herself out of the frail beginnings of sleep claiming her and concentrated on the young girl in front.

Karin nodded shyly, all the while taking a turn at the next crossing. “Yes, pretty much.” She was clearly ashamed, a feature Hiko never had thought to get to see on the redhead. Always loud, always confident and never backing down, that was Karin. Not a shy insecure girl. “It’s just…” Her red hair flared up under the artificial light of the street lamps passing by, creating an interesting and somehow hypnotizing muster on the inside of the car. “You’re unapproachable. Even in the police station, before you opened up, okay? In the last months then you suddenly became more open, joked around and it was just… pissing me off to some point. I mean, why were you always so fucking slippery? You evaded everyone with your oh-so happy and mean comments and only one man manages to tear your behavior apart? I just couldn’t understand. And even now, when we should know you more than anyone else, he’s still the one…”

“What do you want to say? Is Kakashi _bothering_ you?” It was really hard to concentrate. Hiko tried to stay awake for the sake of Ginger getting whatever was torturing her off her chest, but due to her exhaustion her eyelids kept falling shut and she even bumped her head slightly as the brunette kept nodding off.

 

“No. Yes. No, fuck no.” Agitated Karin grunted out. “No, it’s more like… Nobody could deal with you and I thought we were alike. Then you got infected with love and… I was- I am envious. I… I just wanted also to find someone and everytime you two came into the main office, you were acting so overly lovey-dovey I wanted at the same time to puke and to sign dreamily.”

“Don’t have to be envious,” Hiko mumbled, again bumping her forehead on the window, “My life sucks. Be lucky yours is that easy. No real worries, no troubles, probably real parents… Wish my life would be that way.”

“But you found someone.”

“I guess. So… You apologize for wanting to stick your nose into my business, because at the police station I was practically a clam?”

Karin nodded weakly. “Yes. I was too curious.”

“Fine,” the brunette sighed deeply out, “you are forgiven.” If that meant the end of the exhausting conversation and some well-deserved peace and sleep, she would say “yes” and “amen” to everything.

But apparently the redhead still worried over something. While driving, Karin fidgeted in her seat and in intervals of a few seconds she glanced into the backway-mirror to look at her. So Hiko sipped finally at the lukewarm tea and reveled in the slight warmth spreading in her fingers and stomach, only to snarl when she felt the red eyes again on her figure. “What?”

“I’m also sorry you had to hurt Hatake-san to escape. And-!”

Hiko growled. “None of your business. I don’t want to talk about it.”

She lost Kakashi, pushed him off and away. Though she wouldn’t say this. There was no need for Karin to know more. So Hiko just closed her eyes and went in a flash to sleep, only waking up to crawl out of the car and stumble back into Suigetsu’s flat, ignoring the words thrown at her and flopping unceremoniously down on her makeshift-bed, only to fall back into sleep. The last thought spared before the lights were out was naturally Kakashi and their encounter in the hallway. And inwardly she prayed that not everything was lost.

 

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Kakashi’s mood was horrible when he walked back into the ballroom. He was shivering in his shoes, his clothes were clammy and uncomfortable wet and his feet and fingers were still slightly numb from Hiko’s attack. Glaring at the people until they backed off, the cop was steadily making his way through the crowd of people until he spotted Minato Namikaze and Jirayia, both standing close together and whispering with each other.

They were responsible for opening his wounds again.

The mayor noticed him first. And immediately his expression slipped from a carefree to a guilty and also afraid one, telling Kakashi more than enough. He knew who Mariko Tachibana was, at least he knew when they exited his bureau together. And Jirayia had maybe a poker face right now, but he wasn’t as accustomed to lies as the silver haired detective was. His nervousness was just as present to Kakashi as the brightly lit chandelier above his head, presented in the unconscious twitches of his feet or hands and in the way how Jirayia nearly drowned himself in the free champagne, handed him by an irritated waiter.

Namikaze elbowed the author, who caught the drink in the wrong throat and started coughing, and pointed at the quickly nearing man. Grim satisfaction spread when both men went pale.

             ‘Yes. Better fear me.’

“Minato Namikaze? Jirayia?” asked Kakashi and was inwardly pleased how both men tensed up as he addressed them, “Would you come with me for a second? I guess no one of you wants to hold the conversation I have in mind in front of that many people.”

Namikaze first didn’t react. Instead of panicking, the man kept calm and adjusted the fit of his tie before answering, all the while not batting any eye at the passive-aggressive tone Kakashi had used on the mightiest man in the city. “Is something the matter, detective?” he asked and smiled. “Maybe one of the guests causing a ruckus?”

“More like searching for Mariko.” added Jirayia, innocently sipping at his next drink. Something stronger than the champagne and when Kakashi looked at the golden liquid in the glass, he knew the writer succumbed to the situation. Once more he finished the whiskey quickly, then raised an eyebrow. “You shouldn’t pursue woman like that, Hatake-san. To push them a little bit into the right direction, maybe, but not chasing after them. Also with such a dangerous face… No wonder she ran away.”

Kakashi clenched his jaw. Instead of retorting something surely insulting, he jerked his head into the direction of the emptier area behind two pillars. Izumo and Kotetsu were waiting there to silently escort both men into the next police car and drive them towards the station, where Kakashi could question their ulterior motives. He waited until both complied, then he followed them closely, watching over the males with hawk eyes.

Tonight was a test for his well-known calm demeanor. Not only Hiko agitated him with her disguise and the words she uttered, Kakashi lost his composure too and went over to kiss a searched after person, who was maybe involved in one of the most gruesome homicidal cases he had ever seen. Not only just a simple kiss, a really great one. Fantastic, exciting, to the point of getting all hot and breathy caused by the sheer desperation lacing every of her tongue flicks and movements and Kakashi cursed himself for being so affected by such things. But his libido wasn’t giving up.

 

With every step back into the building the detective had to shake off Hiko’s breathless moans, the special husky undertone when she was aroused and which he knew too well and especially the sweet little gestures as he laid on the ground, still twitching under the force of the remaining electricity charging through his body. The careful readjusting of his mask until his whole lower face was covered, doing so with gentle caring ministrations Hiko wasn’t even aware of doing, like trailing the fine line of his nose and cheekbone while tugging the fabric upwards or the peck she transmitted through her fingers and pressed to his cheek before swiftly standing up. Absent-minded Kakashi touched the place where the tips of her fingers touched him, the spot still slightly tingling.

Why couldn’t he bring himself to find that gesture disgusting? Actually it was one of the cutest things the shorty ever did to him, including her fuzz around him when he was sick and her texted or whispered “Be careful” every time Kakashi had to go on a patrol. And the best thing was, Hiko wasn’t even aware of her actions and their effect on Kakashi. It was like she unconsciously understood what he needed at the moment and tried to make things bearable through them. And he really felt better when the brunette had lovingly caressed his face and out of instinct he had been close to lean into the warm palm, just to feel more of Hiko.

A growl rose in Kakashi’s chest. There was nothing admirable in the shorty’s movements nor in the way how she again managed to get away. _Again_. And her charm shouldn’t affect him that much, he shouldn’t brood that much over her words, Kakashi should just follow his orders and do his job. Forcefully he ripped himself out of his cloud castle, concentrating on the happenings which were important to solve this case.

‘No more brooding, no more ruminative thinking. Stop. You have to find out what Hiko meant with her riddles.’

“What’s happening now, detective?” Jirayia asked when Izumo and Kotetsu came into sight, both looking more than a little bit worried to escort the mayor and a famous writer. “I assume you don’t want another nice talk about my books.”

“You’re guessing right. We will talk about your entourage Mariko Tachibana or Hiko Kobayashi, what her real name is. Maybe you saw in the newspaper the advice to immediately call the police when seeing her.”

“Naaa…” The tall man snickered. “I don’t read newspapers… Very often.” he added after a reassuring look at Namikaze. In a loose group of five, Kotetsu in front, Jirayia and Minato in the middle and Izumo behind with Kakashi as the last line even behind the younger cop, they escorted their unwilling witnesses out of the town hall. Kakashi knew both of them would be hard to interrogate, first the writer as the unwilling joking probably sarcastic comedian, however the real deal would be Minato Namikaze, the former lawyer.

 

That hunch was proven right in the moment Kakashi seated himself in the driver’s seat in the police car, both of his unwilling guests in the back seat behind thick acrylic glass. Namikaze mustered the interior, all the while Jirayia scribbled some notes into a thin notebook.

That had to be confiscated.

Minato coughed and knocked on the glass. “Hatake-san. Can I at least call my wife?”

The silver haired cop stared outside. With the small blizzard going on and drowning the world in a thick blanket of snow, even a tiny mishap or miscalculation could cause an accident. So he let Kotetsu answer (Izumo was left behind to take over the leftovers of the other young officers). “When we arrive at the KPD, you’re allowed to make one call, Mr. Namikaze.”

“As nice as it is to chat to you,” the mayor’s voice grew sharp, “I was talking to the detective. Hatake-san, as the leading police officer you’re obliged to answer my questions.”

“It’s just as my colleague said. When we arrive at the KPD, you can make a call.” Kakashi snarled. Kotetsu threw a strange look at him before acting like he wasn’t present.

“We’re not obliged to make a statement, you know that.” the mayor pushed further.

“Sure.”

“No.” The blue eyes stared intently into the back of his head and somehow Kakashi was urging to look into the mirror to meet them, to see if there was honesty or lies oozing from those blue pools. “I don’t believe you understand in what a fickle situation you’re in, detective. At your backseat sits the mayor of your town, basically your employer, not to talk about my wife, who specialized in getting her entrusted clients out of police custody. My mentor and I will be free without saying anything in less than an hour. And you will gain nothing from arresting us.”

Kakashi gritted his teeth. Naturally he knew. He wasn’t dumb and he knew the law of his own home turf. Accompanying Jirayia to the KPD was already dancing on thin ice so to speak, not to talk about Minato Namikaze. But he had no other choice. Those men spent time with Hiko, talked with her and they were probably his best chance in finding the brunette, if now unwilling or with full consent.

Even if he had to handle the situation with unorthodox methods.

“I made some research, so I’m aware of the fact. Thanks Mr. Namikaze,” he said clearly and drove down the road which would lead them directly to the KPD, “But you should be also aware that your reputation could get damaged by the mere situation. Getting cashed in by the police, even only for a witness-report isn’t very good for your political course. People could think there’s something fishy going on in the town hall and together with the fact you said goodbye to one of your oldest aids without the population knowing what was going on behind the scenes, it could look like a case of… How do I say this? Oh. Corruption should be the right term.”

 

Deafening silence on the backseat. Satisfied his words had earned the wished effect, Kakashi pulled over and parked the car right in front of the building of his workplace. With a gesture he ordered Kotetsu to follow him, then opened the door for the blond mayor, all the while wearing a forced smile on his face, hidden underneath the black mask. “The way I see it, we’re now in a stalemate.”

Snow still fell in thick grapes and the harsh winds hadn’t lessened either. More like they picked up in coldness and strength, clashing ferociously with his body and trying to make Kakashi submit to the elements.

Namikaze hesitated. Intently the cop watched the mightiest man in the city, how he fidgeted in his expensive suit on the grimy backseat of his police car and a strange kind of grim satisfaction flooded over him. Then the blond sighed and climbed out into the storm, stomping without a word to the massive entrance doors of the KPD building.

Behind him Jirayia groaned as he climbed noticeable less elegantly out of the car. “Remember me to donate some money for new police cars. Those seats are hell for my back and my creativity.” he said to no one specific and fumbled with something on the inside of his dress jacket. Kakashi turned and watched how the author stretched for a second, before flashing him a sheepish grin. “Anyway, Hatake. Kakashi-san. Can I call you Kakashi-san? Don’t answer, I know already, but I would pretend not to hear your decline and call you nevertheless by your name, so just spare me.”

The silver haired man glanced at the other. A part of him knew Hiko used him as an entrance for the town hall, but there was still a tiny spark burning in jealousy at the thought of the small brunette dancing with the tall author, standing far too close to his taste and with a far too happy expression on her face. The fact that Hiko was obviously relieved when they had parted only lessened the flame in his stomach.

Jirayia brushed past him and in the process Kakashi felt how the other male slipped something into his own inner pocket of his rented suit, masking the gesture as an innocent shoulder pat. “I’m a man of my word. I will not say anything.” Another pat on Kakashi’s shoulder. “I guess we will see each other in the interrogation room? And send me one of the beautiful female officers to ask me for some coffee. I have the _perfect_ reply which I need to test out.”

Before Kakashi had the chance to question anything Jirayia said, he walked away and in the time the man needed to make his way through the already piling snow over to the safety of the warm building, the detective was too deadpanned to react. The only thing counting was the small notebook Jirayia smuggled into his pocket.

He wouldn’t say anything. Apparently Hiko let him promise that. But the clever writer knew how to edge around such promises. Absent-minded Kakashi touched the still warm paper and closed his eyes for a moment as his fingers brushed over the single pages, counting silently in his head and more wishing than expecting that all those pages would circle around Hiko’s innocence, around a written confession and a logical reason why all this happened.

‘Sometime tonight I have to collect all the things I learned. Otherwise I could forget them.’

“Kotetsu?”

“Yes?” The younger man looked like he was ready, but without Izumo he seemed to miss an essential part. Kakashi lowered his hands, but the need to rip the notebook out and immediately browse through the single pages was almighty.

“Inform the rest of the officers who exactly we have as guests at the moment. Even when they are possibly helpers of Hiko, they are also two influential persons of the city. I want the highest security set up a few minutes ago. Escort them to two separate interrogation rooms and let them wait. And only then get them their desired phone call.”

But before Kakashi would go greet Minato and Jirayia again, there was something else to do. As the detective followed the foots steps the other males left behind, he would swear the book eagerly rustled with its pages, not able to wait any longer to be read and understood.

            

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As usual, only proofread by me, what doesn't mean anything. :/


	64. The work of a police officer

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In Jirayia's notebook Kakashi finds more than he could've imagined. On the other side of Konoha, the shadows grow longer and stretch out to take their prize...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You're all very lucky people. Or am I? Because I was "locked" away on a farm with no internet and wiht some time on my hands, I managed to write almost 2 full chapters. For now I don't have to change my upload-rhythm, so stay tuned for next week!
> 
> my tumblr, if you want to hit me up or discuss abotu the latest chapter: historicfailure

Minutes after Kakashi pulled the still slightly wet suit off and arranged the fabric over a chair in one of the on-call-rooms, he plopped down on a nearby bed, his hands already clamping around the cover of the book. The fabric of the spare clothes he stashed in his locker, a tight sweatshirt with the logo of the KPD printed on his chest and an old pair of black jeans, was warm as he slipped into them, but he couldn’t care less about comfortability or the weak homey feeling he got from the simple sensation. His mind was fully fixated on the surprisingly neat handwriting (for a perverted writer who constantly seemed to scribble something down, even while walking). The first half of the notes were incredible great ideas for new books and any other time Kakashi would’ve been giddy and childishly giggling while getting insight into the mindscape of his favorite author, but today he skipped those pages after an only half interested glance, all the while scanning the text for a tiny word of the brunette they were searching for.

At the very end, maybe on the last twenty pages, Kakashi’s interest perked up. Jirayia started to describe the interior of a bar and he recognized the well-described bend and sometimes broken seats, the slightly dirty walls and the silent barkeeper without any ounce of hair on his shiny bald head. Even now the silver haired man was terribly annoyed at the incredulity of the other male, who had ignored Hiko right under his nose, even served her a couple of times according to the drunken and smudged notes.

Then he read further and the confusion eased a little bit, while Kakashi connected the tiny pieces of knowledge he gained this evening with the information written down. The two witnesses said that Hiko sat at the bar drinking and that someone with white hair sat down and talked with her, before they vanished together. According to Jirayia’s notes, that really happened, but after they ended their conversation, the male in the scenario went away, while the shorty continued to drink at the bar.

Agitated Kakashi ruffled through his hair. Was Jirayia now the male in the description of the witnesses or was there another male who helped the brunette? Or was everything written inside Jirayia’s notebook just fiction of an overly intoxicated perverted mind? Since he heard the noise in his own earpiece he had the faint hunchshe had help, but there was still no safe proof… That would change a lot of things. Currently they were searching for a homeless woman, without any protection and resources, but Hiko having comrades was far greater than anyone could imagine. Gai and Itachi would have to change their methods to find Hiko, otherwise they would look at the wrong places, while she could sneak through Konohagakure nearly invisible. Or stay inside an unknown lair, who knows.

 

Kakashi paged further but paused again at the next page. By now the main protagonist left the bar and the mysterious female behind, as drunk as a skunk, and walked clumsily but with enough brain captivity left to ask himself what it would feel like to bury his head in the generous bosom of the enigma he encountered down the road, as a juvenile robber caught and dragged him into an empty spot. Just as the criminal pulled a knife out, the witty female was back and held a gun in her hands, even gave a warning shot which rang in between the walls of the surrounding houses “like the crack of a thunder”.

For the first time since he came upstairs, Kakashi gasped loudly. “What?” A gun? Was it just the creation of an overly active mind or did Hiko really own a gun and fired it? A warning shot, but nevertheless, she fired it. He noted down to ask around “ _Jashin’s chamber”_ if anybody heard a gunshot at the night Hiko was seen at the bar. Maybe he was lucky and even found the responsible robber, who could verify the happenings a week ago.

The thought of a revengeful brunette out there, not only armed to attack them electronical, but also physical simply blew his mind. How often Hiko expressed she was uncomfortable with violence? How often she said she detested beatings, because of what happened to her?

             ‘Guess that doesn’t apply to guns.’

By the end of this incident Kakashi would have no more teeth left if he kept grinding his jaw together. But that motion was the only thing keeping him from screaming and trashing around, wildly determined to show the world how fucked up he was. But just as fast as the wave of anger washed over him, the emotion vanished into thin air and suddenly feeling empty and exhausted to the very core, the detective allowed his eyes to fall shut for a few moments. His head fell forward. Too many things came to light during the investigation. His brain was close to explode. The possibilities, the ideas running all day through his mind, the constant worry and anger he build up and seemed to switch every now and then, the endless work and the sleepless nights, filled with nightmares and training to at least allow Kakashi to nap a bit, before he awoke again, disturbed by eerie pictures of Hiko either vanishing and he chasing after her or the shorty brutally slaughtering himself or the people dear to him. His father, the chest open, ribs pulled apart and with empty eyes. Itachi and Kisame, for some twisted reason still embracing each other in their deaths. Obito, the once fool-like smile frozen and bloodied. Rin, the usual elegance taken away from the woman by the brutality she was slaughtered with. And, even when Kakashi knew that couldn’t happen anymore, in his dreams he saw his mother getting killed, right in front of his eyes.

Those were the most nerve-wrecking nightmares he experienced in a whole while. Since his childhood he hadn’t dreamt about the gentle raven which gave birth and raised the little stubborn child he was. And now they were back with full force. Now, when every wake moment was already hell, his mind decided to make things worse and made also the nighttime pure torture.

 

Kakashi opened his eyes again, not one bit less tired than he was before. Dully staring at the ceiling, he debated internally over his mental stability, which seemed to decline over the last few weeks – _since Hiko went missing-_ then he groaned, annoyed by his internal struggle. It was like he was in his teenage years again.

Driven by his hormones and unable to capture one single clear thought.

‘Except that I’m now an adult, able to control my boners and my mind far better than during my High School times and I worked for the SFU where it is the fucking job description to be an emotionless tool. Come on, get your act together.’

_‘I can’t. I know I can’t. Yes, a year ago I was able to and I absolutely would’ve. But as great as it was, Hiko and her constant presence softened me. I can’t do this anymore, be the cold uncaring person I was in the SFU and in my marriage. Hiko changed that. Hiko changed ME, to the very core. She showed me how it is to be carefree, how it feels to be part of a real group and family, to live like a normal person, not a tool in the hands of the government.’_

“I am a dedicated cop,” he murmured into the empty room, “I’m a highly capable officer. This case is just another crime case, just another murder and nothing, absolutely nothing is able to sway me.”

‘ _Except for_ _the main suspect, my lovely girlfriend aka hacker who is clever enough to maintain her low profile over some time but is also braced for an undercover mission. Her acting skills are also great, just as her intelligence is top-notch. I should admit it, I wasn’t only turned on by her changed appearance. I like clever women, strong, independent and witty. Did I mention the “quite capable”-part?’_

Kakashi sighed deeply. His thoughts were again filthy traitors, so was his body. Deep inside there was a low electricity thrumming through his bones, coiling and wrapping itself around his stomach and lower regions. All of this caused by an incredible Hiko, who showed tonight a part of her he hadn’t seen yet and in any other situation the silver haired man would’ve loved to drag the brunette into a nearby dark corner to ravage her very kissable lips over and over.

And the shorty didn’t show one bit a darker side of herself. Kakashi had searched for the tiniest clues in her behavior, had tried to look underneath the underneath like he was taught by his father and there was simply nothing to unravel. Hiko was nothing but honest. Honestly worried, honestly desperate and honestly soft after their shared intimacy. Every attempt to draw something similar to a confession out of her was taken care off by the brunette, every evidence shattered and made fun of by the sheer logic she used to make those proofs almost non-existent. Hours later after hearing those, Kakashi couldn’t stop himself anymore and smile a little bit at the tone she had used to get her point across.

 

But even when Jirayia’s notes were right and true, even when Hiko wasn’t accountable for the homicides, she was a criminal in the end. One who was for years around, one who lied into Kakashi’s face, one who would go surely into prison for the countless companies and persons of interest she hacked. Kakashi couldn’t overlook those things.

Hiko was a hacker, there was no doubt. She said so herself and he had no indication to believe she was dishonest while she withered in his arms, her hands clutching into his flanks and her lips lightly parted, ready to get ravaged every moment and her eyes piercing into his, almost hoping for the comfort he could give her.

With a resolute and just as exhausted action, the cop closed the notebook and struggled for a moment to get up. His strained muscles, tensed from too much training, too much movement and little sleep were protesting, but determined Kakashi suppressed the pained gasp which was in danger of spilling and forced his unresponsive body off the bed. He had to interrogate a former lawyer and his favorite author. No time to rest.

As Kakashi exited the resting room, Sasuke rounded the corner. The Uchiha wasn’t hurried, so probably he didn’t hear at all what happened at the mayor’s ball.

Just as Sasuke wanted to pass him, a slight nod as a greeting for a superior, Kakashi spoke up. “Sasuke, there are two people downstairs who have seen Kobayashi-san.”

Immediately the younger man straightened. “Where was she?”

“The town hall. She managed to invade the annual ball.”

He would favor a bath in acid over telling his student that Hiko was able to slip out of his hands, but for the sake of the investigation Kakashi had to swallow his pride and tell the younger cop what was going on, otherwise the shorty would gain the upper hand. So, he bit his tongue when Sasuke’s lips twitched, just like he tried to forcefully shove down a grin forming. “Do we know what she wanted?” he asked instead, thank god without breaking into a laugh.

“Unfortunately, no. But as I said, we have two witnesses and possibly even helpers of her.”

“Do we have names?”  
“How do Minato Namikaze and Jirayia sound?”

To Kakashi’s grim amusement his student went even paler than usual. “The… the mayor?” he asked.

He nodded only. There was nothing left to say to Sasuke’s sharp recognition. “They were seen while they interacted with the suspect. Jirayia bought her into the event with his invitation and introduced her to Namikaze, then they went into his bureau. Afterwards I tried to capture Kobayashi, but she… is creative,” he gritted his teeth almost on instinct, “making her escape routes.”

 

Sasuke crossed his arms over his chest and now the amusement in the black eyes was visible even to the densest person at the department. “And how exactly did she manage to escape?”

“Shed her shoes and climbed out of the second level of the town hall. Apparently her free-climbing skills are not fazed by wind and weather.”

Kakashi glared at his student, daring him to continue his weak snickering. Sasuke really stopped, but there was still an arrogantly smug sparkle in the black eyes which made him inwardly rage. “When do you want to interrogate the witnesses? Namikaze already threatened us with his wife and she’s very good in getting people out of the KPD.”

“As soon as possible it is then.” Sasuke confirmed and nodded once at the silver haired cop before turning on his heels and calmly jogging down the same road he came. Just when he was about to vanish out of his vision, the raven turned his head. “I will speak to the mayor. Would you talk to the author then? There’s no other officer currently around who could take over the interrogation.”

Was it really coincidence there was no other cop? Or was Sasuke trying to be thoughtful? Kakashi knew Kotetsu and possibly also Izumo were in the main office, maybe even Asuma or Kurenai at this late hour. Hell, under those special circumstances the chief in person could take over the reigns of such an important investigation! But Kakashi wasn’t ungrateful for the chance his student offered him. He nodded weakly, what answered Sasuke with a little grunt.

Like he would waste this chance to find out more. Clutching the thin notebook like his life or sanity depended on it, the male made his way downstairs to the interrogations rooms, following casually Sasuke. When he entered the one where Jirayia was supposed to be, Kakashi quickly scanned the typical dull environment, the white walls, the big one-way mirror to the left, the metallic table in the middle of the room with some micros set on top of the surface and some loops for handcuffs to chain an especially struggling criminal to the table. But Jirayia wasn’t one of those, so it was no surprise to see him scribble something down on the back of his hand when Kakashi entered, only to look up and laugh lowly when he noticed that the cop clung to the notebook.

“Aah, detective,” the author waved lazily, “were you intrigued by my new ideas? I hope so, because Tachibana-san was a true fountain of inspiration for a whole new series of “Icha-Icha”-books, I must admit. What do you think about-?”

“What was Hiko after?”

Sitting down, Kakashi carefully arranged the notebook in the middle of the table. Interrogation wasn’t his favorite part of the job, but he was strangely good at it. In the SFU even the hardest criminals wouldn’t stand half an hour against the combined power of his calm questions and the silent threat of Ibiki hanging behind him. Hopefully the questions would do today the trick.

 

Jirayia continued to grin, but a small bead of sweat trickled over his temple. “I have no idea what she was after, I’m sorry.”

“Why did you bring her then?”

“To spend a lovely evening with interesting company. And to make Tsunade jealous and I must say…” the writer chuckled, “Both my goals were more than fulfilled.”

Kakashi gestured to the book between them. “Is it true what you’ve written in there? Have you met Hiko in _Jashin’s chamber_?”

Jirayia seemed confused for a moment, then his features lightened up. “Was that the name of the bar? I only remember a bald barkeeper, anything else is a bit blurry.”

“So, you have talked with her in the bar?”

“Yes. I tried to buy a drink for her, but she refused and said something along the lines she only needed the money.”

“Anything else?”

“I don’t remember much.” Jirayia shrugged nonchalantly and continued to fiddle with the pen he smuggled into the room. Twirling it around his fingers, he rambled on, voice as casual as possible, but Kakashi could hear the weak strain in every syllable. “I scribbled everything down what I know from that evening, detective.”

“Also, the incident afterwards? With the robber and Hiko firing a gun?” Kakashi asked.

“If it is in there, it is either the truth or part of my overly creative mind.”

He was so close to shout frustrated out. This couldn’t be possible! What insane luck had this woman, to gain allies left and right, people not remembering her or forgetting her presence the moment she stepped out of their sights? This was nothing, the only other witness he found was just as intoxicated as the last ones, with that their reports about Hiko became just as useless!

“You’re aware,” Kakashi nearly spat out,” that the woman you’re protecting currently is searched for killing three people, right? Evidence for her involvement exists and not only you let her inside the town hall, you let her alone with the mayor and you hindered an ongoing investigation. Your actions can be charged with prison. Tell me, what was her goal by coming tonight to one of the most protected places in the city?”

“Oh really?” Surprised, but with a grin Jirayia raised an eyebrow. “My, I wasn’t aware until now. Thanks detective.”

“This isn’t some kind of joke!” Kakashi snarled. In the end his emotions won the better of him. Agitated he jumped out of his chair and paced up and down the space before the one-way mirror, hands crossed in his lower back and fingernails digging sharply into the flesh of his palms. The small flashes of pain helped, but only a little bit. “According to your notes she has a weapon and isn’t afraid to use it. She has an unknown objective and isn’t fleeing out of Konoha, so what is her goal?”

That he had already gotten something out of Hiko he didn’t mention. Right now, it was about additional information, about anything Kakashi hadn’t already read out of the ice blue eyes and the straight posture. And it was interesting and even encouraging to see the slight hesitation oozing out of the author. His fingers were trembling as he reached out to adjust the sleeves of his expensive suit and more sweat assembled on his forehead and under his eyes.

Jirayia knew something. Possibly the content of the sensitive data Hiko had tried to get her hands on?

 

“While you’re thinking a bit,” Kakashi leaned against the wall beside the one-way mirror, eyes intently fixed on the author, “I’m going to create a theory on my own what happened tonight. Everything is highly hypothetical, of course. Hypothetical speaking, we have a female suspect in a homicidal case. She managed to escape for now and she has all the right reasons to get as fast as possible out of the city, but she doesn’t. For days the police searches the city up and down and she keeps a low profile. No sightings of her, no speculations where she went, nothing. No one knows her, no one saw her, not even speculations about her motives can be puzzled together. Out of the blue she contacts a well-known writer who is invited to the mayor ball and magically convinces him to open the doors of the town hall for her. At the main event he introduces the mayor and the female suspect and all three of those hypothetical figures vanish in the bureau of the mayor, where the female gets what she intended to get on the ball. But there isn’t much in bureau, right?” The image of the almost minimalistic room immediately rose before his inner eyes and with a dark smile Kakashi continued, feeling and just as well knowing that Jirayia was close to spill what he knew. Just a little push. “So, what did she search for, hypothetical speaking? Every paperwork was locked away before the ball, as far as I’m informed. That leaves only the PC. Did I mention the female suspect is also a well-known hacker and already invaded the town hall servers once? So technically it would be an easy game for her to invade them once more, naturally still under the premise of a hypothetical scenario. It isn’t like a dangerous hacker was really inside the mayor’s bureau and got her fingers on the PC and searched for some kind of secret data, right?”

With every word Jirayia went paler. By now the tall man didn’t look that tall anymore, his head lowered and shoulders sagged down, pressured by the weight Kakashi shoved onto them.

Kakashi decided to add the finishing touch on his theory. Leaning lightly forward, he gave his best creased eye smile, full of incredulity and false happiness. “But it’s not like the hypothetical female suspect tricked a whole police station over years. And you think that an author and a former lawyer are right when a whole bunch of dedicated police officers can’t find a single solid proof for her innocence?”

Jirayia was so close to giving in. The white-haired author in his fifties nibbled on his lower lip, a coping mechanism of his mind to distract himself from the pressure Kakashi put on him, but it was useless. Only a few more seconds, then he would open his mouth and say everything he needed to know to chase after the brunette…

 

The tall man nodded slowly. “Yes…” he murmured and fiddled with the pen again, “Hiko… Kobayashi-san wanted-!”

The door sprang open, making both males flinch like thunder struck right beside them.

“My clients,” Kushina Uzumaki said in the creepiest voice Kakashi ever had to witness, “don’t have anything else to say. Thanks for taking care of them until now, but they are free men.” She was still in her ballroom-dress, green vines draped over her body, but despite the festive attire the woman spread a dangerous demon-like aura in the small room as she stood there, one hand balled up by her side, the other firmly attached to her hip.

Kakashi swore heavily underneath his breath. Jirayia was just about to confess everything! Why was Kushina already here? Did Namikaze use his rights as a politician and ordered someone to make a call earlier than Kakashi planned? No matter what happened, this was quite a hindrance, more than the slow start of Jirayia had been.

The fiery redhead wiped some strands of her loose hair behind her ear, all the while stepping beside the author, whose face portrayed his emotions. Once relief and regret battled, but his mouth kept tightly shut.

“Jirayia-san is free to go,” Kushina repeated seriously, “and my husband too. We announced our cooperation in the ongoing investigation, but that doesn’t give you the right to arrest the mayor and the godfather of my child, Hatake-san. Especially causing such a huge a ruckus at the social event we organized. In hindsight and with the acceptance of my clients I could go as far as to prepare a complaint and send it to Nagato-san.”

“Do what you have to do.”

Inwardly the silver haired cop was snarling at the two people, though he kept his calm outward demeanor up. If he would break down in front of these, Kushina would definitely file some charges against him without the involvement of Minato or Jirayia needed. Probably the chief would see the need to put him on some unwilling vacation, far away from the police station and possibly even far away from _Konoha_ , to avoid any further involvement on Kakashi’s part. He couldn’t allow that to happen. Patience and self-control were character traits the man always possessed, but it was hard to get those fleeting emotions back under his restricting leadership.

Kakashi could only watch helplessly how Jirayia and Kushina walked briskly out of the room, the woman with a steel-like back, emitting still her dangerous aura and Jirayia throwing glances over his shoulder. Only when the door fell shut behind them, he returned to his usual slouched posture and allowed his head to fall forward in mental and physical exhaustion.

‘Hiko. What are you planning? Why are you confusing me so much, with your actions and words and gestures? Your breaking-up note hurt me more than anything else I experienced until now, while your caring looks and loving hands clinging to me pierce right through my heart and tell a whole different story. I hate how you play with me. I absolutely hate how you are able to make me a complete mess. And I hate myself for still not being able to get over you.’

With a weary sigh, Kakashi picked himself with a lot of effort out of the depths of his depressed mind and left the interrogation room. There were many things to do, foremost the still slightly wet suit had to get dried, then he needed at least a little nap before the cop could even think about following Hiko’s last words, before she ran again away from him.

_“You wanted a hint. Investigate Danzo further. He’s knee deep involved, I’m at least halfway sure.”_

Well, he had no other hints to start with. So he could at least try to investigate Danzo Shimura and – _Ryuzetsu was her name, wasn’t it?-_ further. Maybe, only maybe there was something worth discovering and Kakashi would not let this tiny chance slip through his fingers, not like he let the brunette slip through.

 

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

Inside the building reigned darkness. Only a small candle was lit and the man sitting in front of the light held his cold fingers close to the flame. From time to time he allowed the flame to grace his fingertips, the heat licking on his skin and reminding him of the one and only woman he ever let close. The flame was just like her mouth, wrapped eagerly around his fingers and licking them when she begged for something to eat, something to drink or her freedom…

He dreamed thousand times about meeting her again and here she was: in the middle of one of the most exciting hunts he would experience. The thrill of the situation was getting the better of him, he knew, but for the first time since years he felt _alive_. For far too long he had to live without her, without the precious sparks cracking in his stomach or beating heart or the raw flashes racing through his veins and brain. Leaning back into his chair, the grey-haired male allowed the memories to flood over his mind, those precious memories he couldn’t forget. They were branded into his brain with a clarity he cherished and more than once those memories were the only thing keeping his mind together in the dullness of the orders he received or the general boringness of life.

The man adjusted his glasses and stared intensely into the candle flame. Slowly a smile creeped over his face and the shadows danced in bizarre forms over the wrinkles which formed. Somehow, she was just like the candle: a beautiful little light in the middle of darkness and only his mercy allowed the flame to shine brighter. On his whim he could crush the flame with his fingers or let it slowly dwindle, cutting the oxygen and watching how the light died, only to abruptly bring it back with a new impulse of pain.

He had so many things he wanted to do with her. So many ideas which flew around in his mind and she would like them. After he reconditioned her surely.

The zipper of his pants was near to rip caused by the huge erection which awoke from all the mental stimulation. A shudder wandered over his back and goose bumps peppered over his forearms, all caused by the delicious premonition of their meeting.

Just when he wanted to reach out to his most prized possession, the cell phone vibrated. The man threw one look at the display and took the call, not without a certain annoyed tone swaying in his voice when he answered the caller.

“I thought you didn’t want to call anymore.”

The caller swallowed thickly. _“Just wanted to ask if you have more. I… I need_ more.” The last word was cracking and the man heard how his client and partner in crime fiddled in the heaps of his withdrawal symptoms with the device.

Bored he inspected his fingernails. “I don’t know if I can make your favorite. It’s not like the chemicals grow on trees.”

_“Please! I-I would do everything, I just need a tiny bit!”_

 

“But it’s just as I said: I’m missing the components. I can’t make more if I have nothing to work with.”

 _“Please!”_ The urgency in the man’s voice was overbearing and even the cold man had to distance himself from the speakers to bear with the caller and not instantly cut the connection out of pure annoyance. _“I can do more tasks for you, just make me some of your stuff! I went to other dealers, but nothing else had the right taste for me. Please, I beg you, if there’s only a little bit…”_

“Alright, alright,” he sighed out, “I will see what I can do. In return maintain your good work at the police station. Just tell me where the mutt is and if he acts suspiciously. Also, any notifications about Kobayashi’s whereabouts. I want them in the same moment the chief gets informed, do you understand? They have highest priority, understood? Otherwise I’ll let you watch while I smash your drugs and feed them to the rats in the canalization.”

The caller was obviously relieved. _“Thank you,”_ he whispered and swallowed again, _“thank you so much. When are you finished? When can I-?”_

“You will receive when I think you earned it.” he answered and finally ended the call.

Finally, silence. The candle was throwing trembling shadows on the walls as the man moved out of his seat, calmly making his way over to a table where he opened a drawer and gently traced the outlines of a small photo album. This album was precious and if some of his subordinates would only glance at it, the male would personally rip their eyes out. One last ministration over the still warm leather of the book, then he took the book and wandered again over to his previous seat, unzipping his pants on the way back.

He was rock hard, but the pictures would help him to come undone completely. But he wanted to let the anticipation to build up slowly, to create small ripples on an otherwise calm sea, until the big wave would splatter everything away, every conscious thought and every important order he had received. Lately the orders were anyway interfering with his personal goals, but he never really cared about those.

Book still closed, he sank down and lowered his pants and underwear, giving his hard erection a soft stroke, only then he opened the album. The first picture was only a warm-up, even though he already had to hold a breath at the mere sight of the familiar image.

 

Beautiful wounds, blood dripping in small trails down on lily-white linen, in contrast almost stark brown skin and the light pink of the open flesh of her hip. His breathing hitched as his eyes caught the amazing sight of such ethereal beauty and on instinct he started to softly stroke his member, enjoying every twitch and every coil of warmth spreading in his lower body.

Still the next picture was better, a shot of her entire upper body and especially her wide blue eyes caught his attention. Dark bags underlined their size and the tears forming and spilling over her cheeks were wonderfully prominent. A dirty rag was pressed into her mouth and the lips were almost obscenely wrapped around the fabric, the spittle streaming down her chin and dropping on her chest, which was covered in his marks. Bites over bites littered her once unmarred skin and more blood was splattered around, painted the once white covers in a wonderful bright and partly rusty red.

He groaned loudly and the sound echoed in between the walls. “I will have you again,” he whispered, his strokes getting rougher, “I will possess you again and nothing will separate us anymore. You’re mine, only mine and everyone who tries to get between us will perish by my hands.”

Breathlessly he paced further, eager to see the next wonderful shot. It was one of his favorites and no matter how many times he had tried to recreate the same picture, no other partner of his managed to show such pure emotion the same way Hiko had. She was something else in that department. Getting a willing blowjob of her always had been an experience, but the feeling of her throat contracting around his flesh, gagging on his length while he pressed further and further and not caring about her muffled pleas was simply heaven. He remembered clearly the heat of her mouth, her tongue lapping on the underside of his dick, struggling to get used to his pushing and thrusting, her hands clawing helplessly into air while he had roughly fucked her face and slid a knife over her cheek, the sharp metal only barely scratching small lines into her soft skin.

Nothing more than another groan escaped him as he came. Totally spend he hung afterwards in his chair, carefully cradling the important book to his chest and avoiding the nasty threads of white come on the ground and his clothes. Tainting his possession? No way.

“I will have you again,” Kabuto said and threw another glance at the flickering candle, “I will have you again, baby. And nothing will separate us anymore. I swear on your life.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Only proofread by me, what doesn't mean anything. (That could apparently change though.) ^^
> 
> *edited the phone call at the end with the usual format. Forgot abotu that ^^''


	65. The results are debatable

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Life isn't easy. After a long day, Kakashi finds himself faced with the realization that sometimes, he can trust his instincts instead of the proof and does something he hasn't done in a long time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woohoo! I'm on time, guys! You don't know how much I feared to have no internet to post this chapter ^^''

“Shouldn’t we wake her?”

“Naah. Have you seen the bags under her eyes? She deserves some sleep.”

“But it has been ten hours!”

“Thank god. Didn’t you notice her mood was turning sourer with every second she was in here? On my part, we can let her sleep.”

“Only now I fully understood why she’s called the harpy at the KPD. Dealing with her is rather difficult in that state.”

What…? Who was…? What? Groggily Hiko tried to open her eyes, but they refused to move. Her muscles were stones, her bones too and her ankle was apparently on flames - but she couldn’t bring herself to care. With a grunt, she turned around and pressed her face more into the stiff cushions. Immediately, the voices toned down - what she noticed gratefully and used the pause in the conversation to drift again into sleep.

The next time she was halfway conscious, steps could be heard throughout her environment and careful whispers accompanied them, together with the hesitant clinking of metal against porcelain.

“What’s going on at the station? Only heard rumors from the Siamese twins.”

“It’s…” A wary sigh. “It’s chaos. The news of Big T’s invasion of the mayor hall didn’t spread to the media, but internally everyone is either impressed or furious. The chief himself ordered Hatake into his bureau. I can only guess what happened but he came out with an absolute deadly expression on his face… The part you can see at least.”

“Woah.” Slurps and splashing of liquid. Hiko sniffed and caught a whiff of ramen soup looming in the air. “That’s some fucked up shit. No wonders they order double espressos to go.”

“Mhmm. On Nagato’s behalf, Ebisu deployed double-shifts left and right. Originally I had some vacation, but guess who is now allowed to work in the wonderful night hours?”

A grunt. “My bad.” Then, after a long pause filled with munching sounds and more slurps: “If you want, you can come over. I have the keys for the café and one or two unpaid coffees more on the list don’t make a huge difference.”

“Really? I’m-! I mean, cool. Thanks.”

“No probs.”

“What?”

“Probs. Problems.”

“Oh. Yeah. Now I get it.”

God. Even in her groggy state Hiko cringed at the awkwardness of the situation. What were these two teens doing, dancing around each other like that? Then she remembered her own quite ridiculous dance around Kakashi and his also rather clumsy steps almost similar to hers, so she controlled the sudden urge to just rat those little idiots out.

Someone shuffled around, maybe folded his or her legs, then Karin spoke up, her voice unusually soft and gentle. “She looks so peaceful. And small. Not at all like someone who would rip your face off as soon as you point out her height.”

Suigetsu chuckled. “She’s fucking bloodthirsty. Whenever she played some tricks on the machos in the main office, she would tell me over a pot of warm chocolate. Full of glee and mischievous. But I would’ve never believed in my wildest dreams that she’s Truth. Never.”

“Me too.”

“I mean, she’s a fucking cop! Or at least she works for them.”

“Oh, Truth is a full cop. She just decided to enter the IT-office.”

“So, she can arrest people? Has a badge and all that shit?”

“Yup. Officially, she could work in the main office. But when I consider her files…” Karin’s voice trailed off just in the moment as Hiko’s stomach dropped through the couch and the ground. Threading her fingers into the fabric below her, the brunette listened to the following words and couldn’t be more relieved when the redhead said, “But it’s not my story to tell. I can even understand why she went that far to hide her personal files from the entire office. If I had the same background, I probably would’ve done the same, even more to hide everything.”

“What?” Suigetsu asked impatiently. “What is Truth’s problem?”

“There is no problem, you imbecile!”

“Why are you calling me-?”

“Because you’re asking the impossible of me! Ask Big T then!”

“She won’t spill anything, you know that too!”

They were at each other’s throats again. Hiko suppressed the little weary groan which wanted to crawl out. Couldn’t Karin and Suigetsu maintain some kind of peace for at least five god forsaken minutes? But at the same time the thought crossed her mind, a smile tugged at her lips. Karin didn’t give her secret lightheartedly away. Apparently she read her file, pitied Hiko for her past, but in the end she didn’t tell Suigetsu. The shorty was grateful that the fiery redhead wasn’t taking the matter into her own hands. If she had to reveal anything to anyone, then she wanted to do it herself.

The fight was bordering a massive screaming contest. Karin’s voice was tensed and noticeable angry while Suigetsu’s edged to the point of cracking. Before anyone could start to ridicule the other, Hiko acted like she just awoke, yawned widely, stretched her arms out and turned on her back. Thankfully, that caused the young ones to fall silent.

“Morning.” Hiko was shocked to hear her voice, gravely and sounding like she ate a package of cigarettes. Dully, she blinked for a few moments at the dress, which entangled itself around her legs and hindered her movements, then she straightened the fabric out. Time to get out of this fine dress, it was uncomfortable warm and crinkled due to… a long sleep if she read the clock - without her glasses - right.

Hiko rubbed her eyes, all the while squinting them to get a clearer look. “How late is it? How long did I sleep?”

Suigetsu already went over to devour the remains of his seafood ramen. “Thousands of decades. The world got overrun by Skynet and we’re currently located in the underground, waiting for our heroic leader John Connor to save us from the evil machines who try to destroy the last of humankind…”

“I can see the sun shining.”

“Post-nuclear lightning. Nothing too serious.”

Hiko grunted. “Come on, cut the crap. How late?” She couldn’t stop the little hint of annoyance to lace itself into her words, even though she managed to keep them even and almost flat for the most part.

Karin answered instead of her love interest. Adjusting her glasses, the redhead said: “It’s now one p.m. You slept nearly fifteen hours, Big T.”

Fifteen hours? No wonder Hiko felt better than ever (since this incident took a change for the worse). The days filled with nights spent awake and only short naps to resist the urge to sleep took their toll on her and yesterday, they decided to reap what they sowed. Fifteen hours…

Hiko struggled once more with the dress and finally managed to set her legs properly free. “Tell me what happened in the meantime at the police station.” she demanded and Karin eagerly complied, maybe scared Hiko would otherwise spit fire and fury.

Apparently shit went down the drain. The only good thing was what Karin already mentioned, the media didn’t catch on at the security breach of the butcher. Therefore, the town hall kept quiet and didn’t charge any files or complaints against the KPD or Kakashi (Hiko felt more than only miserable at hearing his name) who invited Minato and Jirayia for a talk in the interrogation rooms. According to Karin, no one spilled anything and Hiko snorted amused when she heard how the mayor refused to tell anything to Sasuke, who was that furious that he sulked for nearly an hour in the training rooms, running on a treadmill. But other than that... It couldn’t become worse.

The police station was torn in half. Two to three fractions had formed and Hiko shuddered when she heard about the leaders of each. Obito and Naruto on the Pro-Hiko side, wildly defending her and almost attacking everyone who dared to say anything against the shorty in their presence. A few followed them, namely Kiba, Ino, Sakura, Tenten and Izumo. A minor part of the KPD. The main part was fixated on the evidence they found and pointed at the IT-ler and were hell-bent on capturing her. Her incredulity of sneaking into the mayor’s ball only fueled their spirits, especially now that two different pairs were staining the whole atmosphere with their rivalry; One pair, Naruto and Sasuke, who were once fuelled with a friendly rivalry, were now constantly at each other’s throats. Hiko grimaced when she heard the shouts the two males delivered to each other in the middle of service, not caring that their bad behavior infected the whole main office; And the second pair who broke apart over the investigation: Izumo and Kotetsu.

“What?” Flabbergasted the brunette stared at Karin, who nodded slowly. “Izumo and Kotetsu? But they always hang out together!”

“Not anymore.” Karin answered.

“They even take their orders separately now,” the white-haired teen threw in, “and whenever they enter the coffeeshop, they do a quite amusing staring match to conclude who can order first.”

“But they are friends! They shouldn’t fight over me, hell, I don’t even know them well enough to make a judgement and the other way around!” With a simmer of desperation, the brunette stood up and moved into the kitchen, limping due to her hurting ankle. She had inspected the joint to make sure it could heal again and it seemed to be the case. Otherwise, the dull pressure on her stomach told her that her body screamed actually for a little bit of fuel but as she saw the cornflakes, the bread and the bags of chips waiting on the counters, the pressure turned into a strange hollow foul feeling. Grimacing, she inspected the insides of the drawers and found in the darkest corner, finally something which didn’t send her nearly into the bathroom, heaving, gasping and clasping both hands over her mouth to save some of her dignity: a package of dry rice waffles and some pre-packed porridge.

Why Izumo and Kotetsu? They were inseparable - always trying to take the same shifts to spend time together. The two were an almost unbeatable combination; Izumo was the nice and sweet part of the duo, while Kotetsu was a little bit hot headed in comparison. They balanced each other out and more than once, the rumors about them being a thing went around, but they denied it everytime. Even Hiko couldn’t hide a smile whenever the two friends celebrated something, because it was just too cute to watch them. To think that there would be a time where Izumo and Kotetsu would go different ways… The pile of guilt on her soul grew a little bit more.

While preparing the water kettle to boil some water, Hiko stuck her head into the living room and continued to talk, hoping there weren’t any other bad messages which would ruin her mood (any further). “Anything else I need to know?”

“Everyone has to fill double-shifts,” Karin said and stroked through the spiky part of her hair, “the officers are on edge and grumpy as fuck, the chief is always stressed, in comparison Ebisu found apparently his true goal of life and manages everything with ease, the IT-department is in the visor of the internal controls-,”

Fuck. Pained Hiko closed her eyes. The internal forces of the KPD were some mean beasts as far as she knew and only a few months ago she heard about a new employee who swept through their ranks in a flash, meaning he was even more of a little nitpicker than the others. Hiko herself already had been put through some internal investigations due to her constant social rudeness - for example, the prank she played out to rat out Kurenai as a food thief. Lately, they must be gravely disappointed because over the last year the shorty kept calmer than ever, and now they were after the IT-department? After the sweet and gentle Hinata, after the diligent and hard-working Shino, after her friend and brother Itachi? Because they didn’t notice anything? They weren’t at fault, especially the young ones!

Karin continued her list, not even realizing Hiko blacked out for a second. “-we secretaries are also stressed due to the overall tension at the station but no other officer cares and just dumps their workload on us, and –lucky you!- they have no clue where you are.”

At least a silver lining on the otherwise dark horizon. Nibbling at a dry rice waffle, Hiko nodded slowly, not daring to speak up. Too many thoughts spiraled through her head, there were too many things to consider from now on.

‘I need to check the files I obtained. Maybe I should review the things I already know to get an actual plan what I need to find…’

“Suigetsu?”

The boy looked up. “Hm? What’s the matter Big T?”

“Do you have some paper and a pen?”

“Sure. But why should you need some? You have a PC.”

“Sometimes I need something real, not only the digital experience. Didn’t you experience this before?”

Suigetsu shrugged. “No. Not really, no. Must be your age talkin’.”

“Just…” Tiredly Hiko sighed out and pushed the last remains of the waffle in the middle of the table. “Just get me some. Would you be so kind?”

Later, when the boy hastily complied and both left the flat for work, the short female sat on the couch and pondered over his careless answer. Was she really that old? Uncertainty washed over her as she inspected her body and compared it to hers a few years ago. Right, she _got_ older. But everyone did. A few wrinkles here, a little more fat there, slower and weaker feet… Speaking about feet. Gently she tested strength and endurance of her ankle. One look and Hiko knew something was wrong. It was twice the size as usual, the skin tightened painfully over the bone and muscles and on top of that, it was of an angry red Hiko never saw before. Immediately when she graced the swollen joint, pain flashed through the leg and a sharp hiss escaped her.

“God fucking dammit…” she cursed. Maybe the adrenaline of the chase lessened the initial pain or the snow did a good job in weakening that hindrance, but now nothing helped her to deal with the little waves of anguish flooding through her limb and scattering in her whole body. In the near future, she wouldn’t be able to run marathons that was for sure. Limping towards the freezer in the kitchen wasn’t easy, but as soon as the coldness of a deeply frozen bag of peas seeped through her ankle, the pain at least reduced to a bearable level.

Kuro sniffed interested at the bag as Hiko was again seated at her makeshift bed, the black thin tail twitching in the air. She watched him and chuckled weakly. “Yeah, look at us stupid humans. Can only hurt each other with our actions and words… We don’t even stop at ourselves.”

Kuro licked his maw.

“I know, I know.” Sighing out, Hiko grabbed the requested pen and paper. Shortly, she glared at the fabric of the dress she _still_ wore, then concentrated on the paper again. Settling the pen on the white surface, she inhaled, then started to let her thoughts flow.

\-         _He must be in Konoha_

\-         _Underlinings_

\-         _A base, a lot of space, somewhere isolated_

\-         _A car, plate rigged or not present_

\-         _Has resources (money? Drugs? Anything else?)_

\-         _No similarities in the victims (2 females 1 male, ages are different, no common facial features)_

\-         _Only first and second corpses share a common thing (truthseeker) but Ryu wasn’t inflicted by my hacker-personality_

\-         _Kills different, Ryuzetsu’s was more brutal (ripped apart instead of neatly cut open)_

\-         _Danzo picked him up SOMEWHERE and SOMETIME_

With a heavy heart, Hiko added another important point to the list and as she wrote, the reality of those words sunk deeper and deeper in, making her despair only grow.

\-         _There’s a traitor at the department_

Only an insider could erase the reports she wrote and send. Only an insider could collect some DNA and deliver it to Kabuto. Only an insider could give away information about the brunette and Kakashi, about their relationship and about the state of the investigation. But who would be cruel enough to throw Hiko under the bus like this? And that was the reason she didn’t want to think about this possibility too closely, because then the brunette would definitely lose all the trust she had left into the KPD. Under all circumstances that she couldn’t allow.

So… where was the USB-stick? It got time to investigate Danzo thoroughly. However, before that, the woman changed out of the dress and into more comfortable clothing - a wide black pullover and thermos leggings she had packed into her backpack for cold nights. One look outside and the sheer mass of snow piling on the streets managed to make her smile the tiniest bit. Snow. In the white covers, she could watch people making their way to their work, or back from work, or running inevitable grocery shopping despite the slight blizzard running havoc. Then the memory of Kakashi telling her his winter fantasies came to mind, together with the nice snuggling session they indulged into afterwards and her heart sank faster than the Titanic.

Tears stung in her eyes and nose. What was she doing? Was this hassle even worth the result? Wouldn’t it be meaningless if Kakashi hated her in the end for being a hacker and lying to him? Hurting him, over and over again and apparently not caring one bit about his feelings? Because it felt like it - like Hiko trampled again and again over the man she loved.

She doubled over, her breath shallow and coming out in rapid waves.

“Don’t…” she choked, “Don’t let this thoughts get you.”

            ‘ _You just need a razor blade to make this pain disappear.’_

Panicked the brunette jerked out of her seat. Like ants were crawling underneath her skin, the cutting scars on her forearm itched, begging for little bit attention. A scream rippled in her chest, but Hiko kept the inhuman howl in, even though it was unbearable to not just scream around, to not let the world know how scared and alone she was.

“Never again,” she whispered, her voice weaker than she would’ve wanted for that statement, “never again. You’re not that kind of girl anymore who needs such a release.”

Nevertheless, Hiko avoided the bathroom for the following hours, always aware Suigetsu stored his shaving utensils in the drawer above the sink.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Kakashi didn’t take any vacation since he entered the reigns of the KPD. Only the occasional calling in sick for a longer weekend or an emergency with his father, but never vacation. Now he was forced out of the police department for four days, ordered by Nagato who had fumed in badly concealed anger, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t push his own investigations further. And that was the reason why he hung around _Jashin’s chamber_ on a late afternoon in the rented suit and coat, hoping he looked like a real rich bored man looking for some cheap fun. Taka had recognized him but didn’t care enough to chase him out of the bar. Only a little chuckle and a shake of his head, before he had placed a lukewarm beer in front of Kakashi who grunted in response and added a tiny bit more tip than usual for the barkeeper.

Even when he left a bad first impression on the bald man, there was a tiny chance he could reconcile and maybe also get some information out of him.

For a shabby bar on a workday, _Jashin’s chamber_ was surprisingly full. He would’ve never thought that dirty and slimy seats, the smell of unwashed bodies and cigarettes together with the unmistakable stench of a broken toilet would attract that many people, but when Kakashi casually let his eyes wander, he knew who was desperate enough to search for forgetfulness here. Half of the people in here were clinging to their alcohol like their life depended on it and the other half was on a very good way to alcoholism.

The silver haired man hadn’t taken the efforts of stomping through the white hell outside when he wasn’t expecting a result, but this time Kakashi was desperate and hell-bent on achieving _something_.

His hope was to meet one of the regulars of the bar, maybe also the amateur robber who got scared off by Hiko. Maybe they could lift the curtains a little bit around the mystery the brunette had created.

The question wasn’t if Hiko had other helpers beside Jirayia and Namikaze. Kakashi had seen the earpiece, also informed Sasuke in a calm moment about it, but now he wanted to confirm if the brunette met her contact right here in the same night when Jirayia stumbled over the small woman.

Once more Kakashi looked around, not seeing anything worthy of his attention. Only a little bit frustrated, he sipped at his still first beer, but then someone stepped closer to his booth and he looked up, not before quickly dragging up his flu mask again.

A woman, dressed in a slutty tight jeans, a low-cut tank top (seriously, in this weather?) and a shiny parka with fake fur decorating the hems of the hood smiled rather sinfully down on him. Her hair was falling in waves around her face and she was quite good-looking in a cheap way, but all Kakashi could see was that her black strands weren’t of a deep brown nor were her eyes of an icy blue, instead they were of a much duller shade of the same color.

“Lookin’ for some fun, mister?” The ‘r’ was rolling out of her mouth in an annoying attempt at a Spanish accent.

            ‘ _Hiko could do that better.’_

‘Just shut up.’

The cop forced a grin on his lower face, but the corners of his mouth twitched caused by the exertion of keeping the façade up. “And what if I do?”

“Honey, you found the perfect friend just now.” Without asking, she sat down at his table and waved wildly at Taka to bring her a drink. “Nothing better than a bit of company on such a stormy day, don’t ya think?”

“I prefer company at a stormy night more.”

The seductive comment came easily to him, but Kakashi hated himself in the same moment the female giggled loudly and threw her hair over her shoulder. What was he doing here? Flirting half-heartedly with someone he wouldn’t even touch with pincers, when all he really wished for was Hiko in her place. Since yesterday evening he hadn’t slept, too clear were the pictures of the ball before his inner eyes.

Hiko coming in beside Jirayia, her cover still intact and cold as ice. Hiko looking at him over the rimless glasses, her crimson red lips curling into a sly smile. Hiko’s back, her muscles straining and loosening whenever she moved and her behind swaying from side to side as she walked away. Hiko, Hiko, Hiko. The brunette was everything he could think of last night, how much he missed her and the comfort only she was able to give him.

He was so utterly confused by… simply everything. Every action suddenly stole more energy from him, every thought was slower than the one before. Kakashi felt like an old man who watched the world change rapidly around him, not able to keep up with the fast marching forward of time and halfway also not willing to keep up.

Before the man could sink lower into his self-pity, the flirtatious woman laughed rather loudly. Her screeches sounded eerily like the breathless gasps of a hyena, causing Kakashi to flinch at the unexpected sound.

“Oh, stop,” she ‘accidentally’ touched his hand and lingered there, “ya killin’ me!”

Nonchalantly, Kakashi ignored the foul taste in his mouth, all the while smiling lightly at the obnoxious woman (he didn’t even know her name!). “What a shame. Killing you is the last thing I want to do.”

“I know a way to make me scream loudly. Interested?”

He didn’t expect such a straightforward attempt. Freeing his hand from the relentless grip wasn’t easy, but somehow Kakashi managed without chasing the female away. “Right now? A bit fast. What about the anticipation building up?” He leaned forward and she mirrored him, maybe expecting a kiss or a nibble at her skin, but Kakashi halted a few inches before he would touch her in any way. “What about the nervousness rummaging through your bones, making you fidget and craving for the first contact? What about a little talk beforehand?” he whispered hoarsely, knowing what effect his low voice could have on willing woman.

Hinting at sex was easy. Hinting at sex with Hiko had been easier than anything in a whole while. The brunette was so responsive, always caught up on his intentions, sometimes even earlier than Kakashi could and teased back, not holding herself back by any hidden insecurities. The times she mocked him with pursed lips rushed into his head, filled the void space with sweet whimpers, pictures of a small body withering underneath or above him, rocking back and forth, and always with a light smile splayed across her lips, were so clear in his mind that Kakashi was lost on the way of seducing the woman before him with his line and stared blankly at the partly emptied beer, before the hyena opened her mouth again.

“About what do you want to talk, sweetie?” she whispered back. Her breath reeked of cold smoke and Kakashi had to act like he didn’t want to retch and jerk backwards.

“Do you meet other men like me here?” Kakashi tried to let the question seductive, like it was his kink to know his possible one-night stand was sleeping with other men. The truth couldn’t be farther away. Even before Hanare he was kind of possessive; knowing his partner was seeing only him turned Kakashi on to no ends. Faithfulness just had a special nice ring, he could be sure that his partner would be there for him no matter what. No matter what hour, no matter how depressed Kakashi was, his partner would be there to ease his worries. Naturally sex was also relevant, but in his opinion, it wasn’t that important.

The raven didn’t notice his discomfort, instead her smile widened and she cocked her head, revealing more of her cleavage. “Oh? You’re into that kind of stuff. I’m popular.”

“How many since last week?”

“Do I have to answer truthfully?”

“You know the old rule. Ask a man the same question and remove a third, ask a woman and add a third of her number.”

“My number is correct, don’t ya worry.” Innocently like a succubus, the female leaned forward and Kakashi caught sight of her bare breasts. Not one spark awoke in him at the sight. He didn’t feel the slightest bit aroused.

            ‘ _Hiko’s look better. Bigger, rounder, and her skin doesn’t look that rough.’_

Placing his elbow at the dirty table and settling his chin in the palm, the silver haired man tried to pry more out of the flirt. “And how many exactly?”

“Twelve.” She answered without thinking much.

“Any rich strangers under your acquaintances?”

Her smile didn’t waver one bit. “Do ya want to prove yourself at a lay one of ya friends already had?”

Kakashi decided to end it. Curling his eyes into a nonchalant smile, he cocked his head and snickered lowly. “Maybe. And? Do I have a chance?”

“Sweetheart,” dramatically she placed a hand over her chest, “ya have all the chances with every lovely lady inside this room. Describe me ya friend ya searching for.”

Bingo. Kakashi wanted to cheer, but knew he had to keep his masquerade up in order to pursue the woman further. So he continued to smile while speaking and with every uttered word a spark of recognition flashed over the face of his conversation partner. “A tall man. White long hair, bound into a ponytail. A pimple right beside his nose, red tattoos underneath his eyes, rich clothing, but a bit dirtied. Drank probably a lot and assembled a group of women around him. Wrote occasionally into a small notebook.”

“Ya mean the author who came last week. Strange type, really.”

“How come?”

Obviously the woman was miffed about something. A pout came to life as she leaned backwards, her arms crossing underneath her bosom and underlining the curves for him. “He didn’ want to touch any of us. Only looked and made sweet compliments, the ol’ charmer. Then,” her pout intensified, “he jumped up and paid a drink for a dwarf, who even rejected him clearly. They talked for a while, but then she send him back. Honestly, he could’ve had a whole group of real women, why talking to that ugly duckling?”

Dwarf. Hiko. Kakashi’s heart pounded awfully loud in his ecstasy to _finally_ have found a trace (his irritation at the ‘ugly duckling’ comment though raised his dislike for the raven before him significantly). Now to the good part. “He has a thing for strange females. Anyway, what happened then? She sent him back?”

“Yeah.” The raven was so easy to read. Proudly, she puffed her chest out, like it was the reason for the sudden loss in interest of the author in the brunette. “I only know she vanished after some time with another guy, shorter, also white hair. Bright purple eyes too.”

The woman before him had been hurt in her womanly pride and like that, she had watched Hiko suspiciously, making sure the threat to her hunting ground would go away without taking any prey away from her. What a luck he stumbled over this type of female.

“Any other things you can tell me about him?” Kakashi wanted to press the surprising string of luck a little bit further, but this time he was denied.

Wagging her finger, the raven send him a mocking pout. “Na-ha! I’ve enough of foreplay. Come on, let’s play for real now!” She fiddled closer and accidently let her hands brush over his crotch area. Kakashi felt the ministration, the experienced fingers trying to bring out a reaction of him, but his member stubbornly didn’t want to harden. The last straw was a tight grip into his privates (it hurt, but he buried the wince deep in his chest), then she let go, this time clearly confused. “Wha-? Why are ya not getting hard?”

Shrugging the cop used his chance to get out of the trap the booth became. “Sorry, I lied a little bit,” Kakashi said and rubbed the base of his neck, “I’m not interested in you. I will never be interested in someone like you, who is only after money and appearance instead of character and friendship. And the fake Spanish accent isn’t helping either.”

Satisfied with himself and the results he earned, Kakashi calmly collected his coat, scarf and gloves and clothed himself, not caring about the weak scandalized squeals his betrayed objective let out, who obviously didn’t expect such a turn of events. Thankfully, Taka took his money without any complaints and further pauses, so only shortly after he left the female flabbergasted in his previous booth, Kakashi stood outside and felt the stirred up snow scraping over his skin.

God, he felt sick. Uneasiness crawled into his stomach and coiled into the deepest guts, making the man nearly retch and bend over. He was soiled and the urge to shower was almighty. Kakashi concentrated for a few moments, tried to concentrate at the facts at hand instead at the uncomfortable sensations, smells and foremost the afterimages of unknown hands clutching his hand or grabbing his crotch.

Now, he was certain and had a little bit of description on the man who met Hiko last week. Or was it two weeks ago? The days were all the same, filled with agony, rising anger and lowering guilt and more and more questions. Kakashi had trouble to perfectly determinate the point where everything went totally crazy. Tiredly, he rubbed over his eyes, too emotionally exhausted to immediately react when his phone started to ring.

He preferred to take a few steps before fumbling with the buttons of the pocket where his phone was and when he looked at the screen and saw who had the nerve to call him today, the cop grimaced and shoved the device rudely back into place.

Hanare. Hanare tried to call him - Only the gods knew why. Kakashi wasn’t really fond of hearing her soft voice today, not with the investigation going on and involving another failed relationship, so he ignored the ringing and vibrating until it stopped.

He waited a few seconds longer, then he looked at the screen to see if she left a message. To his surprise she actually had. A short debate later with himself, all the while making his way over the snowy passenger way and stomping through huge piles of snow, Kakashi decided to hear the message now. No use in putting off the inevitable any longer.

Hearing Hanare again after nearly a year after their last court date was strange. He remembered clearly her way of accentuating the ends of sentences or how the woman would swallow little syllables sometimes when she was agitated or talked too fast.

A deep sigh was the first thing he heard. _“Hey Kakashi. Apparently you’re… It’s understandable that you don’t want to hear me. I think I understand. But… I wanted to send you a warning. Maybe you heard that I’m working now for the internal police investigation and I got the task to ask my way around the IT-department of the KPD. From tomorrow onward, I’m going to spend a lot of time in the proximity of your workplace, so I just…”_ Another lighter sigh. _“I wanted to warn you. Not that you receive a massive shock. And I heard some rumors about Ibiki making a visit in a few days. Only rumors though, I still have a few friends at the SFU, who… Doesn’t matter actually.”_

Anger coiled in his stomach. Friends who slept with her, or what was she trying to say?

_“Anyway, it would be nice if you call back, maybe… We could talk a bit. Try to have a… another start. So… don’t get drowned by the snow. Bye.”_

Hanare would come to his workplace? Deadpanned Kakashi stared at the cellphone, not believing what he just heard. And Ibiki, his former chef of the Special Forces unit wanted to visit too? Why? What business had the scarred man here?

‘Later. Hanare isn’t important right now, so is Ibiki. You have something you want to look into, namely Hiko and her mysterious remarks about Kabuto, about Danzo and their reasons to cooperate. And it would be great to find out if there’s a visible connection between them, not only vague theories Hiko tries to make. I have to do this the right way. I have to work my ass off for this.’

The cold helped him to concentrate more. Walking through the boring white masses, Kakashi tried to breathe sense into her words, but then decided to bring everything into order before raking his brain to no ends.

The third corpse was Ryuzetsu, Hiko’s former therapist and probably the reason why she became the person she was today. At the same time, she was the only one whose murder was crueler, ripped open by crude fingers instead of cut into fine pieces. (What was the connection between the corpses? Until now, there was none visible.) After that, Hiko became agitated and went home, where she apparently Kabuto called her, who ordered the shorty to leave Kakashi _or else_. (What was the reason behind this strange order?) She packed her things, wrote the break-up note and left, then Kakashi came back from work in the evening and found out about the empty flat, the vanishing of the brunette. Meanwhile Hiko found cover in an empty house by a group of homeless people and slept there, but the next night and her whereabouts were a mystery to him and the police. (Where had she been?) The police found the hunting knives, the data of the different companies Hiko hacked over the time and didn’t gave until then to the police and her file about her own case. (Why had she been giving some info out in the first place? What was her reason for doing something so dangerous for herself and her secret identity?)

Itachi unlocked the hard drive and discovered that Hiko was during all those years tRuthseekEr, a maybe relatively peaceful, nevertheless dangerous hacker who unraveled more dirty secrets about companies or people than the average whistleblower could hope to get to know in his life. (Why had she done this? What was her reason for being a hacker?) Hiko kept her cover over the duration, but when she popped up out of nowhere, she made a great entrance at the town hall, cladded into a fine dress, wearing a wig and in the company of Jirayia who was maybe the only one who was able to lead Hiko unseen inside the building. Besides, the shorty gained unknown allies, reserves and background info which she didn’t share with the police. (She knew more about the cases then she wanted to let through, about the one today and her own.)

Not only that, the mayor took a liking to her and protected the shorty from the police, probably to pay back the favor he owned her for saving his life. The incident at the start of the year… Danzo was involved, tRuthseekEr too. Maybe…

Determined Kakashi increased his speed. That was the only thing which would explain Danzo and the hacker being somehow entangled. Revenge was a motive for homicides, a pretty obvious on top of that, but Kakashi was able to speak with the former aide and he was certain, Danzo would use every chance he saw to make his plans become reality.

            ‘See it like the plot of a thriller. What would happen if this was a story?’

Danzo would further try to take the title of the mayor. Naturally Kabuto would be part of it too as the killing hand in action. And Hiko… Hiko was blamed for being the butcher. If somehow Namikaze got killed, spotting the same characteristics as the other victims, then also this kill would be shoved into her shoes and the brunette would be known as the killer of Minato. And with the blond mayor not filing any charges against his former aide… There would be no problem for Danzo to get into the town hall once more and even take the position he craved for.

A cold shiver wandered down Kakashi’s spine and it had nothing to do with the harsh cold wind creeping underneath his coat. Was this all a plot to take not only the mayor down, but also to earn revenge on the hacker who destroyed the first attempt at the very roots? But why was Hiko now on the run, on top of that ordered by her psychotic ex?

That made no sense.

Except… Except Kabuto followed his own plans, not connected to Danzo’s ideas how this should go. Except he planned to get his claws on Hiko _once more_ , except he planned to make the brunette submit to him again. Except Kabuto wanted to capture her, use her for his own pleasure, degrade and push her down and didn’t end her torture all those years ago.

It would also explain the order to break up with Kakashi. If Kabuto really wanted to not only threaten Hiko and cut off all her ties, but to isolate her from the only one who _he saw as a threat_ , then it was only logical to make the woman leave.

In the light of such a story, all her actions made a terrible kind of sense. Her words flew through his mind and in a sudden flash of clarity, Kakashi paused in the middle of the street, dread striking his insides when her words came back to him, the terrible, terrible words he could now see in another light, which scared the shit out of him.

_“I’m sorry, but I can’t go into prison. If I’m getting arrested, he will-! Doesn’t matter, actually.”_

_“I can’t. Kakashi, I just can’t tell. I’m s-sorry, I’m so_ so _sorry…”_

_“No Kakashi, you’re… you’re my reason. Don’t you understand? You’re my reason for everything I’m doing right now.”_

What if Kabuto threatened to kill Kakashi if Hiko wouldn’t obey? What if she listened to her ex only because his life was on the line, because she desperately wanted to protect him? What if she was still that scared of Kabuto that she listened to him on his behalf, because she thought Kakashi was in danger to get hurt or killed by him? It would explain so much; And also break his heart and melt it at the same time.

Because when this theory was true… Then everything Hiko was doing, she did for him, not out of ill intent, will or dark wishes that she hid until now deep inside her. Every of her words was true, every declaration of her love for Kakashi was truthfully spoken and every action she thought of was to arrest Kabuto and return to his side, not wavering even when _Kakashi_ struggled to believe in her…

Then, she loved him. Kakashi got protected, not left. Like always, Hiko thought more about him than about herself, cared for him and not for her own person, pulled all of her tricks to return and _turn things back to normal_ \- her words, not his.

A dry chuckle escaped his mouth and the cop’s eyes were watery as he blinked hectically, all the while his nose stung in the need to cry out in hope and drowning sadness. The possibility of Hiko being innocent was too much. Too much to swallow, too much for Kakashi to handle. Not only that Hiko was stubbornly clinging to their relationship and didn’t gave up, but he gave up. If this theory was true, then he gave up on her, stopped believing in the shorty and instead believed some half assed clues and hints when she needed him the most.

‘Obito was right. I should’ve defended her more wildly. Instead, I blindly ignored the possibility of her being innocent because I was hurt by being left behind _again,_ because I couldn’t stand the thought of being the left one once more. Obito was right. He was so right.’

Thankfully, his flat was close. Otherwise, Kakashi didn’t think he would’ve managed to hold the tears in. The whole time while he took the stairs upwards, he fought them off and when his eyes wandered over Hiko’s door, his sight went blurry due to the tears starting to pile up. Just in time, the silver haired man unlocked the door and stumbled in, then the first broken sob - which lived in his chest since the evening he found the heartbreaking note sitting on Hiko’s table - broke out.

He had let Hiko down. He wasn’t worthy of getting protected. She tried her very best to overcome the troubles she encountered and what did he do? Only to add to them. Burying his face in his hands, Kakashi leaned against the front door and slowly slid till he laid on the cold hard ground. Another trembling inhale, another rippled choke, the tears overflowed. Nothing more than a muffled scream escaped as he started to cry; Like he hadn’t done in years. Shaking and shivering, sobbing and finally ripping the flu mask down when he couldn’t breathe anymore.

He let Hiko down. He let Hiko down. _He let Hiko down_ _when everything she ever needed was someone who would believe in her._ The woman he loved had needed him and he wasn’t there to protect Hiko. Instead, he bathed in his anger and disappointment like a pig basked in mud.

Kakashi cried out all the emotions he had suppressed; All the sadness, all the grief, all the rage he had built up over the days, all the guilt, all the melancholy, and the crave for a smaller warm body beside him who comforted him with her mere presence.

“Hiko…” he sobbed and her name echoed in the small entrance area, “Hiko… I’m sorry… I can’t… I’m nothing, I’m sorry…”

Kakashi needed her. He needed his little Firefly, he needed to know she was alright, he needed to know that she was forgiving him, he needed to know if Hiko was gracious enough to take him back.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry… I should’ve believed more, I love you, I can’t do this without you…”

Trash, that’s what he was, nothing more. How could someone like him, who killed, spied and betrayed other people deserve the life-loving and cheerful Hiko? How could he?

“T-trash… I know you would disagree, b-but that’s what I am.” A pained small smile flashed over his strained features before he buried his head in his arms. “I’m nothing more than a pile of trash, worthless and not deserving an ounce of you. My little Firefly, I’m s-sorry…”

All the doubts he had buried since the beginning of their relationship crawled out of their graves like the zombies the shorty loved so much. Raising their rotten heads at him, stretching their wretched hands out, digging their crumpled cold fingers into Kakashi, dragging him further and further into the dirty ground. Hiko deserved so much better than him. Hiko deserved so much more than an emotionally crippled cop who would fail her at the very first moment she needed him.

Another distorted sob trailed out. “I can’t do… I can’t do this. I want you back where you belong, to your brothers, into the IT-office, m-mocking and teasing the young ones… Everything, I will even stay away from you, I only want to s-see and know you will be a-alright…” he whispered.

Yesterday wasn’t enough. Yesterday couldn’t be enough, not after seeing Hiko and faintly realizing how much she fought and struggled. Kakashi made no effort in masking his tears any longer nor mask the weak sounds he let out, the huffs and silent gasps for air, the twisted heaves and sobs. All the while, his heart throbbed with every breath, reminding him who inhabited currently the most of it.

Hiko. His little Firefly. A strangled laugh escaped him, followed by more tears and more heavy inhales. His nose was blocked. Hiko would’ve instantly started to fuss around the man if she was here and saw he was crying, tugging out a tissue and asking if he needed something, in her eyes standing clearly her worry and love. She would’ve hugged him close, allowing Kakashi to bask in her warmth and care, cradling his head and whispering sweet nothings while softly stroking over his back.

She wouldn’t insist on instantly needing to know he reason. Hiko would wait patiently, like she always did, knowing that Kakashi would open up eventually if she didn’t press him. She always cared. Always. One of her greatest features and at the same time, one of her most annoying; because it paired up with her stubborn pride to a deadly combination. More than once, Kakashi had found the brunette stitching herself up, tending bloody knees or carefully rubbing healing ointment on a new bruise because she literally climbed up the kitchen counter to reach for the high shelves and hurt herself somehow in the process, and her reasoning would always be: “You looked tired, so I didn’t want to wake you for something this insignificant.” Or “Kakashi, don’t be silly. You had a 24-hour shift and this is nothing.”

There were many other occasions he saw the brunette doing things with the same stubborn attitude. For example, the time he and the shorty went grocery shopping together and he left her for one moment alone. One moment was all she needed to climb up the supermarket shelves like a weasel and reach for his favorite chips. His breath had hitched as he came back and saw the shorty one meter up in the air, one leg safely secured between gummy worms and chocolate, the other dangling down and still the shorty wasn’t able to reach the upper shelf, fully stretched out to her not that impressive height. If he hadn’t caught her in the act, Hiko would’ve had smuggled them into their cart, exclaiming she noticed his were empty.

At the memory of her cute pout, his tears lessened for some seconds. Kakashi snickered watery, choked on a breath and continued to snicker, all the while the picture of her pursed lips and the nevertheless amused sparkle in her crystal blue eyes haunted him.

‘I miss her so much. I miss Hiko and all her little quirks, the humming and bad singing, her bad habit of raging while losing in her video games, the constant need to heat every room to the level of a sauna, the absolutely annoying fact that she can’t hold still while sitting somewhere. Seriously, how much does she need to move around? Only when we are snuggling can I contain her a little bit.

_‘I would give everything to hear one more time her very own version of Queen’s “Breaking free”. To hear her colorful curses or watching her how she rages and nearly flips her mouse and keyboard over. I would love to jokingly complain about the heat or sneakily lower the temperature, only to listen to her grumbling. I would absolutely adore to feel her jerking knees or prodding toes in my legs, her really sharp elbows and her hands fiddling with the hems of my shirt.’_

New tears fell freely down. Not even a deep inhale would stop them, so the silver haired man just let go, not caring any longer about keeping his voice low.

Sometime later, Kakashi found himself lying down on the ground in front of the entrance door, his flank pressed to the bare floor, eyes puffy and throat raw. He felt like an old man, too exhausted and tired to care much about his state, though he only slowly pulled himself together. Minutes passed until he managed to sit up. Wiping a few times over his cheeks and eyes, Kakashi stared dully at the brownish ground, his legs splayed away from his torso and hands lying in his lap, twitching from time to time when another depressing thought hit him.

But there were no more tears to spend on the dwelling sadness. There were no more feelings inside him which needed to be relieved. Kakashi was simply empty; where the emotions occupied everything before was only a bland hint of satisfaction that this mess was finally gone.

His head was clear for now. Hopefully it would stay for some time that way, so that the cop was able to make connections beyond the obvious, but before he would get anything done, he stood up. His bones cracking and some joints aching the tiniest bit, and pulled the slightly wet coat off of his shoulders, followed by the suit. Quickly, he hung the again wet fabric over the couch and slipped into jeans and a pullover. Then Kakashi, who carefully avoided to step on the insides of Hiko’s file which were still spread out on the carpet in the middle of the room, tugged his cell phone out and ignored Hanare’s request to call him back. Instead he dialed his father, not exactly sure what he wanted from him, but half way sure he needed the wits and words of his old man.

 _“Hello my son.”_ Sakumo’s voice was warm and inviting and unconsciously Kakashi relaxed when he heard the familiar tone. _“What’s up?”_

“Dad? I… Can you come over? I need your help.”

Admitting he needed a helping hand wasn’t easy. For so long Kakashi managed to do things on his own, not needing anyone, but since Hiko stepped into his life and turned it inside out, that premise also changed.

Sakumo fell silent for a moment. In the background, the dogs rustled and yipped; Bull probably tried to gnaw on one of the old shoes his father gave him for that exact purpose while Pakkun strolled around the legs of his old man, the leash already holding in his maw. Those dogs were intuitive.

 _“Okay,”_ the soothing tone echoed over the speaker, _“I’m bringing Pakkun and Bull with me. What is the problem?”_

“I have a case here which is kind of hard to look at and I would be grateful if you would try to puzzle it out with me.”

 _“Sure.”_ Sakumo’s door opened and closed. _“Maybe I have heard about it already. Which case do you work on?”_

“Hiko’s.”

_“But I thought…”_

“That I was told to take vacation, yes.” Impatiently, Kakashi settled down in the middle of the papers and took a photo of the brunette’s haggard features in his hands. The ice blue eyes, staring dully back send painful jolts through his body, nevertheless he stood his ground against the paining picture. “But Hiko was a victim once and I have a feeling the culprit from back then could be also the culprit of today.”

_“You never told me.”_

“It was her story and not mine. Just… Come over. Please.” Seeing the pictures would set his father off. Sakumo always had the incredible talent to feel with the victims of such gruesome cases without letting his emotions cloud his judgement. Kakashi hoped to inherit at least a part of that self-control.

Through the window, the cold winter sun illuminated the various pictures of naked and bruised skin, all the while the silver haired man waited with closed eyes for his father, calming himself by counting slowly to hundred. There was no need in getting agitated, not anymore.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All the kudos to chisie, who offered to proofread for me and officially did it for this chapter (hopefully she will make it through some others, I make a lot of mistakes...)
> 
> Thank you, my dear, you're the best! :)


	66. All that's left

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As a family, Kakashi and Sakumo start to look very closely into Hiko's past and the current case.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Less of Hiko's perspective, more of Kakashi and Sakumo. Especially Sakumo :3  
> (Maybe somebody wants to tell me if their relationship seems alright?) ;)
> 
>  
> 
> my tumblr-account, if anyone is interested: historicfailure

“You hurried too much.”

“What do you mean? The traffic is nearly down, the streets are empty…” Sakumo rubbed the back of his neck with a silly grin on his countenance, all the while trying to control Pakkun and Bull who jumped excitedly up and down at seeing their second favorite human standing before them.

Kakashi smiled tiredly at the yipping dogs and shortly stroked their heads before turning again to his father.

“Thanks dad. I have no… Just…” He sighed deeply. “Thanks for coming.”

Sakumo gave him long look and the younger male had the unsettling feeling his father exactly knew what happened only half an hour ago, though he didn’t call him out on it. Instead, his father only patted his shoulder reassuringly and brushed past him, shedding the jacket, gloves and scarf and correctly hanging them on the handle.

Kakashi was never before thankful that his father was a strong cop, but when he watched the dark eyes widen at the cuts and bruises portrayed in the images lying around, Sakumo didn’t say one single thing. Instead, he composed himself and crouched down, fending at the same time Bull off who tried to jump straight into the middle of the papers.

“I think I need a coffee for this,” his father murmured absentmindedly and raised an image of Hiko’s broken and bent arm to inspect it closer. “And I need you to tell me what you know. Or what you suspect.”

“Sure.”

While waiting for the two cups to be filled, Kakashi filled the silence with words, described what happened yesterday and Hiko’s hints to him, told about his theory what could’ve happened nearly a decade ago and how the two cases could be connected. Meanwhile, Sakumo worked slowly his way around the circle, inspected the pictures of her injuries closer and read through every single document, taking everything in what his son said and only flashing short looks at the younger man before sinking himself back into the investigation.

 

The scent of a strong brew filtered through the room as Kakashi ended. Spilling his theory and hearing it out loud was making things clearer and now. With the troubling emotions gone, he could look at the hints with a clarity he experienced only in highly stimulating crime scenes. Sakumo listened closely, didn’t interrupt and tried to keep the dogs calm. Pakkun was no problem, he was a calm pug to begin with, only Bull was that excited to be out of his usual territory and sniffed full of excitement at the papers and tried to eat them that Kakashi locked him sometime in his bedroom.

“And?” The younger man crouched down beside his father and looked at him. “What do you think?”

“About what exactly?”

“About everything.”

Sakumo paused and chose his words wisely. Then, stroking over his chin and taking a first sip, he said: “I guess I can see the point in your theory. It _is_ possible; however, you shouldn’t forget that there’s still a chance that Hiko is guilty.”

Squinting his eyes, Kakashi raised the picture of Hiko’s forearms, colored in blue, green and red, still unmarred and otherwise pale, without any ink telling a story about a scared woman and her cruel story. “See? I don’t think you believe it either. You told me to investigate into both directions, but I’m now at a point where I have to decide in what I believe, because otherwise I will get no results due to my disunity. So, tell me what you think and I don’t want to hear any comments like: You have to decide on your own. I’m done with deciding on my own. I’m done with asking myself if I made the right decision.”

Until now he had ignored his cup of coffee, but now Kakashi took a sip from the burning hot beverage and nearly burned his tongue but restricted himself from showing any kind of pain. “I’m asking for help,” he admitted weakly and felt like a little child again. “I don’t know what I have to think, what I have to do anymore. I need your help, dad.”

Sakumo glanced one last time at the pictures surrounding them, then placed his hand on the crown of Kakashi’s head and ruffled through his hair, the same gesture he used whenever Kakashi had been agitated, sad or frustrated over something as a child. “No problem, partner,” he said. “No problem at all. And you’re right, I couldn’t believe Hiko is guilty of killing people. I trust your instincts too much.”

“I was wrong with Hanare though.”

“Everybody makes mistakes. But it’s important to get up again and walk forward, not look back and ponder over things which could’ve been. And you did that, found in my opinion a wonderful girl and tried to do things the right way. You were young,” Sakumo shrugged, “but you grew up and that’s what counts in the end.”

 

“Dad…”

“Na, don’t destroy our sweet father-son bonding moment. I said something wise and surely life-changing for you, so nod and act like you have more respect for me from now on.”

His old man, always trying to lighten his mood with a witty comment; And Sakumo knew he did the trick when Kakashi broke into a tiny smile.

“See? And I’m kind of flattered you thought I would be able to help you. After all I’m an old man, my brain isn’t the fastest anymore…”

“Bullshit.”

“Kakashi, even though there’s no woman present. Watch your language.”

“But it’s bull-! It’s nonsense. You’re still a great detective and I want you to be the one who helps me,” Kakashi stated clearly.

Somehow his father looked a little bit like he was about to cry, an embarrassed smile tugging at the corners of his mouth and happily creased eyes showing how much he appreciated that his usually distant (nevertheless friendly) son asked for help, especially _his_ help, and Kakashi knew he had changed significantly. During his time in the SFU, he would’ve favored a bath in lava over asking for help. Countless of late-nighters and extra hours spent in the bureaus of his old job were proof of that.

He had told Hiko many times that it was okay to let someone help. The silver haired man had seen her struggle, not only with her past, but also with everyday things. Due to her height, the brunette was always under the impression people underestimated her and like this, she thought she had to prove it to them that she wasn’t helpless; May it be climbing up the shelves in a supermarket to get a special pudding or carrying a far too huge and heavy stack to gods knew where. Somewhere along the way of trying to get the shorty to accept help, his own resistance to getting help dwindled. Kakashi knew now there were things he couldn’t do alone and there were also things he didn’t want to do alone, and going through Hiko’s nightmare, the silver haired man didn’t want to do alone at all costs, not again.

“I couldn’t think of anyone better fitted than you,” he admitted.

Sakumo clicked his tongue but Kakashi knew it was out of discomfort at the open praise. “You could sell Bedouins sand, you know that?”

Kakashi laughed out. It wasn’t a really happy one but the happiest he managed to produce since days. “Hiko says I have a silver tongue.”

“I knew there was a reason why I like her. So…” Warily, Sakumo gestured to the spread-out case. “Rape, huh?”

 

“Unfortunately.”

“I suspected that she was depressive and suicidal. Her scars… aren’t really hidden but I never would’ve thought she was tortured like…” Sakumo stopped and nodded at the various pictures of Hiko’s injuries, the bite marks littered over her chest, the cuts and blood dried on her skin and the bruises, resembling macabre fingerprints along her thighs and flanks. “Like _this_.”

“Nobody believes it at first.”

“Did you read her psychological profile?”

Kakashi shook his head. “It’s not attached to this file. And somehow…”

“Aah.” This time Sakumo’s click of his tongue was clearly a sign of his disappointment but the assuring touch at his shoulder let Kakashi breathe more freely. “You hesitated. Didn’t want to see written out how deep Hiko’s mind really is. That’s okay, but now you have to man up. Inside such files are sometimes rare diamonds for cases like this. Do you know who was responsible for the psychological mapping?”

“Uhm… Wait a second… Hiko told me yesterday.” Racking his brain, Kakashi tried to remember the name of the last victim, then it flashed with the power of a wrecking ball through his brain. “Ryuzetsu. Her last therapist was called Ryuzetsu.”

His father settled now fully down on the ground, his joints audibly cracking in the motions as he did so. Pakkun yawned widely and used the chance to stroll over and snuggle into Kakashi’s side. Absentmindedly, he patted the pug and stroked the skull of the animal, all the while Sakumo searched through the staples of papers and tried not to wince at the surfacing cruel images. “I think I heard about Ryuzetsu,” he mumbled and shoved the medical report aside, “She’s thorough and does her best for the sake of her patients. And she isn’t cheap. Do you know where she is?”

“KPD, medical laboratories. On a metal table.”

“Wait what? She’s dead?”

Kakashi decided to take the growing staple on Sakumo’s side out of the way, a little bit miffed his father destroyed his perfectly arranged circle that easily. “Yup,” he said lowly, “she was the third victim.”

“Anything special about her?”

“Her death was uglier than the other ones. More painful. According to Orochimaru, she didn’t even receive the mercy of dying relatively fast. The killer purposefully kept her alive as long as he or she could, to let her feel how he ripped her open. The other victims died somewhere along the vivisection and the killer didn’t care much, but Ryuzetsu…”

 

Sakumo’s expression clearly showed how much he despised the murderer already. “You know what that means. Strong emotions, hatred, anger et cetera. It fits also into your theory.”

Right. When Kabuto was the one behind this, then naturally he would harbor ill feelings for the therapist who helped Hiko to overcome the toxic shadow he threw over her life. Kakashi shuddered at the thought of the woman struggling in her binds and screaming out in pain when crude fingers started to dig into her lower stomach. No one deserved this, absolutely no one. Especially not for helping people.

“Yes. I know.” Tiredly, Kakashi rubbed his knuckles over his eyes. They hurt and shortly he tried to assess for how long he was awake. After a few moments, he gave up and only suppressed the yawn which wanted to crawl out. “But there’s also the second victim, Kagero Fuma. She was found sitting against Hiko’s car, dad. If we follow my theory, Kabuto should’ve known at last to this point where she is. Where she lives, where she sleeps. He could’ve just went in, pick her lock, capture her and flying over the nearest country border before any of the police could even think about going after them. So why this roundabout way?”

Sakumo cocked his head, pacing through the pages of a psychological profile of the “vampire”, based upon a description the shorty delivered. “Arrogant,” he started slowly and low, “self-centered, obsessed with blood, intelligent, doesn’t cares about rules, manipulation skills are high, likes to plan everything around him, loves to play games, to play with people…”

One look over his father’s shoulder and Kakashi knew why he squinted his eyes. Around the carefully written out lines, Hiko scribbled things down in her typical a bit jammed writing, adding to the dry comments of the cold report.

“You said the second corpse was leaning against her car?” Sakumo asked while his fingers trailed an angry drabble of a man getting torched right between two paragraphs. “I believe it was a message for her. Something like “I found you”. He wanted to let her know he found her and that his game began.”

“Oh god…” Kakashi felt how his face paled and slacked. “Hiko had a panic attack that day and I thought it was because she found the corpse and it reminded her about the rape, but she said something like…”

 _‘“…don’t know anymore… A reason? No, no… There was no reason, not random… She was_ selected. _Just for that. A message, a message…”’_

“She knew it was a message,” the younger man ended. Then, he balled his hands into tight fists, his fingers hurting from the force he used on them. “Goddammit, she could have told me! She could have told me about her suspicions! Hiko knew what the corpse meant and out of stupid reasons, she kept quiet!” Agitated, he jumped up, his hands trembling in his anger and despair. All the hints were there, he just never looked at them with enough clarity to connect them properly! And why Hiko didn’t tell him!

 

“Kakashi, stay calm.” Sakumo grabbed his wrist. The warm touch was meant to be calming, but Kakashi only felt more agitated and worried. “Your anger will get us nowhere.”

Quickly, he brushed the hand of his father off. “You don’t understand! I’m not angry, I’m worried, I’m nervous, I’m despaired and shit-faced scared, because Hiko is somewhere out there, alone and also scared, scared of her ex, scared of contacting me because I pushed her away!”

“Kakashi, listen-!”

“I have no idea what to do anymore, I’m just so helpless and it just dawns on me that Hiko always hid herself from me, at least a big portion isn’t helping either! Then, I’m thinking about yesterday and I’m feeling guilty beyond imagination, because she tries so hard for my sake and all I did was blindly blame her!”

“Kakashi, will you stay silent for some seconds and let me-!”

The detective didn’t recognize himself. He was rambling, pacing up and down his living room with a nervous jitter residing deep in his bones and soul, too lost in his emotions to notice how Pakkun jumped up and down and yipped loudly, trying to sooth the man. “Dad,” he started yet again, “I let Hiko down when she needed me the most. Did you ever do that to mum? I don’t think so, because then you would understand how I feel, so damn worthless and dumb for not noticing-!”

“Kakashi!”

Sakumo never shouted. Even when Kakashi was a bratty child and teenager, his father never indulged into the unsightly habit of screaming around, but there he was, voice stern and controlled despite the sharp command he gave, sitting on his carpet and face clenched in worry and slight anger. The younger man stopped mid-sentence. His chest heaved with heavy exhales, his eyes stung from the earlier crying and sleepless hour; the spot where Hiko pressed his taser into his side hurt too. He felt somehow dirty and grimy, but was too tensed to accept the fact that he reached his breaking point - emotionally and physically. With a low sigh, Sakumo moved upwards and placed both of his hands on Kakashi’s shoulders, locking their eyes together and holding the gaze with an intense kind of urgency. “Son, _breathe_. You’re not dumb and you’re surely not worthless, not to me.”

“Dad…”

“Listen. Listen for once.” The grip around his shoulders tightened. “You let nobody down.”

“But-!”

“Kakashi, I never once thought I would ever use these words, but _shut the fuck up_. You let nobody down, except for yourself in this very moment. And if you freak out right now, only then you’re giving in. Only then, Kakashi. So, don’t lose your head. When was the last time you slept through a night?”

 

Instead of answering, Kakashi only shrugged. Honestly, when was the last time he slept calmly and without a nightmare through an entire night? He couldn’t remember. Actually, he could remember, but it was painful to think about falling asleep with Hiko in his arms and waking up to one of her coffees and friendly teases about his bed hair. (Or to one of her warm cuddles or a long, dragged-out very slow make-out session. Kakashi would give everything to experience one of their lazy mornings again.)

Sakumo exhaled loudly, knowing instantly what the hesitant pause meant. “So not in a long time. Okay, that’s it. I didn’t think I have to still tug you into bed when you’re thirty, but nobody should say I’m a bad father. Brush your teeth, slip into your sleeping clothes and hop into bed.”

The younger silver haired man tried to protest but his father reverted back to the unmovable rock he had been during Kakashi’s juvenile days. “You’re staggering on your feet, partner. That and the dark blue bags under your eyes tell me enough. When you’re too tired to hold yourself straight, then it’s painfully obvious you can’t make any more connections today. Don’t worry,” he broke into a smile, “I will be here when you wake up.”

Pakkun barked once and wagged his tail, tongue lolling out of his muzzle like he wanted to approve of the command the father gave to the son.

Sakumo was right; Kakashi was exhausted beyond measures, and he really did stagger on his feet as he walked into the bathroom, accompanied by the pug who strolled around his legs as Kakashi brushed his teeth slowly. The mirror above the sink portrayed how wrecked and fucked-up the detective looked. His eyes were red, whacked by his tears and emotions, dark bags resided in his face and his skin looked not like snow, but sickly pale, but the thing which rattled Kakashi the most were his eyes, the coal iris which seemed to swallow everything else - dull and lifeless.

The storm inside him left only destruction behind, empty fields and nothingness. A pitiful grin crossed his mouth only to die just as fast. Maybe a few free days to recover were actually a good thing, to sleep some hours, eat accordingly to his age and not like he was an underweight schoolgirl and get… the rest of this confusion out of his mind.

‘I just want to have Hiko back. I want to listen to her rantings about the technological exploits of the officers, I want to see her typing on her computer, I want to feel her body against mine, I want to experience Hiko in all her beauty and ugliness. She’s so much more than everyone sees in her, for me, she’s… Hiko is everything I could’ve begged for. For all my problems, for all my stubbornness, for all my mistakes… She’s everything I could’ve asked for in a partner.’

 

But he already cried all his tears. So Kakashi only dully placed his toothbrush back on the sink and allowed Pakkun to leave the bathroom before him, then followed the dog, who seemed to sense the distress of the man and yipped lowly.

Quickly, Kakashi bent down and picked the dog up. For some seconds Pakkun struggled, too startled to recognize the touch, but the man knew how to persuade the pug. Caressing the very soft inner paws, the silver haired man managed to calm Pakkun down, until the smaller body relaxed into his chest and even cricked under his hands to nose his bare cheek.

“Sorry,” he murmured into fur, “sorry for… Just sorry.”

Deep in his chest the dog growled, but it was a gentle sound. In the living room, he heard Sakumo shuffle around, papers were rearranged and Kakashi was pretty sure his father murmured something inaudible before he stuck his head into the bedroom where Kakashi stood and tried to fend Bull off. The big black dog was jumping up and down, the tongue lolling out of his muzzle and spilling drool everywhere.

“Is he too much to handle?” his father asked worriedly, but Kakashi shook his head.

“No. Actually… Can they stay?”

Like the mastiff understood his intention, Bull started to yip and howl weakly, drooling even more and wagging his tail in excitement around. All the while Sakumo looked a bit lost, but soon the expression got replaced by fatherly admiration and understanding. “Sure,” he said and smiled, “just be careful, Bull tends to kick in his sleep.”

“Okay.” He was already exchanging the pillows on his bed. The other nights he had pushed Hiko’s pillow far away, but tonight he wanted the sweet smell of raspberry and vanilla to sooth him to sleep. Kakashi wanted to hug the pillow tight to his face, bury himself in the familiar scent, drown the sorrow and doubts howling in his head with it. He couldn’t have Hiko, but at least something of her was still with him.

Only later, when Kakashi already arranged himself and the two dogs in his bed –Pakkun was sitting on the other pillow, Bull was resting actually on him and continued to drool all over Kakashi’s chest- he wondered why his father mentioned the mastiff’s tendency to be lively in his sleep.

Maybe he was also that lonely and lost sometimes that he allowed the dogs to sleep in his bed. With such a strangely assuring thought entering his mind, the silver haired man drifted off into the merciful darkness, soothed by the smell of his little Firefly trailing into his nose and the low snivels of the two dogs, hunting rabbits in their dreams.

 

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

_Warmth. Hiko grumbled in her throat and snuggled closer to the heat source, slinging her arms around the trim waist and nosing, still half asleep, the spine of the familiar smelling man in her bed. He was home. He was safe._

_Kakashi was home. She smiled in her frail state. Kakashi was safe._

_“What do you think you’re doing there?”_

_Suddenly the warmth was gone, got replaced by piercing cold and harsh words, flying over her head and making the shorty cringe. “What do you think you’re doing? What do you think you’re doing after you betrayed me, after you left me alone in the dark and hurt me more than anyone?”_

_“Kakashi, I-!”_

_The silver haired man hadn’t moved an inch, but his back radiated the anger dripping also from his voice, cold, unrelenting and cutting through the comfortability of the situation. “Don’t touch me ever again. Your hands make me sick, your voice makes me wretch in disgust, how can you even live with yourself? You hurt me even though you promised not to! You promised, you promised, YOU PROMISED!”_

 

Her surroundings were blurred when Hiko awoke out of her nap. Quickly, she rubbed over her eyes and wiped the remains of salty tears away before turning to her research. Halfway through the hidden files of Danzo and until now… Nothing.

The moon just rose upon the sky, so she slept maybe three hours? Didn’t matter actually. Hiko tried to read the next line of the next illegal document but her thoughts kept drifting towards the dream and the realization which came along.

She broke a promise to Kakashi. Given to herself, fine, but nevertheless a promise Hiko always wanted to keep because the detective already got hurt and now she became the very reason why the silver haired man was in pain. Again. Again and again.

Annoyed by herself and her weakness the shorty rubbed with the edges of her black sweatshirt over her eyes. “Stupid bitch,” she whispered into the silence, “just… shut up.”

Suigetsu and Karin returned sometime, but Hiko didn’t really care. Too focused on the investigation, she forgot also to eat again, therefore her stomach grumbled lowly as she moved and a dull pain tugged at her intestines.

Hiko didn’t really care about the pain, there was worse out there, but her body apparently thought otherwise. As she tried to stand up, dark spots popped up in her vision, filled her sight with unsightly darkness. Suddenly she found herself on the floor, only held up by her hands and knees. Her glasses… They fell down and when she reached out to grab her device, her hands jittered heavily, in fact that heavily that Hiko needed a few tries before her unresponsive limb closed around her glasses.

When was the last time she ate something? She remembered taking some snacks from a waiter while talking to Kakashi in her disguise, but even back then she didn’t actually stuck the finger food into her mouth. Only champagne made it past her lips, nothing else.

Pathetic.

Hiko needed three attempts before she could drag her legs under her body and stand up. Stumbling over her own feet, the brunette made her way into the kitchen through the darkness and only leaded by a faint sliver of moonlight falling through the windows. One look inside the fridge and she closed the door again, uninterested into everything it could offer to her. In the end, Hiko picked some dry toast and nibbled at the harder edges of the bread while leaning against the kitchen counter in the crammed kitchen, her head thrown back and exposing her neck to the air.

 

Hiko was ashamed - Ashamed for being a coward, ashamed for her actions and how helpless she was in the face of Kabuto; not even the real Kabuto, but the old submission he installed in her mind. He was still far too strong. Without a problem, only with two corpses and his voice, the man managed to remove some of her protections, making Hiko revert back to her old ways.

With a shake of her head, the shorty controlled her breathing - in and out, in and out. Instead of eating, she started to pluck the toast in her hands apart, doing breathing exercises Ryuzetsu showed her a long time ago, not even really sure if she was doing them right or if she messed them up completely. Internally, Hiko betted on messing them up. After all, she couldn’t do anything else than fuck things up in the worst possible way.

Not even half of the toast was devoured as she crawled back into her workplace/makeshift bed. Restless, her eyes wandered over the dimly lit screen of her PC, trying to make connections where possibly wasn’t anything in the first place… Maybe she was wrong. Maybe Danzo was only an utter asshole, not the cold-blooded head behind a series of homicides. Maybe Kabuto was only a sick fuck, not the dangerous pet on a leash for a power hungry old man. Maybe Danzo was really an altruistic really rich fucked up aide who donated tons of money to orphanages?

“What the hell…? Is this right?” Quickly, Hiko checked if she didn’t miss click or if her glasses were suddenly broken beyond repair. But no, there was really a file with the title “donations” mixed into the half-legal actions of Shimura (most of them were consisting of dubious deals with infamous dealers, already signed papers for non-passable law changes or a large stack of bills for faked paintings).

What was this file doing in there? Hiko considered a lot of things bad, but not _donations to orphanages_. Especially large sums of money like in this case.

“100.000 to one in Sunagakure, 150.000 to one in Kumogakure,” she murmured and shook her head at the insane sums Danzo transferred, “110.000 to one in Yugagakue… What has he done?”

She scrolled down the list. Over the years Shimura visited various orphanages and always seemed to leave a huge reward for merely a visit. Why? There was no reason at all to do that! Angrily, she slammed the enter button and marked the file with a bright red note to look at later. Her thoughts were too dazed to properly think about Danzo marching up into an orphanage and stroking small children over their heads, ruffling their hair and smiling at them. It was just wrong to think about it!

 

One wrong move and she sunk backwards, grunting in pain, as she clung to her swollen ankle and avoided touching the scorching hot flesh. The bag of frozen peas was by now only a wet bag with mushy peas, but going again into the kitchen and searching for something else which could cool the injury was impossible. Dully, Hiko pressed down and hissed when the pain got unbearable. Tears clouded her vision, so she just closed her eyes and tightened her grip.

The pain was good. The pain was everything she had. Hurting herself was freeing her thoughts and bought her to a never before achieved clarity, but the pain wasn’t good, it wasn’t what Hiko wanted - _what she needed_. Just a little bit more, just a little more concentration, a fierce cut running along her veins, and blood dripping-!

With a weak scream on her lips, Hiko ripped her hands away from the pulsating ankle. Every breath was harder than the one before, her chest was heaving in her attempt to draw air into her lungs and as she let her head fall backwards, the brunette let random curses fall down from her lips, more and more until only whispers came out, breathless and strained. Only then Hiko opened her mouth wider for a silent scream.

Why was this happening? She worked so hard to never fall back in her old behavior. Years of meditation, of therapy and thorough talks about her depression and suicidal tendencies. Years of work. Thrown away for a temporal release.

How weak. How despicable. How worthless could someone be? Hiko sobbed into her palms, mouth open wide and still screaming inside her head. Was any of her efforts even worth it?

_‘Give up. It’s not worth the hassle. Give up and give in. There’s no use in struggling, Kabuto will get you in the end. Give in and let go. You’re nothing. You’re nothing, but with him you have the chance to be of use.’_

‘NO! I won’t give in to his demands, I can’t! There’s so much more to live for and offering myself to Kabuto would be the end of me! I can’t do this, I would kill myself just as much as degrading my efforts until now!’

_‘Think about it. Think. Just try to. Kabuto could be nice, he could be caring. He treated the wounds he inflicted on you, he asked if you were okay after you two had sex.’_

‘That doesn’t erase his sins! This is no joking matter, it’s not something I should downplay!’

_‘Think about it. Think about the kindness he could show, the careful gestures, the sweet shy smile…’_

‘It’s all fake! He’s nothing but a monster!’

_‘His pancakes were heavenly. Remember. He used to make them after you cut yourself, saying you needed to restore the blood you delivered to him. He took care of you.’_

‘For his own selfish interests! Kabuto isn’t a human, he’s something which should be thrown into prison behind thick bars and never be allowed to come out again! To smell the fresh air, to see the blue skies, these privileges should be taken away from this monstrosity!’

“Stop…” Hiko whined weakly and pressed her hands flatly against her ears, “I don’t want to hear this…”

Desperately, she tried to reach for happier pictures, anything to distract herself. Memories of Obito and her dancing in the arcade, laughing and giggling like little kids at each other. Scenes with Itachi, standing in his kitchen and cooking together, him constantly checking the recipe and her doing things on a whim. Kisame and Hiko sitting in front of the lazily streaming river in Konoha, him fishing unhurriedly and the woman quietly asking things about his doings. But, first and foremost: Kakashi.

 

Kakashi laughing alongside her three brothers because of a stupid lame pun she dropped. Kakashi sipping at a cup of coffee and casually leaning against a wall, the flu mask barely pushed below his chin and one arm crossing his chest. Kakashi inviting Hiko to join him while he read his book, allowing her to settle down in his lap and not caring about the added weight. Kakashi propping his chin down on her head, watching the small woman on how she cooked a meal or prepared a little snack. Kakashi looking warily around, then shedding his mask for a quick kiss on her cheek, forehead or lips.

Hiko swallowed the new scream rippling in her chest. It hurt to keep all those feelings in, it hurt so fucking much. It was torturing to know she would probably never see those little actions of care again. To realize he would never look in the same way at her, full of awe, love and affection. To just _know_ Hiko fucked up the only other relationship she ever dared to build up after Kabuto and knowing it was the best thing what happened to her in a whole while. _That_ realization was making the female curl up, knees drawn to her chest, arms slung around her limbs and sobbing into the blankets of the uncomfortable bed.

It was her fault. It was only hers. For not speaking up; for not getting clear; for not abandoning her lifestyle sooner; for trying to solve everything alone and not wanting to rely on anyone else.

Pride. Simple, stupid pride cost Hiko the best thing she ever had. That and her useless fears.

Reminding herself of better times obviously didn’t work. Instead of feeling at least a little bit better, Hiko’s thoughts got tainted with the knowledge that she lied to her family the whole time while making those memories, therefore her mood dropped even lower than the freezing point. Still crying, she hid her unsightly swollen and red face in the linen of the blankets and waited until the waves of sadness subdued.

They didn’t completely vanish even when the sun rose on the pale grey sky and the first light crawled into the empty room. Hiko still laid curled up on the couch, her features flat and expressionless and her heart feeling heavier than before her crying.

 

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

For some moments, Kakashi thought it was like every other morning with Hiko. Slowly, he woke up and tried to assess the situation going on around him. He heard the clinking of porcelain in his kitchen and the working of his coffee machine. With a sly smile, he buried his head again in the heavenly smelling pillow and breathed in. Sweet raspberry and innocent vanilla. It was warm but the other side of the bed was too, so she hadn’t woken up too long ago. Outside, the snow seemed to have calmed down a bit, the thick and heavy downpour of yesterday got replaced by much lighter and thinner flakes. Maybe he could talk Hiko into coming back into bed for a few minutes and cuddle a bit more. After all, the weather was simply horrible and Kakashi could use some warmth before he felt really ready to start the day and face the harsh winds…

For those moments, he had the wonderful illusion everything was like always. Then, Bull stormed into the bedroom, closely followed by Pakkun, both dogs barking sharply. After them, Sakumo knocked gently on the door to his room and when Kakashi raised his face out of the pillows, his old man smiled a bit tiredly at him.

“Get up, partner. I made coffee, strong and black.”

Yesterday fell like an avalanche upon Kakashi. The investigation in the bar, the flirt with the nameless woman, his breaking-down over the theory of Hiko being innocent and tricked by her ex, the desperate calling out to his father who hurried through storm and wind to him and another ramble in the presence of Sakumo, who ordered Kakashi practically to go to bed and calm down before he was allowed back in the living room.

Hiko was still on the run and hid god-knows-where. With a low sigh, he buried his face again in the blanket and tried to chase her scent in the fabric, but somehow the raspberry and vanilla were now shallow and empty. No intensity, no warmness lying beneath those two notes.

Groaning and grumbling under his breath, Kakashi moved into a sitting position, stretched widely and rubbed shortly over a pesky sting right between his shoulder blades before standing up and wrapping himself in his marine blue morning coat. All the while, the dogs strolled around his legs. Especially Pakkun that seemed concerned about the silver haired man and wagged his tail full of uncertain hope for a good petting or a belly rub and showed, from time to time also, his soft inner paws like he used to do when Kakashi was younger.

“Not now,” he leaned down and played shortly with the hanging ears of the pug, “maybe later.”

Sakumo already waited in his living room, both hands occupied by cups of which the scent of coffee evaporated. He looked a bit haggard and like he was awake for the whole night and as Kakashi looked around and saw the countless sticky notes, papers filled with his father’s handwriting and the whole circle of images of Hiko rearranged, he guessed that the first impression was right.

 

His father indeed was hard-working.

Kakashi took with a nod the coffee and sipped shortly at the beverage. His eyes slid over the notes and got stuck at a longer list Sakumo created, full of question marks, underlined words and capital letters. There was a frightening similarity to his own notes.

Only a short glance was enough to coil Kakashi’s stomach into excited, yet tense strings. His father was still a bright mind, no matter what he said. Sakumo managed to dig out the fateful list Kakashi had written to clear out his confused mind days ago. All the reasons why it could be possible that Hiko was the butcher were untouched but the lower part of the list where the reasons for her innocence were listed, couldn’t be more different. All the insecure words, all the “maybe’s” and “what if’s” were erased. Now there were clear statements, echoing in Kakashi’s mind with the power of a thundercrack.

“Had a good sleep?” Sakumo asked.

Instead of answering with words, Kakashi only grunted and kneeled down to inspect the new arrangement. Clever. Before everything was ordered to accentuate the fact that he believed Hiko was the killer. The reports with her questionings were pushed farther away while the images of the cuts at her hip had been prominent, but Sakumo did the exact opposite. Now her beaten-up face greeted Kakashi from nearly every angle, together with her heart-wrenching words, screaming at him with a brutality he never expected from mere documents.

“You know I don’t take pleasure in decrypting your grunts, so use actual words.” Apparently, Sakumo walked back into the small kitchen area and settled his cup again under the coffee machine. Soon, the steady stream of the dark ambrosia was filling the air with both smell and sound.

Kakashi sipped once more at his own beverage. “Yes father. I had a nice sleep. I feel… better than yesterday.” And it was true, he really felt better. His feelings were not erased but eased noticeably; Not confusing anymore, thankfully. Instead of the intense storm raging inside him and twisting his thoughts at every possibility, Kakashi’s mind was clear enough to think straight.

His theory wasn’t proven yet but there was a big chance that everything he thought of was true. That Hiko didn’t leave him because she didn’t love him anymore, but to protect him; That the homicides were the doings of her psychopathic ex and he only shoved the crimes into her shoes, out of unexplainable reasons no one but his sick brain knew about. Possibly to somehow force the brunette into his arms again.

 

“So…” Again, Kakashi let his vision drift over the various papers lying around and got stuck on a special constellation of pictures. Sakumo had arranged a phantom image of Kabuto Yakushi beside a ray of Hiko’s injuries, the broken arm, the bend fingers, the blue and green bruises, the many bite marks littering over her upper chest and in between her thighs. “What is your perceptive now on this case and today?”

“I must say,” Sakumo started with a little sigh, “I’m surprised she let anybody touch her ever again.” He paused. “Then again, the scar at her hip and the cuts at the hips of the victims are too much of a coincidence to not be related. If she didn’t force them to cut themselves, then the chance of her rapist and your killer being the same person is astronomical.”

“I thought so too.”

His old man sipped at the next cup of coffee and shuddered in badly hidden satisfaction. “Uuh, that was great. Where was I…? Aah, yes. If Hiko only wanted to protect you from her psychotic ex,” he gestured warily over the array of pictures and grimaced, “then her reasons to some of your points become clear. Telling that Iruka she wants to fix her problems? Worrying about you and not about herself? At the police station and later, at the ball? Do you get it?”

Kakashi nodded sharply, all the while his black eyes rushed over the added notes. “You also,” he started slowly, “...You also mentioned some things, like the corpse and her response to it. I also thought that this was strange. I mean, I’ve seen a lot of liars over the years and nobody was able to fake such a strong reaction to a corpse. Especially with the background of a delivered message, like in Hiko’s case here.”

“Any further clues?”

“Yes… Wait, give me a second…”

The younger man shuffled through the surrounding papers, searching and praying he hadn’t lost the important documents in the dismay of his own apartment. Finally, his hands dug out the thin report about Kagero’s life, her social media and the fateful images of the evening of her vanishing. “Here.” He waved with the papers until Sakumo took them, his rough fingers quickly skipping through the documents.

“Aah, I see,” he drawled, “A drive-by-capture.”

Kakashi lowered himself to the ground, grunting lowly when his butt hit the floor. “Thing is, the procedure was entirely different with Yamanaka. Apparently, he just vanished from the streets. Orochimaru is testing his blood for some tranquilizers currently but the responsible labs are overtaxed at the moment, so any kind of result will take a while. But he wasn’t abducted like Kagero, not like that. So why changing the procedure when it worked out fine the first time?”

Sakumo seemed just as confused. “If we go with the book,” he mumbled and flipped again through the pages, “It either means the killer tries different things out or that the circumstances weren’t the same.”

“Doesn’t feel like he test things out. Far too much routine. The guy at the wheel doesn’t appear to be nervous at all. And the team in the back only needed seconds until they had Kagero under control. Those aren’t the actions of someone who tests things out, but of a routine.”

“Really? How long did it take?”

“In total? Roughly estimated, less than ten seconds.”

 

Kakashi knew his father was deeply thinking. The telltale signs were there. Deep wrinkles at his forehead, the mouth twisting around silent words, nibbling at the right thumb while the black eyes of his old man flashed again and again over the thin report Hiko wrote a few weeks ago. “Any marks at her body?” he asked finally.

“Unfortunately nothing our expert could find. To add is her colorful past and the drug abuse. You should’ve seen the cranes of her elbows. Old scars and pin pricks all over her skin.”

“Means someone could’ve just used a strong tranquilizer on her without anybody immediately noticing.”

“Right.” Furiously, Kakashi scrubbed over the back of his neck. “It’s just… This whole case is just so damn frustrating. Everything seems to lead to a dead end, every proof I find seems to be useless, old stories get mixed up with the present… It’s just so much to consider.”

Sakumo nodded. “Like a ball of wool, loved to death by a lively kitten.”

“A strange comparison, but yes. Just… Just like that.” he answered and sighed.

Movements in his behind, then Sakumo crouched down beside him. “Calm down, partner. We’ll figure things out.”

“Easier said than done. I...” The younger cop shook his head and gestured vaguely around. “I worry too much. What if something happens to her? What if…?” His voice died down, drowned in the loneliness of his bed and the disappointment of this morning, where he nearly believed everything was like before.

But his father found the right words, like always when Kakashi needed to be ripped out of his depressed imaginations. “Would it help when I say that your girlfriend is the toughest person I ever met, including the countless SFU people I trained?”

Hiko, the toughest cookie in a pot. Unbeknownst to Kakashi, a small smile flashed over his lips. Yes, the indestructible shorty, always laughing, always fighting, always struggling. She fought her way out of her depression, almost on her own; She fought to get her independence back, she fought and fought and fought, becoming stronger and tougher than any other person Kakashi knew. Of course Sakumo noticed that. His old man had an eye for people and their personalities. Always had.

“Yes,” he said, “it helps. A lot.”

Sakumo grunted as he straightened, the bones and joints cracking even louder than Kakashi’s. “You really are a lucky man to have found someone like her. I’m almost envious of you, to be with someone so dedicated and skilled as your girlfriend.”

“She’s awesome.”

“The amount of cases she helped to solve is impressive in its own right. Did you know she’s a renowned expert in the cyber criminality community?” Sakumo sipped once more at his coffee, sighing in relief. “Not to mention, about getting accepted in the police of Sunagakure. Usually, they have high hurdles for someone with such a background story, but apparently she had a really influential advocate.”

 

An advocate? Wrinkling his forehead Kakashi, eyed the documents. Sure, he knew about the Sunagakure standards, about their height limit and their restrictions regarding psychological traumas, but he never thought that Hiko’s participation at their lessons was something shredded in a mystery. Now, he also had to add this question to the always growing list of enigmas surrounding his shorty, but seriously, it was one of the less important questions. He was more interested in other things.

“Okay. I’m going to the police station.” Kakashi finished his coffee with one determined sip and straightened. In his back, his father snorted.

“Aren’t you on vacation?”

“But you said I should inspect Hiko’s psychological profile. And I can’t print them here, so I have to go to the KPD. It’s nothing serious, I mean, they can’t ban me permanently from their grounds, right?” Kakashi shrugged nonchalantly, even though his stomach quivered. Hanare would be there, he remembered suddenly, she called him yesterday. Before he broke down.

It would be the first time meeting her since their divorce.

Then, there were Sakumo’s hands lying on his shoulders and his warm fatherly voice, speaking clearly and with so much pride swaying in the words that Kakashi just had to smile, not caring about the situation or the circumstances. “My god… What are you doing to my poor old heart? You’ve grown so much Kakashi and I feel suddenly really old… Facing something you fear or feel nervous about speaks of maturity and bravery. I don’t know if I could do the same in your situation.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Yesterday, you were talking about not wanting to look inside her files. Today, you’re ready to face them, heading for the greater goal of completing your theory and underlining it.”

Kakashi shook his head, still smiling weakly. “You’re wrong dad. I… I’m not doing this for the theory. I only want Hiko back.”

Sakumo returned the smile. “It also speaks for you that you think about the one you love dearly. I’m proud of you and I’m sure your mother would be too if she was here.”

The words were echoing in Kakashi’s mind, even when he was on the way through the snow, cladded in jeans, pullover, coat, gloves and scarf.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks a lot to chisie who proofread and helped a lot with this chapter! :)
> 
> (At least one whole A4 page I had to add because she had a great idea)


	67. Not nice seeing you

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> No only Hiko's past catches up to her. Kakashi doesn't know what's coming for him when he enters the KPD and when he knows, he tries his best to wiggle his way out of it.

Entering the KPD felt for Kakashi like he entered the grounds of a dangerous mafia clan. Somehow. The secretaries started to whisper behind their counter and a red-haired one stared suspiciously at him, so he only creased his eyes in a smile and didn’t let them see the tensed tug at his mouth underneath the flu mask before pushing open the heavy doors to the main office.

“Morning.” Like he wasn’t unwillingly put on vacation he greeted Kurenai and Asuma who stood the closest to the entrance, both raising their eyebrows at his sudden appearance and his visibly positive mood in comparison to the last days.

Like he had a compass, Gai marched over, able to sound awfully cheerful and worried at the same time. “My rival! What are you doing here on this beautiful fresh morning? Aren’t you on temporary leave?”

“Just have to print something.” Absent-mindedly, the silver haired detective looked around, wary of a possible commotion his ex-wife could cause. Not on purpose, but… Hanare was good looking. She would catch the attention of all the unbound males in the office without even trying, maybe also count on it to gain more knowledge. But apparently, she wasn’t here, otherwise he would’ve noticed. So, he turned his attention back to his loud and again in green wrapped partner. “Is the internal investigation woman already here?”

“Yes. And she’s of a frightening temper, my rival.”

“Where is she?”

Gai gestured exaggeratedly at the door leading towards the IT-rooms. “Already talking with Uchiha-san. First, Sato-san informed the chief about her presence and task, then she went down to their bureaus. Wait…” Confused his partner’s forehead wrinkled. “How can my humble rival know about the gender of Sato-san?”

Kakashi laughed nervously. “I have my sources.” He stuffed his hands into the pockets of his coat, acting like he was unfazed by everything around. Though inwardly, his stomach quivered in nervousness. Turn his PC on, search for Hiko’s profile, print it and leave - that had been his plan. Easy and simple. That was still his plan, only another step had been added. Avoid Hanare as much as he could.

He didn’t want to see her, not when there was another, more important woman in his life who needed his help and support more than anything. Hiko needed him and Hanare made clear and showed just as much that she didn’t, so Kakashi would go to hell before interacting with her.

‘Maybe I’m still miffed that Hanare cheated on me. Scratch the “still”, I’m miffed.’

Gai was suspicious. His eyes mustered Kakashi intently, measured the man and tried to made sense out of his visibly changed appearance, mood and words. He came to a conclusion, Kakashi saw it in the way Gai leaned forward and whispered, still very loud, but noticeable weaker than his usual tone. “You’re looking better my rival! What happened?”

“I came to the conclusion that dwelling on the past isn’t helping much. I have to go forward to achieve something.” Kakashi answered lightly.

“YOSH!” Gai shouted out and clenched his fists in visible excitement. “You’re again so cool and hip, Kakashi! I have to work harder to reach the same heights as you, but just you wait! I’ll have caught up to you in no time!”

“Alright, but could you keep it low?”

“My springtime of youth isn’t over YET!”

“I guess not.”

The jokes rolled easily out of his mouth and Kakashi caught himself snicker at the attics of his friend, who posed dramatically with the hands propped up into his waist and one thumbs-up to an invisible audience. He also could almost see the scenery of the ocean behind Gai, the waves crashing into the shore and the scent of salt and seagrass in the air. Joking with Gai was easy, because it was something grounding for Kakashi. All the while speaking to his partner, he neared his desk, not aware that a note laid folded up in the center of the furniture, but when he recognized the familiar handwriting, looped letters and the prominent sharp ‘s’, the detective scowled underneath his flu mask.

Why was Hanare trying that desperately to contact him?

“Thanks, Gai,” he said, his eyes fixed on the paper, “but I wanted to cut my visit short. After all it’s not everyday I’m getting some days off.”

His partner nodded, rubbing his chin in the process. “Understandable, my rival. I’m off then, to search for more youthful clues around town! YOSH!” Faster than light itself, the loud man was gone and Kakashi alone was left with Hanare’s note.

‘Just get over it.’

Rolling his eyes at his own thoughts wouldn’t get him nowhere. So, the silver haired man forced his negative feelings down (he got far too much practice lately) and read the little letter.

_ Kakashi, chief Nagato told me you weren’t in the house. I don’t know if you managed to avoid me by using desperate measures or if it’s really a coincidence that you’re not here at the day I start my work, but I would like to speak with you. I made mistakes and you made mistakes, but those things are in the past. I want to explain myself and I’m sure you also want to explain some things. _

_ You have my number. _

_ Sincerely, Hanare _

His scowl deepened. What was Hanare thinking? Why was she assuming he wanted to explain himself? Kakashi’s mistakes were crystal clear; he should’ve done more for his marriage and cared more about his wife than his work. He knew he didn’t do his best back then, therefore had tried his best in the relationship with Hiko. There was nothing to explain what wasn’t already confirmed, so Kakashi couldn’t understand the obvious blame shining through the letter.

Disgusted that the female managed to again ruin his fairly good mood, he dropped the note into the trash bin and settled down in front of his PC. The file of Hiko’s psychological profile was easy to acquire; In the end, she was now still the main suspect in a crime case. Her psychological evaluation was already updated with a bright red mark saying: “SUSPECT”. Very subtle. In the back of his mind, Kakashi registered that Naruto and Sasuke again started to hiss at each other, but he ignored them. He was on vacation, so the fight of the two youngsters didn’t concern him. Quickly, he moved out of the chair after he sent the printer the order to print the profile and at the same time, avoided the other officers. Ebisu was also present and they both nodded at each other full of respect when they brushed past. The other man looked somehow energized and composed; more composed than Kakashi had seen him in a long time.

‘That’s what homicides do to the officers involved. Some break down and hide, others grow and flourish under the pressure.’

Only three steps parted Kakashi from his destination. Only three steps and he would’ve been gone, but luck wasn’t on his side lately. He hadn’t noticed that Obito was already waiting at the device, his forehead wrinkled and mumbling frustrated under his breath.

“Stupid fucking trashcan!” he hissed lowly as the silver haired man was close enough to hear the insults more clearly and kicked with badly hidden anger against the small table where the printer rested, “I just want this stupid file! Fucking-! Kakashi.”

“Obito.” Nonchalantly, he reached around his friend and took the still warm papers. He flipped through them, not daring to look at the letters too carefully, but he had to make sure the device didn’t swallow anything. While Hanare strolled around the main office, Kakashi would try to stay away as much as possible.

The raven obviously was fighting with himself. On his face battled unwilling worry and clear frustration, until he grumped and ripped a freshly printed wave of papers out of the printer.

“How… How is your side?”

Kakashi raised one eyebrow. “What?”

Obito gestured towards his flank, then pointed at Kakashi’s. “I heard that Hiko… used your taser against you. I’m… Uh.” Nervously, he rubbed over the back of his neck. “I know how a taser feels and it hurts like hell. Just… yeah.”

Was that…? Could it be…?

“I’m fine, thanks,” he answered lightly, though unconsciously, the cop fisted Hiko’s profile until the papers crumpled in the tight grip.

“Great, that’s great! Uhm… You printed something?”

“Yes.”

“Cool. Something interesting?”

“It will probably make my blood boil.”

Obito snickered nervously. Little did he know that Kakashi didn’t joke around, not currently, not when Hiko was involved. The contents of her profile  _ would _ make his blood boil in frustration, worry and despair about what the brunette experienced and how her thoughts were to that matter. Though Kakashi was too stunned to think about the contents.

Obito was trying really hard to talk  _ nicely  _ with him. He didn’t care much why his former friend changed his opinion abruptly. What counted  _ was _ that Obito reconciled in the end. So, Kakashi raised the papers lightly and smiled underneath his mask. This time it was a real one. “Sorry, but my father is waiting. I wanted to cut the visit short.”

“Oh, I understand.” The raven gestured widely around, a childish grin on his face. “Sorry for holding you up. I just wanted… yeah…” With an embarrassed laugh, he rubbed over the back of his neck. “I wanted to make sure you’re okay. After… the ball and all that stuff, I mean.”

“Strangely enough, I feel good.” Kakashi answered. At his back, the door to the main office opened loudly and voices flew over, twisted and bent, but he ignored them. To talk things with Obito over was more important than the new visitors. He leaned over and was secretly happy his friend mirrored the movement. “The ball opened my eyes. I… I can’t believe any longer that Hiko is guilty.”

“What changed your mind?” Obito whispered back.

“We… we talked. She confessed to me. Said that yes, she is indeed the hacker tRuthseekEr, but not responsible for the homicides. Why admitting one crime over another when both have the power to get her for several years into prison?”

‘And she told me several times she loves me. Over and over again, with tears in her eyes and trembling in my arms after we shared the most forbidden sinful kiss in our history.’

‘ _ Don’t forget the electrifying parting.’ _

Kakashi shook off the images of Hiko’s slightly pursed lips, ready to get ravaged. “First, I was hurt because it looked like she broke up with me and I didn’t want to believe in her innocence. It was… childish. And I understand now what my mistakes were and now, I try to correct them as much as I can.”

A spark of realization lit up in the coal eyes of the raven. He nodded weakly at the documents crumpling in Kakashi’s hands and as an answer, the detective nodded back just as weakly. The visible relief spreading over Obito’s face was nearly blinding. Never before he had seen the raven that near to cry out, tears clearly standing in his eyes and a desperate-strained expression tugging at his mouth. Obito seemed older than he was, aged due to the constant fight he put up with the other officers and the chief to prove Hiko’s innocence.

Soon, Kakashi would have the same hard lines and wrinkles on his forehead. But he couldn’t bring himself to care nor really to worry about a few more wrinkles or hard edges in his face. If that meant he would get Hiko back, then the male would gladly accept some more disfiguring scars on his body just to be able to hold the woman in his arms again.

But before he could ask Obito to join him and his father after the work in the main office was done, maybe helping them with their theory, a voice Kakashi couldn’t forget resounded through the room and he tensed automatically, too used to sharp hisses or complaints about his indifference to everything.

“Hello, Kakashi. Long time no see.”

Slowly, the cop turned around, not entirely sure if he was able to maintain a neutral face underneath his masks. Hanare could see through him when she was in the mood. “Yes, indeed. Long time no see.”

His ex-wife always had been beautiful, Kakashi wouldn’t deny that fact. With a height to match his own, a thin waist and well-rounded hips, long silky strands of strangely appealing emerald hair, her big brown eyes and the little beauty mark underneath her right eye Hanare looked like she could work as a model. But she didn’t; instead she went for a career in the SFU of Konoha. Kakashi admired the woman once for her cool and collected nature, her level-headed thinking and the way how her mind worked, but the admiration turned sour when she started to use those attributes against him.

After they broke up, Hanare left the SFU and the detective hadn’t been calm enough to reconcile with her. The only thing he had wanted to do was forgetting and working until his heart wouldn’t throb that painfully anymore. He thought he wouldn’t get over the betrayal he suffered, wouldn’t be able to form another similar bond, but then Hiko barreled into his life, loud, childish and making him laugh unwillingly more than Hanare in her funniest moments.

Now his ex-wife stood again before him and Kakashi was a little bit glad he wasn’t affected by her presence. Sure, there was some kind of melancholy tugging at his insides, but wasn’t that normal when meeting an ex-partner? The quick flash of memories, the bad ones overbearing the good, flying past his inner eye quickly chased this silly wave away.

Hanare made clear where she stood. To what ends she would go to express her unwillingness.

“How are you?” she asked kindly, all the while fiddling with the edges of her business costume. Cladded into a pencil skirt, dark red dress shirt and a matching dress jacket, Hanare would fit into a commercial about famous business woman or some other similar crap, but not at all like a picky internal investigator. Though, the male knew about her persistency while chasing her prey, and he shuddered in discomfort at the thought of Hanare setting her sights at his friend Itachi, the innocent Hinata and the calm Shino, who did nothing wrong.

Kakashi tried to maintain his smile, even while Obito poked curiously his side. “I’m fine.” Their differences were so clear to him. Not only was his overall casual clothing, consisting of a simple green pullover sagging around his figure and some old jeans, paired with a pair of heavy winter boats to fight the harsh snow differed in comparison to her overall business-like attire, their attitude concerning their meeting couldn’t be more brash as well. While Hanare apparently wanted to clear things up, Kakashi was more than ready to forget about his marriage entirely, even forget about the way  _ how _ his marriage ended and who caused this completely. He didn't want to speak with Hanare, just as simple as that.

She smiled kindly and cocked her head. A few strands fell quite nicely around her face, perfectly framing it. “That’s good to hear. I’m glad you’re okay.”

“Buddy?” Obito’s audibly tensed voice ripped Kakashi out of the need to spin this conversation further. The Uchiha slung his arm over his shoulder and grinned sheepishly at Hanare, who answered with a lightly confused nonchalant expression. “Won’t you introduce me to this lady? My name is Obito Uchiha by the way.”

His other arm extended itself towards his ex-wife. Kakashi watched with growing amusement how uncomfortable Hanare was in this situation, not knowing what to expect of the stupidly grinning idiot hanging of the shoulders of her ex.

He definitely had to thank the raven thoroughly later.

“Nice to meet you.” Finally, Hanare took Obito’s hand, but only for a very short moment. “I’m Hanare Sato. Maybe Kakashi mentioned me.”

“No. Not at all.”

“Oh?” For the blink of an eye, Kakashi saw how Hanare’s well placed masks slipped, only the tiniest bit. Then, she took again the control over her features into her slender, perfectly manicured hands and the masks fell back into place. “Well, Kakashi and I worked together in the SFU. We were friends during our police academy days. And we were married.”

Kakashi stilled. He never told Obito about his marriage. Only Kisame and Hiko knew, so maybe also Itachi (the silver haired man didn’t believe one second the fisherman could keep a secret from his boyfriend), but he never found the actual strength or will to tell Obito. There was simply no need to, because it didn’t concern him or the raven in the slightest.

So, the reaction of the loud man surprised him even more. Obito only chuckled. “And?” he answered and continued to grin like the happy-go-lucky braindead  _ wonderful friend _ he was. “I kissed a fish once for a bet. Must be the same feeling to be married to this,” Obito tugged Kakashi closer, “blockhead here. And I don’t announce it to the whole world.”

“Excuse me?”

“Oh, I think you understood me perfectly,” Obito grinned smugly, “and you don’t look that old to be deaf.”

Hanare flushed heavily at the words. “This is inappropriate.”

“I was called many things, for example dunce or idiot, but never inappropriate. Nice to see some change in the routine.”

Exhaustedly sighing, Kakashi’s ex-wife turned to him. “You surround yourself now with people like  _ this _ ?”

“I guess.” he answered calmly.

“You shouldn’t-!”

Kakashi chuckled dryly. “We don’t share anything but our past Hanare, so I would be careful what I would say. If I was in your position.”

A subtle reminder why they parted. And it worked, measured at her hasty blinking and the faint yet attractive blush spreading over her features. “Anyway,” she said and ignored his brash comment like he never said anything. “It seems like you’re fine. It was good to see you again Kakashi.”

“Mhm,” he grunted, not willing to form any more words. The detective wanted to go back into his flat and work, he would even favor reading Hiko’s psychological profile over continuing the strained conversation with his ex-wife. Hanare waited a few more seconds but realized quickly she wouldn’t get an answer out of him. With an awkward nod at Obito, who grinned confidently back, the female turned around and walked back to where she came from and Kakashi let out the breath he didn’t know he was holding the entire talk.

“Thanks,” he murmured quietly but the raven only slapped his shoulder.

“No thanks needed man. Would’ve never guessed she was such a stuck-up snowman. I thought she was more like Hiko, but hell!” Obito shook dryly snickering his head. “They’re nothing alike.”

Right. Hiko was much warmer than Hanare. Kakashi revelled in his memories, before the logical part of his brain pointed the strange knowledge of the Uchiha out. “You knew about me being married and divorced.”

There wasn’t even an ounce of hesitation in Obito as he answered, though he looked a little bit guilty. He fidgeted in his shoes and didn’t dare to look directly at Kakashi. “Yeeeah… Somehow. But it’s Itachi’s fault, totally! When Hiko started to befriend you, Itachi looked you up and informed us, but Hiko got upset and forbid any further investigation because she didn’t want to rip your secrets away from you. She was really intent to give you space and time to trust us, you know?” Pleading black eyes met his own. “Hiko wouldn’t do anything to make you uncomfortable, not when she can avoid it.”

Again. Again, the brunette protected him without his notice, this time from her overly pesky brothers. Kakashi shook his head and for the first time in decades, a real laugh rolled through his chest, low and light. “I know,” he said and smiled wholeheartedly at his friend, “I know.”

Then, after a short moment of hesitation and listening to the sounds of Naruto and Sasuke again quarreling loudly: “Would you like to come after work to my place? I have something to show you.”

Even before Obito opened his mouth and agreed, Kakashi just knew the loud raven would do everything possible to bring Hiko back to the place where she belonged, into their middle and their proximity, because not only Hiko needed her family, but her brothers also needed her. The shorty was their glue, the sticky thing holding them together, if now out of sympathy for her past, the instant craves to protect her from the world or out of sheer loyalty she managed to awoke in them.

(…)

“I’m so happy to meet one of Kakashi’s friends!”

“Father, can you not…?”

“What? I’m just greeting him. What’s your name?”

“O-Obito, sir…”

“Obito? And your last name?”

“U-Uchiha.”

“Just let him be for a moment, you’re overwhelming him.”

Flabbergasted, Sakumo gestured first to Kakashi, then at Obito, who stared with wide eyes at his father. “He’s a guest and guests should be treated with special kindness. So, tell me: How can I overwhelm someone by being too friendly in your opinion?”

The moment Obito rang the bell and stepped into Kakashi’s flat, Sakumo nearly showered him in care and offers for hot beverages and the raven was, for the first time since the detective knew him, too shocked to say anything. Usually, Obito would excitedly greet his old man and be his usual happy and bright self, but today he was almost… shy.

Currently, he was slowly nodding and slipping out of his shoes, all the while Sakumo smiled politely and tried to strike up a proper conversation. “What’s your rank at the police station? Kakashi told me one of his friends is a Lieutenant, the other is the chef of the IT and the last was a fisherman, am I right?”

“Correct, sir. I’m the Lieutenant.”

Sakumo whistled impressed. “And for how long have you worked for the KPD?”

“Almost nine years now, sir.”

_ Sir _ . Kakashi grinned under his mask. Obito calling someone “sir” was the funniest thing he encountered the whole month. He never had suspected that the raven would be nervous while meeting with an elderly person, so the surprising change in behavior was amusing.

Sakumo retreated to prepare another round of coffee, so Kakashi was left alone with his friend, who waved him closer. Obito’s hands flew around like birds as he did so.

“You never told me your dad is Sakumo Hatake!” he whispered furiously when the silver haired man was close enough to listen.

Kakashi shrugged and buried his hands in the pockets of his old pullover. “He’s my father. I didn’t think it was important enough to mention.”

Immediately, Obito jumped at him. “ _ Didn’t think it was important _ ? Are you crazy? He’s  _ the _ White Fang in person! He’s the one with an impossible high count of successfully solved cases in the KPD, he’s the one who made the SFU of Konoha what it is today, he’s the very fucking reason I even considered becoming a policeman! He’s a hero!”

“Oh. Yeah.” Once more, Kakashi let his shoulders shrug upwards. Inwardly though, he was giddy and close to brag more about the skills of his father, but that would’ve been childish.

(Maybe there was some time later.) “We have the same surname. Surely you’ve seen the connection.”

Obito wrung his hands together, despair and hope quickly replacing each other on his features. “No, I mean, yes, somehow. I wasn’t really paying attention to that, I thought he was some kind of distant uncle or something like that-!”

Sakumo stuck his head into the entrance. “Coffee is ready!”

In an instant, Obito straightened and even saluted, like he was back at the police academy and the strict instructor had ordered him to clean up the training hall. “Yes, sir! I’m nearly there, sir!”

“Drop the sir. For my son’s friends, I’m Sakumo.”

Kakashi thought Obito would die on the spot. His mouth twitched like he tried to suppress the surely countless praises he would sputter if he would give his brain the handle, but he only muttered a quiet: “Thank you, Si-Sakumo. I’m honored.”

Suddenly, the whole day looked a lot brighter to Kakashi, who watched how his friend and his father interacted, Obito still a bit reverent and Sakumo obviously pleased to talk with the raven over a cup of coffee, but then Obito stepped inside the living room and his eyes fell upon the spread-out file, the cruel pictures of Hiko’s wounds and her other injuries, on the phantom image of Kabuto and the useless testimonies the brunette delivered and did nothing to catch her torturer.

“That’s what you did for the last few days?” he asked quietly.

“No.”

“You did this today?”

Kakashi snorted sarcastically and kneeled down. Taking a picture with Hiko’s hollow and pale features into his hands, he breathed out. “For the last weeks. I sat over her file for the last weeks. Since the police searched through her flat.”

Hiko’s blue eyes stared right through him, so Kakashi quickly settled the picture back down on the ground. Obito stood close, his face unreadable, but then the silver haired detective found himself wrapped by a weakly heaving and gasping loud-mouthed idiot, who clung to him with the strength of the dying.

“I-I didn’t k-know…” Obito whispered hoarsely while hugging the living daylights out of him, “I didn’t realize… Oh man, I’m- I’m so sorry for making it even harder for you. I-I was a really bad friend and Hiko would whoop my sorry ass for letting you down.”

Awkwardly, Kakashi patted the shoulders of the Uchiha. “Maa”, he said lowly and watched how his father acted like he wasn’t present, “that’s… nice of you to say.”

Never before he had to face a friend who bawled his eyes out because he apologized to the detective. Never before there was someone who could apologize. Except for Hiko. But now Obito was there; full of regret and suppressed worry and guilt, hanging off his shoulders and nearly sobbing. Kakashi didn’t know what to do and on instinct, he tried to tell his father through looks about his misery, but his old man only shrugged and continued to sip nonchalantly at his coffee.

Kakashi got the message.  _ He’s all yours. _

“Maa,” he repeated lowly, “it’s… It’s fine Obito, honestly.”

“No, it’s not!” At least the raven finally released him but the angrily squinted eyes were not a good sign. “I’m a total asshole! You should be angry with me, because I left you alone when all you needed probably was a friend who had your back! But I was selfish and blinded, I-I-I…” His arms crossed over his chest, Obito shook his head. Then he added after a moment of tensed silence: “I don’t deserve any forgiveness from you.”

With a weary sigh rippling through his chest, the silver haired man grabbed the shoulders of his friend and looked him straight into the onyx eyes, trying to get his honest emotions across. “Listen,” he started lowly. “Yes, you made mistakes, I will not deny that. But so did I; I was stubborn and also blind. I didn’t want to believe in Hiko, because she left me, but now I know more. I know she didn’t do this willingly, I know who could be behind all this, I know there’s something bigger to unravel. Do not lose your head. I need you, Obito, okay? The fine and diligent officer you are, not a constantly doubting and ashamed man. I need Hiko’s brother, okay?”

Obito stared at him with a strange light in his eyes. Even though Kakashi bent the truth more than a little bit, the motivational speech was exactly the thing he needed to calm down and get his head into the case. So, the detective eased up as Obito nodded slowly along and settled down in between the horrible pictures while avoiding at looking too closely at them.

Sometime he had to. But Kakashi understood the hesitation too well to push him. Quietly, he started to shuffle through the copied psychological profile, only briefly hopping through the pages and settling on one or two significant words like “non-loving parental home”, “desperate for any kind of affection”, “depression” and “failed suicide”. For Kakashi those words sounded too foreign to connect them with the brave shorty, but after all he didn’t know her in her childhood.

“Okay, okay, okay…” Hastily, Obito nodded, raking a hand through his spiky black hair. “What do you want me to do?”

Kakashi warily gestured over the different files spread around them. “I want to know what you think about this. I want you to try to find connections from this case to the one today, I want you to write anything you can find down and throw that into the pile we already collected. And most importantly, I want to know what Hiko ever told you about Kabuto.”

“Anything or everything?”

“Everything. Absolutely everything.”

Obito sighed, then turned to Sakumo. “Sir… Excuse me, Sakumo? Is there still some coffee available?”

His old man nodded, all the while stroking over Bull’s head. The mastiff was leaning heavily against his master, tongue lolling out of his maw and obviously on cloud nine. “I can make it fresh if you want.”

“Please,” the raven rubbed with an unnerved sign over his forehead, “because this will last a while.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you Chisie for proofreading! You're the best!   
> (Trust me guys, you haven't seen the many mistakes she found... T-T)


	68. Worthy of being...?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hiko and Kakashi are both struggling. The only difference is, Kakashi manages to get his head in the game, even though he receives an unpleasant message, while Hiko falls further and further apart.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another chapter and slowly, oh so slowly, really dark clouds appear on the horizon...  
> /foreshadowing at its finest
> 
> my tumblr, if anybody wants to to know I'm up to: historicfailure

The walls were of a dusty white. Only after hours of just blindly staring at them, Hiko noticed the total void of any colors. Her reaction was to curl further up underneath the blankets and tug the - thankful - cover over her head, shutting the pale light from outside out and trapping her slowly stinking breath with her.

The darkness was forgiving. Hiko drew a shuddering breath in. The uncomfortable wet and warm air nearly choked the woman, but she again breathed in to…

She had to get out of here. Not only out of the makeshift bed, but out of the flat, out of the self-chosen cage, out of Konoha. Away from everything, away from the sadness eating at her guts, away from the guilt shattering every resolution she ever made, away from a possible encounter with Kakashi.

That was everything the shorty did these days. Sulk and pity herself underneath her blanket, maybe stare blankly at her laptop and read through Danzo’s files, but nothing much otherwise.

She avoided to eat like it would make her even sicker than before. She dreaded the moments she had to go to the bathroom, always on edge and aware where exactly the razor blades were stored. She hated the silence of the flat when Suigetsu and Karin were gone, but also hated it when they fussed around her like overprotective chickens. Nothing the youngsters did could be right. Karin already gave up and just threw disgusted looks at Hiko whenever she entered the living room. Every ounce of her earlier admiration was gone, wiped out by the disgusting behavior the brunette displayed. Only Suigetsu made at least attempts to cooperate. He was the one trying to get her out of bed, he was the one who constantly tried and failed to cook meals in the fruitless hope she would eat something, he was the one who pushed her into turning her laptop on and trying to get something done.

‘I’m so tired of… trying. I just want to sleep, to forget, to…’

With a sigh Hiko turned on her other side. For a few more seconds, she continued to lay there and reveled in the silence of the apartment, then Kuro interrupted her misery by purring and licking her toes which peeked out of under the blankets.

The barest hints of a smile flew over her lips. “What are you doing there? Hm, you little stupid furball?”

Her voice was hoarse and dried out. As Hiko propped herself into a sitting position, her head circled itself and her vision blurred for a moment before abruptly starting to spin. On top of that, a sharp pain ripped through her blank emotions and the woman grimace slightly.

Kuro mewled and cocked his head, mildly interested, before starting to clean his paws with tentative licks.

“Yeah,” she grunted and struggled for a moment, before setting her feet on the cold ground, “I’m already standing up. No problem.”

Like an old woman, Hiko moved through the living room, her strangely weak fingers clawing into everything which could give her a little bit of leverage. Kuro followed her into the kitchen and watched how she opened the fridge without any real intent to eat something, only to shut it again with a single banana in hand. Still, she needed a few moments to peel the outer skin off, her wilted fingers shaking and ridiculously powerless in comparison to their usual speed they could show while jumping over a keyboard.

Growling lowly, Hiko forced the shaking limbs into submission. “Not with me,” she mumbled around the first food in days, “not with me, you stupid fuckers.”

Time to show Karin that she wasn’t as useless as the redhead probably thought.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Obito yawned widely, but all the while he kept his voice as even as possible. “…don’t know when she learned to free climb or parkour, but I can say that those teachers didn’t have much left to teach her. She was already a monkey when we were children, always climbing up the highest trees and walls. One time, Itachi and I played basketball and the ball got stuck in this really unfortunate nock between basket and the plate…”

This story wasn’t one bit useful for the case, but Kakashi let Obito talk. Not only because it helped the raven to calm down, but also because he loved to hear the little nit-bits of Hiko’s life before everything crashed down around her. Hearing those stories of a laughing and happy brunette helped the detective too.

‘She already liked to climb things up before all this. I assume as a small person you have to at some point in your life.’

A smile stole its way on his lips while he listened, and it wouldn’t vanish, even when the story ended in tears, shambles and a heavily bruised arm for Hiko.

“And that’s why Hiko hates basketballs.” Obito ended his fairy tale with a bow, looking somewhat ridiculous while sitting in an armchair.

Sakumo let out a sigh, though in his eyes an amused sparkle was evident. “But that doesn’t help us much. We need info about the rape, not about her childhood.”

Desperate Obito threw his hands into the air. “But she never said anything! Whenever we wanted to talk with her, she vanished, fled or changed the topic until we wouldn’t bother her any longer! I know nothing about Kabuto and I only know his name because I may or may have not peeked at the file when I was a young and an easily influenced police academy student!” With a huff, he slouched back into the armchair, legs splayed away from his body and arms exhaustedly hanging down. “Hiko is even more uptight than a fucking clam when she wants to be. Once, we found out that she went to a shooting range and guess what she said?” The raven changed his voice into a very obscured and high falsetto. “‘ _It’s not your business if I fuck some innocent paper targets up. So,_ _go back to your knitting-course and leave me the heck alone.’_ How did she know I visited this course anyway?”

But the juicy detail about Obito’s hobbies vanished unheard in the air. Kakashi had perked up at a totally another part of his story.

‘Wait. Shooting range? We found some ammo in her nightstand, but no weapon. And the evening where I picked her up from the bus, her hands were suspiciously red. I didn’t say anything because I didn’t think too much into it, but what if she needed some kind of release and went back to a shooting range to prepare herself for a possible encounter with Kabuto?’

Abruptly, he shot up from the couch and wandered into the kitchen, where his father leaned idly against the kitchen counter, always securing a steady coffee flow. Absent-mindedly, he poured himself another cup, his eyes intently staring into the setting darkness on the outside of the flat. “Obito,” he started slowly, “when you’re tomorrow at the station, would you search around the town for shooting ranges, preferably in the north town of Konoha?”

“Time span?”

“Two weeks before Hiko vanished. You remember the day when she had a panic attack over the second corpse?”

“That day?”

Grimly, Kakashi nodded. “That day. I have the suspicion she had a vague idea Kabuto was up to something, therefore made preparations to encounter him. Maybe she went to a shooting range, but that visit only would last around two hours max. But she was gone until the late evening. Sure, it could be that she left already late to begin with, but I don’t think so. Hiko is someone to be constantly on the move if something bothers her.”

The raven looked like someone told him to dig through a pile of garbage which had suffered for weeks under the strong summer sun. Not exactly happy, but at least enthusiastic about having something to do. He formed finger guns and winked, already grinning widely and obviously planning his trip. “Man, you can count on me! South you said?”

“North. I said  _ north _ .”

“Sure thing.”

Obito said that with an eager kind of interest which told Kakashi more than enough. The Uchiha would do everything possible and in the range of his possibilities to find out if Hiko really did more than shoot a few practice targets or if she shot practice targets at all. But he was certain; the brunette had visited a shooting range and fired a gun, to the extent that the rebound had hurt her.

Automatically, his thoughts grew darker when they wandered back to that evening, wondering and shaming himself for not  _ noticing  _ anything.

‘I was in the SFU and still failed to recognize the markings as what they were. Goddamn rebound.’

“Hey.” Gently Sakumo squeezed Kakashi’s shoulder, a patient and tender expression on his wrinkled face. “Whatever is running through your mind, let it go. You can’t change the past, so do instead your best to make the future one you want to live in.”

A helpless smile flashed over his lower face, invisible for anyone who wasn’t accustomed to the minimal changes on Kakashi’s upper face to name his emotions; Sakumo was. So, his father smiled back before warily gesturing over to the report that was still clutched tightly in the younger man’s hand. “Well, let’s see what Ryuzetsu unraveled about Hiko. I have to say I’m quite curious myself.”

“Don’t leave me out of it!” Like an overjoyed puppy, Obito scrambled out of the armchair and jumped over, restless energy brimming in every of his movements. After weeks of nearly nothing getting done, he was obviously itching to  _ finally _ accomplish something, maybe even learning a few secrets his sister wouldn’t share with anyone willingly.

Thus, Kakashi deliberately pressed the pages with the scary report to his chest, protecting the words from being read and spoke clearly to his father and friend, all the while his heart thrummed in his chest louder than his voice was ringing in his ears.

“I want to read through it before. When I’m done, you can have it.”

There. That was everything he could do. At least the male could prepare himself a tiny bit before he had to hear Hiko’s mental condition getting plucked apart not only by the cold clinical words of a therapist, but by Sakumo’s and Obito’s opinions too.

The papers seemed to burn through the pullover Kakashi wore, directly into his chest and melting with his skin. When he wouldn’t cling to them like nothing less but his sanity depended on it, the detective was sure that his fingers would tremble and flinch heavily under the influence of his once more raging feelings.

Those waves and ripples at his self-control weren’t confusing or disrupting anymore. Instead, Kakashi felt like they sharpened his senses, allowed him to widen his perspective and see more than ever before.

He had a goal. One he had to achieve, no matter what - Bring the brunette back to where she belonged. Everything else could be cleared up later. For now, he had to catch the real murderer and mastermind behind the homicides.

‘I’m not one to give up halfway Hiko. I can say that I will solve this, no matter how long it takes or how many hurdles I have to tear down. I just want you to have your rightful place back. That I want to speak about your hacker career and the fact that you actively lied to me about it isn’t of importance.

I want you back.’

Faking a calm demeanor, the cop walked back into his secluded bedroom. Only Pakkun followed him, the tail wagging and tongue lolling out of his muzzle. His paws clicked weakly in the heavy silence as Kakashi had closed the door, shutting the murmurs of his father and Obito out.

“I can do this,” he assured himself. Still, the man didn’t move an inch. He just stood awkwardly at the end of his bed and held the report in front of his eyes, not daring to read any of the words, until the brown pug pushed him into the bed, the wet nose prodding against his ankle and whining when Kakashi didn’t immediately comply.

In the end, the dog won. And reading the mental evaluation of Hiko was much better than seeing the pictures of a tortured brunette, eyes half-lidded and bruises covering her whole small body. So Kakashi manned up, patted on last time Pakkun’s head and settled down on the bed before beginning to read the first page of the thick folder.

_ Mental evaluation of Kobayashi, Hiko _

_ (ordered by Gedou, Nagato after several incidents involving the patient) _

\-         _ First impression: closed up, takes every of the advices as a joke, fakes nonchalance, every attempt to build trust is getting blocked _

\-         _ The patient doesn’t want to be in therapy, deems herself fine and healed _

\-         _ First hour got canceled by the patient (she stormed out after a question regarding her parents) _

\-         _ She returned, forced by the chief _

\-         _ Following meetings were difficult, the patient didn’t want to talk, tried to deflect questions and circled answers whenever she could _

\-         _ After almost all the ordered therapy hours were over, the patient  _ (finally)  _ decides to honestly take up the questions and answer them to her fullest capability _

\-         _ The therapist is able to convince the patient to come back for further treatment _

\-         _ During more hours, the past of the patient can be seen as the main trigger to her unconventional behavior _

\-         _ non-loving parental home, therefore desperate for any kind of affection _

\-         _ this crave was used by her rapist to bind her to him, resulting in pathological dependence on him _

\-         _ the patient doesn’t tell anything about the rape, blocks every question into that department _

\-         _ following the rape: a severe depression, self-harm and failed suicide _

\-         _ according to the patient, her brothers (not biological) were responsible for part of the rehabilitation _

\-         _ severed ties to her parents, don’t speak with each other _

\-         _ different from the rape or her parental home, the patient does talk about her depression and the suicide, about her reasoning to join the police and her decision to combine her talent on a PC (the patient took the initiative and remodeled the system in the doctor’s office) with the police work _

\-         _ the patient is willing to open herself to new options for therapy, for example a “log book” (her words, not mine!) to record her emotional state and control upon their stability _

Kakashi’s vision blurred briefly. The words merged into each other, mashed and formed unreadable black spots, so he slowly lowered the not yet finished report into his lap. Pakkun whined highly and poked his trembling hands with his wet nose until the human obliged and stroked over his fur. Until now only one information was new and important: Ryuzetsu advised Hiko to write her thoughts down.

Knowing the brunette, Kakashi could imagine how that went. First, she would be discussing unnecessarily about the need to make a diary, only to give in after some hard persuasion. He didn’t want to picture the defiant expression on her face as she declined over and over again, only to give in in the end, all the while a devilish grin playing around her lips; Just barely tugging at the outer corner of her mouth, nothing more than a twitch others would mistake for an unconscious action.

After months of spending time with Hiko, Kakashi knew her better than this. She loved to make things difficult just to annoy the people.

One of the habits they shared.

Quickly, he forced himself to brush through the other pages but he learned nothing else. It was like… Really like Hiko already spilled everything she already told her therapist to Kakashi and every other day, he would’ve called Hiko to draw her into a long hug, maybe share a few light kisses and cute whispers, but that wasn’t possible.

“How much I wish…” he hoarsely whispered, “How much I wish you were here…”

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Nervously, she nibbled at her fingers. The thumb was already bruised, the skin around the nail bloody and raw flesh was shining through the ruby red liquid. The index, middle and little finger of her left hand were looking like this as well, abused and sending jolts of pain through her hand whenever Hiko set her fingers on the keyboard.

A poor substitute, just as harmful as the next step. But Hiko couldn’t stop;  _ wouldn’t stop _ , wasn’t able to stop herself from needing the pain to concentrate.

Right now, she was busy checking the last files of Danzo she secured at the ball, but besides some shady business… No connection to Kabuto, but something had irked her since days.

The mysterious files with the donations for orphanages. Why had Danzo deleted them? They were harmless, even when the sums were rather unusual. Too large to be considered simple charity, but…

In itself, pretty normal.

Though something itched in the back of her brain. Why would Danzo delete such harmless data? Why, why, why goddammit why!?

Hiko started to attack the fingers on her right hand while she brooded over the open file. A complex chart, stating the name of the orphanage, the city, the amount of money paid and a mysterious unnamed section with mostly single digits, like “1” or “2”. Only sometimes there would be a “3” standing there and when Hiko found no higher numbers, she grew only more frustrated.

What was this? What deemed Danzo worthy enough to hide? A sharp hiss spilled from her lips and suddenly too angry to sit calmly she jumped up from her seat. Restless she wandered through Suigetsu’s flat, rounded the small coffee table, avoided to step on Kuro’s tail which peeked out from under said coffee table and walked further into the entrance area, the arms crossed in her back. Automatically, her eyes flew to the closed bathroom door.

“No.” Another hiss, hateful and desperate. Hiko shook her head. “No. This is not the solution. This will never be the solution for  _ anything _ .”

Just as restless as at the beginning of her little tour, the shorty walked back into the living room, where Kuro went over to cuddle into her discarded blankets and mewled cutely when he spotted her. Instantly, he jumped out of the nest he built and strolled around her legs, eagerly purring and rubbing his slender head against her calves, the black tail cricking and curling in his cute affections.

With a low sigh, Hiko bent down and scooped the warm body into her arms. Kuro was excited, at least the low purr rummaging through his whole body was telling her this.

“Do you really want to comfort me?” she said lowly and started to play with the ears of the cat, “Do you really want to see my ugliest side? ‘Cause I don’t think you will like to be used as a hug-pillow…”

Another sigh escaped as she remembered more pleasant memories of brighter days, of better days without a worry and only filled to the brim with Kakashi, the lazy, perverted sweet talker he was.

_ “Hold still.” _

__ __ _ “I’m not doing anything!” _

__ __ _ “You’re wiggling.” _

__ __ _ “I’m not.” _

_ “You’re doing it as we speak. Please, I’m begging you. Stay still for at least two more minutes.” _

_ Hiko sighed exasperatedly but complied. She sank down into the pillows surrounding her and wished shortly for a bit more than the blankets of her bed covering her naked skin, but then she reminded herself that Kakashi requested this instead one of his usual sexual fantasies. _

_ Kakashi sat highly concentrated a few meters away, in his hands a pencil and a sketchbook he magically tugged out when she asked what he wanted to do today. _

_ He was sketching her. HER, the small chubby brunette with the huge glasses and the - without a doubt - annoying quirks and habits. _

_ “Do you know for how long I’m already lying here?” Hiko asked into the silence, only slightly interrupted by the pencil scratching over the paper. _

_ Kakashi chuckled lowly. “Still bored?” _

_ “No, but do you know this fantastic phenomenon where you’re told to stay still and suddenly the most uncomfortable points start to itch? That’s kind of happening to me right now.” _

_ The male shook in clear amusement his head. “Really? Don’t worry, I’m nearly finished. Then, I can scratch those evil itchy spots for you.” _

_ “Promise?” _

_ “I promise.” _

_ So, Hiko tried to relax into her bed, naked except for the blanket artistically draped over her body and listened to the soothing sound of her love capturing the picture he arranged in one of the sweetest ways she could imagine. _

_ “Kakashi?” _

_ The man looked up from his work and smiled when he noticed the movements underneath the covers. "Yes?” he asked, his eyes following the traitorous hands gliding down her hips and thighs, making Hiko’s back arch and present her nearly uncovered breasts. His pencil never stopped its work. _

_ “Are you finished yet?” _

_ Kakashi snorted out but lowered the sketchbook nevertheless to the shelf beside him. “I guess I can rely on my memory for the rest.” The man shredded the morning coat and the underwear he wore and lifted the blankets, to what the brunette answered with a happy squeal, “Now come here, my beautiful, impatient Firefly.” _

He had placed the finished picture into the photo book Obito gifted him with. Hiko smiled when she remembered how proud the silver head had been when he managed to finish the sketch, presenting it to her with the widest and most gleeful grin she ever saw on him. The brunette couldn’t believe in what a light her love apparently clothed her.

Was that really how Kakashi saw her? A small, yet sinful woman with curves barely hidden underneath some blankets, eyes blinking and arms opened in a silent invitation to join her in the cushions. In her own right, beautiful, confident and respected.

Loved. Loving and being loved.       

Again, tears threatened to spill, but this time a small smile accompanied the admission to her sadness. Those times were lost. Lost because Hiko fucked up quite spectacularly, because she didn’t trust Kakashi when she needed obviously help, because she didn’t open her mouth and talk about a problem for once; talked about her suspicion, about the hints pointing at Kabuto, about her past and about the reason behind her rape. It was her fault. Entirely her own fault.

The smile dwindled slowly until only the tears remained. Then, oh so slowly, Hiko sank into the cushions of the couch, silently crying into the pillow and not even noticing as Kuro started to mewl and lick at her fingers. Suigetsu and Karin found her like this hours later, when a headache had manifested itself in her head and the tears were long dried up.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Sakumo and Obito had fallen asleep in totally different positions. While the older man was sitting in the single armchair Kakashi owned, his head hitting the backrest and a softly snoring Pakkun in his lap, the Uchiha had curled up simply on the spot where he had worked, namely the carpet in his living room and was obvious to the world and every common sense.

“Really?” murmured Kakashi when he dropped a light blanket over his friend and watched him squirm in his sleep, “You should know better than this.”

Luckily Obito didn’t answer. Instead, he sprawled even more out, his arms and legs spread like he tried to imitate a starfish and was now drying on the next best beach. With a sigh, the only awake man stretched until his bones popped loudly in the silence, then he walked towards his bedroom, where Bull waited. After some hours into their investigation and theory building, they had enough of Bull’s constant affections and sloppy dog kisses, so Sakumo ordered him with his typical stern voice into the empty room, to what the mastiff complied, but not without throwing pitiful glances at every possible human around. That explained the happy wagging of his tail and the low, thundering barks as Kakashi opened the door only for an inch.

“Quiet!” Cursing under his breath, Kakashi grabbed the overly excited dog by the collar and snapped the leash he tugged out of Sakumo’s backpack into place. After a look at his cell phone (early evening, nevertheless the darkness already reigned over Konoha and let the snow glisten underneath the artificial street lights), he threw a thick coat over his shoulders and a pair of working boots on his feet, then he was ready to face the harsh cold outside.

‘Finally.’

The icy air was like a brick wall. The moment Kakashi opened the door which lead onto the sidewalk, he started to jitter in his clothes. Thick white clouds emerged as he breathed out, and every step became hard work to overcome the sheer mass of snow blocking his way. But the fresh air kicked his brain awake, so Kakashi stayed right where he was for a second, breathed deeply in and savored the dragged-out flow of ice cold oxygen into his lungs. Only after the small meditation in the snowy chaos did the detective start to go on a walk with Bull.

Working his way through Hiko’s mental evaluation… had been interesting. Disturbing, but also very interesting. He had the feeling he got to know the brunette better than throughout the last months, where everything circled around their growing relationship. Now Kakashi knew more about his girlfriend than he ever needed to know and he was terrified.

Not of her, but  _ for _ her.

At the start of their friendship, Hiko said that her parents had ignored her. But she hadn’t mentioned that they actively ignored her, that they decided to actively not support their daughter when she was struggling in school or in any other aspect of her life. For fuck’s sake, Hiko had to go on her own to an optometrist to get some glasses described.

At the tender age of eight.

Tiredly, Kakashi rubbed over his eyes. At the age of eight, he had been an entitled brat with nothing better to do than to harass his father. Scarred by the sudden death of his mother, without any friends, nobody he could talk to, he wasn’t the definition of a good boy, not at all. That bratty behavior died down over the time, thankfully just in time to repair the relationship to his father before there was nothing left to repair. But Hiko… At the thought of the small child walking without any protection through the streets, with her saved-up money from small odd jobs like selling flowers in her tiny hands, searching for an optometrist who would give her some badly needed glasses, Kakashi’s stomach twisted into a tight knot. Anything and everything could’ve happened. Everything, from careless car drivers who simply didn’t see the child to people with darker intentions. He knew there was no use in worrying anymore, but still the silver haired man ruffled through his mane in agitation, not caring about the coldness nipping at his fingers or the massive mastiff who jumped around his legs and nearly made him stumble over the leash.

On top of that, his cell phone started to ring and without looking who tried to reach him, Kakashi took the call.

_ “Kakashi?” _ Hanare. Her voice was breathy, like she just ended an intense bodily exercise. He didn’t want to know if it was with someone else or alone.  _ “Hey. I didn’t think you would take my call.” _

“Despite that you tried to contact me,” he answered, only a hint of his tiredness shining through, “So what do you want?”

_ “Talk. I want to talk.” _

“About what Hanare? What do we have to drag back into light when we already buried everything?”

She clicked her tongue.  _ “I want to explain myself.” _

“There’s nothing to explain.”

_ “There is. You think you know why I did what I did, but…”  _ She sighed heavily. _ “Just… let me explain.” _

Bull was drooling into the snow. His paws created holes in the otherwise virgin snow blanket and Kakashi stared into those dark holes. His eyes hoped from one dark spot to the next, desperate for any kind of words he could throw at his ex-wife. Seconds ticked by in which he only stared blankly at the white cover, feeling how the coldness creeped into his bones and settled down, coiled around his insides and froze his brain, froze his thoughts and slowed them until the detective couldn’t tell where up and down was.

“Fine,” he choked out, not even sure if Hanare said anything while he was thinking, “Fine. We can talk. When I’m back at the police office.”

The woman at the other side of the line breathed out. Not enough to be called a sigh but more than a simple exhale. Something in between, but Hanare always had been an expert at gestures which were more than they claimed to be.  _ “Good. Thank you Kakashi. I’m looking forward to our talk. You can’t know how much I’m looking forward to it.” _

“Okay.”

_ “And I should warn you,” _ Hanare added after a small pause,  _ “Ibiki will visit the KPD in a few days.” _

“You already said that.”

_ “I have new information.” _

Captivated, Kakashi made his first steps since a few minutes. Stomping through the snow wasn’t as easy as a few days ago. The hard crunch of the hardened surface followed every one of his footsteps, the only sounds beside Bull’s occasional whimper and growl. “What?”

_ “He wants to talk to you. Specifically. He… Zabuza said Ibiki wants to talk with you about the suspect, Hiko Kobayashi.” _

“Really?” It was strange to hear Hiko’s name in Hanare’s voice. Two parts of his life overlapped and Kakashi had no idea if he liked that or not. “Did Zabuza specify anything?”

And hearing Zabuza’s name… That bought a lot of unpleasant memories. Mostly about one special evening, about Hanare’s breathless voice and her restless pleading for more, about pale hips slamming against even paler hips, about papers falling to the ground and betrayed feelings behind a not really closed door.

_ “No.” _ Hanare answered weakly.

“Fine. Fine, I have not much of a choice but to listen, right?” Kakashi clutched the cell phone in his hands, trying to calm Bull down, who again tugged forcefully at his leash, obviously eager to explore more of the street. He cursed silently under his breath as the mastiff’s force caused pain to slash through the hand holding onto the leash. “I have to end our conversation for now. Thank you for the call Hanare.”

_ “Take care.” _

Kakashi pressed the red button faster than her. Childish satisfaction spread through him at the little gesture and for a moment he imagined how she must look right now, a bit confused and a bit miffed at the abrupt ending. Childish, yes. Unneeded, absolutely. Satisfying? A thousand times yes, with cherries on top.

“Well,” Kakashi stuffed the cell phone back into the pockets and looked at the dark sky, “that’s going to be interesting.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much Chisie! It was a pleasure, like always! :)


	69. Building the stage

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The SFU arrives in the Konoha Police Department and Kakashi finds himself face to face with some old friends and unfortunately, also old enemies.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize beforehand for this chapter.
> 
> my tumblr, for people who want to know what I'm up to: historicfailure

The faucet in the kitchen was constantly dripping. Hiko counted the single drops whenever the water hit the metal of the sink. Staring blindly at the ceiling, her brain added helpful comments whenever it could, but more often than not, those thoughts drifted further than they should.

‘One, two, three…

_ Orphanages all over the country. High donations. Unusual high donations, too high for simple charity. _

Four, five, six, seven…

_ Kakashi hates me. He hates me for what I’m doing, for what I’ve done and will do in the future. He cannot accept this part of me. He cannot accept tRuthseekEr. _

Eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen…

_ Upper shelf in the bathroom. Upper shelf in the bathroom. Upper shelf in the bathroom. That’s where the razor blades are. The razor blades which will make the suffering easier. A lot more bearable.’ _

“Suigetsu?” Karin’s voice interrupted Hiko’s thoughts. High and screeching, the words echoed through the rooms, namely the entrance area and the living room where the brunette laid, her hands folded over her more than empty stomach and trying to blind out the now following constant knocking at the bathroom door. “Open the door, dammit! I have to go to work soon!”

The muffled voice of the boy answered. Screaming, pissed and angered. “FUCK OFF! I’m taking a dump here!”

“That’s disgusting!”

“That’s mother nature, bitch!”

“You don’t have to be so graphic about it!”

“Oh, I have to be  _ graphic _ , because you stop me from taking a motherfucking SHIT!”

Since when was Karin sleeping here? Since when was the redhead throwing disappointed looks at Hiko? Since when the young girl was making such a disgusting face when her red eyes slid over the brunette, full of pity and distaste and anger? Hiko answered the look with a tired blink, then turned her head away.

Karin snorted. “When Sui-ass moves his bum off the fucking toilet,” she hammered again against the door, “I’m off.”

Hiko didn’t answer. She just swallowed the weak urge to ask what time it was and nodded faintly.

“Today, a delegation of the SFU will come. Ebisu talked about it. Apparently, they have some info which is worth mentioning.”

Again, a weak nod. Hiko couldn’t muster anything else. No sound, no other movement. Her jaw felt blocked, like someone pressed her mouth shut and the woman wasn’t able to remove the blockade.  

“Suigetsu purchased small microphones. I will place some around the department and if I’m lucky, I can even smuggle one into the bureau of the chief.”

What? Karin wanted to spy on the KPD? Besides helping Hiko in hiding and supporting her with material, using spyware was illegal. She shouldn’t risk her neck like this, not more than necessary! But just as fast as the little enragement came to life, it died down again and the shorty only said “Be careful,” before again staring blindly at the ceiling.

Karin ruffled impatiently with her clothes. “Suigetsu, come out NOW!” Another angry glare at the bathroom door, then, she directed her angry, red eyes again at the brunette. “I will send you a message when the microphones are online. It’s live and saved at the same time, so we will be just as up to date as the KPD. About their development in finding you.”

“Okay.”

Another thought breached through the fog hanging over her mind. Maybe Kakashi would strive to the rooms and talk to some people. Maybe she could listen to some of his words, murmured and faint, or when Hiko was lucky, he would walk past a microphone, talking to Obito or Gai or Naruto… Maybe she could hear Kakashi if she couldn’t see him.

Immediately, Hiko shoot upwards but controlled herself even as her fingers started to tremble from the unsuspected sudden exhaustion.

‘I can’t. The microphones aren’t in place. Karin first needs to place them. Calm down, okay?’

Her stomach rumbled loudly. One of her hands flew to her belly, clutching to the sweaty fabric of a pullover she wore now for… How long? Four, five days? Longer, Hiko decided after a few moments. When was the ball? Five days ago, maybe?

“Karin?” Her chapped lips split painfully as the woman croaked the single word. “When was the ball?”

“Uhm… Four days ago.”

“Oh.” Dully, Hiko noted Karin’s unbelieving tone swaying in her answer. “Okay. Just… Just wanted to ask.”

“Okay.” But she knew that Karin lost yet again some ounces of respect for her, Hiko could hear it in the way how the redhead sighed almost inaudible out. Only a small exhale, the tiniest of possible sounds and Hiko could hear it like a thunderbolt striking the ground right by her side.

‘Doesn’t matter anymore. Nothing really matters anymore. I could surrender to the situation, I could scream and shout, I could just… stop exis…’

With a sudden flash running through her heart, Hiko pressed her eyes shut. Just a few more hours, she told herself and tried to ignore the pesky sting settling down in her chest, just a few more hours until she could listen to Kakashi’s voice.

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Alone, Kakashi entered the police office. The wind and snow had picked up again over the last days, so he was cladded into heavy winter coats, boots and his green scarf was an additional layer tugged over his lower face. The fabric clung to his mouth like a second skin and made breathing a harder task than usual, before he stepped fully into the atrium of the KPD. Kakashi enjoyed the muffled air a little bit longer, only then he dragged his scarf down.

Something was off. The secretaries were unusually hectic, tapping with an almost maniac speed on their keyboards and scribbling notes down. Even his arrival didn’t faze them much, only a redhead with glasses threw a suspicious glance at him, before walking around the counter, some folders and a thin package pressed to her chest. She adjusted her glasses and glared once more at him, then the secretary opened the door to the main office and waited until he stepped through.

“Thanks,” he said and gifted the young woman with a meek, invisible smile. Kakashi had seen how wrecked he looked like, even though he overcame the summit of the biggest mountain three days ago. He wasn’t surprised the woman didn’t react much. However, he expected at least…

“No problem.” She answered coldly and threw another hateful glance at Kakashi.

Well, not  _ this _ . Confused, the detective watched her walking away and spreading the single folders around the room. What had he done now? Had he accidently spilled some coffee on her PC or what?

Then, he banned her from his thoughts. Obito curved around the desks, in his arms a stack of files and a hectic look on his face. “Eeh, ma friendo!” he cheered and raised his hand for a high five. He waited and waited, and waited a little longer, until he understood Kakashi wouldn’t answer the call, so he quickly dropped his hand. “Good to see you. Anything new?”

“Not much,” the silver haired man answered, “And? How’s your part of the investigation going?”

The dark eyes of the raven lightened up. “Oh, fantastic. You see,” lowering his voice, Obito fiddled with a note he hid between the different papers until now. “I searched the northern part of Konoha. Asked around and stuff. There are three different shooting ranges and guess what? One of the owners really remembered Hiko coming and practicing at the day you mentioned.”

Calmly, Kakashi breathed out; Even though his insides jumped at the new information. Someone saw Hiko. Someone saw her. Maybe at the wrong time, but they got closer to the brunette. “And what did he say exactly?”

Obito grinned widely. “She came in and requested a simple target shooting. Late afternoon. But cameras already recorded her around lunch time in the proximity of a store-it unit. As awesome as I am, I investigated a bit and again, guess what?”

“She has a unit there.” Kakashi mumbled.

But Obito shook his head. “Not really.” Again, he glanced at his note, eyes raking quickly over the jammed letters, before looking hastily around and making sure nobody was listening to the secrets the two males shared. “There’s no one with her name listed, but another name which is frightening familiar. Ever heard of a Mariko Tachibana?”

Kakashi didn’t know if he should laugh or cry. “Yes,” he finally choked out after a few tensed seconds, “I know that name.”

“It’s something only me and Itachi can know about. How do you know?”

“Long story. Continue, please.”

Obito glared at him but dropped the matter for now. “Anyway, Mariko Tachibana was the name of a character she had to perform for a school play. A hideous thing in its entirety, but she liked the name. You have no idea how shocked I was to see that name on the papers of the store unit.” He exhaled loudly. “Man. Like a ghost jumped right into my face.”

“Wake up Obito.”

“Right. So, uhm…” His friend shook his head like he awoke out of an unpleasant dream and needed some seconds to fully realize where he was. “Never mind. So, Mariko Tachibana has not a unit, but a small safe at the U-Store-it. I didn’t come around to visit it yet, but I’m going to do that tomorrow. The owner was already grumpy with me for asking about a small brunette who possibly could have a unit there…”

“Good job nevertheless.” A big weight was lifted off Kakashi’s shoulders. A new trace, something he could work with. Maybe there was something useful in the hidden safe, something which would prove Hiko’s innocence or maybe lead to another trace which would hopefully do the same thing. Right in the moment he wanted to ask if he could come with him, Obito glanced over Kakashi’s shoulder and his entire face went slack.

His cue to turn around as well and his heart speed up when his eyes caught the three people cladded into black.

The delegation of the SFU was here. Kakashi knew all of them. The first one entering was Tenzo, a man little bit younger than himself. Brown ragged hair, deep black eyes and a bit shorter than him. Out of unknown reasons, he used to look up to Kakashi and insisted on calling him “Senpai”. Then there was Ibiki. Cladded into a black leather coat, a black bandana wrapped around his blank forehead, hiding the scars from curious eyes and tall enough to even outshine Kakashi, his former superior was a sight to see. The silver haired detective wasn’t surprised the main office was almost dead silent. Only the younger ones whispered among themselves, throwing worried glances at the SFU delegation.

But the last person was the one who worried Kakashi the most. Unhealthy pale skin. Dark brown hair. A little superior grin on his thin lips, showing off the sharp teeth. Cold eyes, measuring everyone around him and looking down at the one who he deemed unimportant. And exactly those cold eyes were the first to spot Kakashi, who couldn’t really decide between ignoring the group or simply charging past at them.

“Aah,” Zabuza cooed and grinned thinly, “look who’s here. The wonder boy.”

“Zabuza.” He retorted. His insides jittered when the rest of the SFU turned around, in nervousness and hopeful anxiety that Ibiki had information which would be helpful for the case and especially beneficial for Hiko.

In his behind, Obito squeaked weakly. Maybe the shark-like teeth scared the raven off.

Zabuza briefly looked full of superior amusement behind Kakashi, then his grin widened. “Is that your newest attempt to appear like a human? You still can’t accept that part of yourself.”

“I have nothing to say to you,” he answered calmly.

“Really?” Zabuza’s smile grew only more sadistic. “Interesting. Heard that Hanare is here too. Just like the gold old times, eh?”

Before the detective could retort anything, Ibiki stepped in. Just a simple hand, raised into Zabuza’s sight and a deadly glare was enough to shut the man up. Even he had the respect for the leader of the SFU, with his intimidating presence, unfazed appearance and years of duty he carried on his scarred back. There were reasons why Ibiki’s voice was raspy like someone slit his throat once.

Kakashi lowered his head a little bit as a greeting. “Hello Morino-san.”

Ibiki didn’t blink. “Hatake.”

“I wish I could say it’s nice to see you, but the circumstances betray me.”

“Indeed.” With a heavy sigh, Morino stretched his hand out and after a moment of heavy internal debating, Kakashi shook the huge appendage. “No one wants a crazy murderer running around in the streets of Konoha.”

For the blink of an eye, Kakashi wondered how Ibiki knew about Kabuto roaming around. But then Zabuza snarled “Pesky bitch,” under his breath and his heart sank lower.

‘Hiko. They’re talking about Hiko.’

“Right,” he choked, “nobody.”

“Is the chief here?”

“He is,” Obito was only the slightest bit trembling as he spoke, “but his assistant Ebisu and Itachi Uchiha are currently with him. They’re speaking with Sato-san about the incident involving… Kobayashi-san and the future of the IT-office.”

If Kakashi wanted to ever avert something, then it was Ibiki’s cold measuring eyes whenever he tried to assess the value of a person. More than once he had found himself on the receiving end of such a glare, so he could understand his friend who bought a strangled “Meep!” out and hid himself behind Kakashi.

(Hopefully it wouldn’t become a habit in the proximity of frightening people. Otherwise, Obito should quit his job.)

And Hanare was already talking to the chief? Kakashi threw a glance at the closed blinds of Nagato’s bureau. She was only for four days here and she already thought she knew the whole IT-crew? Hiko worked for years with Itachi, coached Shino and was some kind of idol for Hinata. There was no way Hanare could fulfil her role as an independent correct police-investigator in such a short time span.

Zabuza’s snicker broke him out of his thoughts. “That’s the Hanare I know.”

Obviously, a provocation, a pretty dumb one on top of that. Kakashi didn’t jump on that, his mind was too busy to think about the different possibilities why the SFU saw the need to intervene in the butcher-case. The pale man noticed that too and hissed straight through his teeth, an ugly hateful expression on his face. “Heh, wonder boy!”

“Hm?”

“I talked to you!”

Forcing a thin smile on his face, the detective creased his eyes at the man. “Sure. Sorry, I wasn’t listening.”

Before Zabuza could explode, telling by the murderous expression in his face, Ibiki coughed into the tense silence, what caused the man to maybe shut up, but not from throwing evil glares at everyone around him. Easy, with the whole main office present. Even Orochimaru was here, his white coat fluttering around his lanky form as he hastily made his way through the crowd, talking through gritted teeth into a cellphone. Especially the younger cops in his proximity were his targets like Naruto and Sasuke, but also Sakura, who shook visibly, were close enough for Zabuza to judge her silently.

Kakashi stepped around and forced his form into the field of vision of his former colleague. “Stop this,” he stated coldly, “they’re now my comrades. I won’t allow you to look down on them.”

Zabuza already opened his mouth to retort something, but then Morino coughed one more time. Even Kakashi straightened unconsciously at the commanding sound. Only a sliver of the last year prevented the male from saluting and standing at attention for his former superior.

Ibiki cocked his head, then a somehow eerie smile formed on his scarred lips. “Good to see you children are still able to talk big. Momochi, I don’t have to remind you for what we’re here. Next time think briefly where you are and foremost, who you are representing and only then,” Ibiki accentuated his point by lowering his voice to a level which send uncomfortable shudders down Kakashi’s spine, “open your mouth like that again. Understood?”

Only Ibiki was able to make Zabuza look like a wet poodle, or more namely, like a dry shark. The pale man nodded sharply, lowering his dead eyes to the ground and even shortly looking like he meant it, but then he glanced up and the pure dislike lying in those eyes were enough for Kakashi to reconsider his earlier statement.

Whatever problem Zabuza had with him, it was far from over.

Kakashi had no idea why Zabuza disliked him this much. At the start of his career at the SFU they even got along pretty well, but then something changed practically overnight. The more Kakashi worked with the rest of the team, the more he tried to learn more and train more than everyone else, the negative feelings of the other male seemed to increase, peaking in the cheating with Hanare. That was also the start of the nickname “wonder boy” Zabuza invented and he would use every chance available to almost scream those words into every direction.

Then came the last job Kakashi would do for the SFU. A nice little spying mission on an underground mafia gang. They were stationed in a small abandoned cabin on the outer rims of the summer estate of said leader. His partner was unfortunately Zabuza and the months of belittling him for wanting to be better finally caught up to the detective. Kakashi had a hefty argument with the other, blew off some steam, but also blew up their cover by doing that and the job got messy to the point they had to fight their way out of the hidden spot they secured over months of planning this spying mission.

For how long Kakashi had blamed himself for his failure? He was still blaming himself, because it was true, he fucked this up. They could’ve destroyed an entire ring of smugglers, thugs and human traffickers, but no. His feelings got the better of him and that was the reason the gang was still out there, doing what they did to earn dirty money and hurt people.

Hiko helped. Her mere presence helped to at least partly forgive himself. Lately, Kakashi believed she would even love him if he ever dared to reveal how fucked up he was. How he had fucked up his life.

Before she went missing. Before everything went down the drain.

Forcefully, he ripped his mind out of the gutter. Running in circles wouldn’t help anybody. He needed to stay clear, needed to stay focused to the point of being an asset for the investigation and not a hindrance.

“Wake up,” Obito’s voice was breathing into his ear, “Brownie wants something from you.”

The question who the hell would be “Brownie” was spooking in his head, but then Tenzo was there and Kakashi realized Obito found apparently the perfect name for his younger colleague.

“Senpai.” He murmured as a greeting. In the formal suit and tie, he looked respective enough to work for a funeral parlor, inclusive the solemn expression and the hands folded in front of his stomach. He stretched his hand out and Kakashi shook it, with much more enthusiasm than he took Ibiki’s hand. “Good to see you again.”

“Good to see you too.” he answered. Kakashi wasn’t lying.

Tenzo smiled crookedly. “I just wish the circumstances…

“Were better. Yes. Me too.”

‘I ask myself how Hiko and Tenzo would deal with each other. She loves to tease people and Tenzo has this special “I’m easy to tease”-aura. There was, in the end, a reason I also mocked him on more than one occasion.’

“Heeey. Don’t leave me out of the fun!” Obito joined with a cheerful undertone swaying in his voice. “My name is Obito Uchiha. Pleased to meet you.”

“Tenzo Senju.”

The raven gasped. “What? Are you possibly related to Hashirama Senju and Tsunade Senju? The founder of the Konoha hospital and one of the most influential doctors working there?”

On the brunette’s cheeks appeared a hint of pink. “Only over five corners. I’m like a cousin of the brother of the aunt, you know?”

While his two  _ friends _ got to know each other, Kakashi’s thoughts started to wander again to Ibiki’s visit. What was the purpose? Why was he here, together with two of his subordinates? Did he have maybe new information about Hiko no one was aware of?

But what could that be? He came up with several ideas, but dismissed every single one of them quickly, because of the sheer impossibility. Slowly, Kakashi was going crazy over the tension. He needed to know what his former boss would discuss with his current boss, or else he would start to walk up the walls.

Nervously, his fingers fiddled with the hems of his sleeves. And what about Itachi and the IT-office? Was Hanare bringing doom and havoc over them or was she taking Hiko’s acting skills into consideration and let them off the hook? Somehow, he didn’t think that would be the case. So naturally, his worry was rising.

He worried. For his friends. Deeply.

But thankfully, someone –maybe god existed and maybe Kakashi would now have to go every Sunday to church- was grateful enough for something he did in his former life, because when Ebisu stepped out of the bureau, a pile of files pressed to his chest and the familiar sunglasses firmly attached to the bridge of his nose, Nagato followed.

Dully, Kakashi noted that the red-haired secretary slipped past the chief, then the talk between Nagato and Ibiki took all of his concentration. Both men radiated strength. But while Nagato’s was kind of forceful, almost pushy, Ibiki hid his strength like a snake ready to attack. You would only know you were bitten by him if his teeth were already lodged into your ankle.

“Good morning, chief.”

“It is far from good commander, but thanks.” Nagato sounded stressed and when Hanare stuck her head out of the bureau, a clearly annoyed expression on her face, followed by Itachi, whose eyes were almost blinking bloody red in the artificial light, Kakashi understood why there were lines of grief edged into his forehead.

Dealing with his dead-set ex and a just as stoic Itachi seemed almost impossible.

Ibiki looked at his other former subordinate he met today and actually snorted. “Yes,” a glance at Kakashi and he shook his head, “I think I got an impression. Are you free right now? I would like to give you my insight as fast as possible.”

“Sure.” The chief gestured Ibiki inside his bureau, what caused Hanare to blush fiercely at the dismissive hand wave he gifted her with. But before Morino entered the room completely, he stopped and tugged a small white note out of the depths of his long coat. “I need some people in here before we start,” he announced and the whole office held their breaths, “namely Obito Uchiha, Itachi Uchiha and Kakashi Hatake.”

Immediately, electric jolts wandered over Kakashi’s back. The only word which was flashing through his head was “YES, YES, YES!” He was surely jittering in his boots while he stumbled forward, at least it felt like that. Closely behind was Obito and when they exchanged a silent glance, Kakashi knew the other was just as frantic and excited as he was.

Hanare tried to catch his attention, even dared to tug at his sleeve, but the silver haired man brushed past her without sparing her another glimpse of his attention. Finally, he would get to know more.  _ Finally _ .

It was like reading his beloved Icha-Icha book for the very first time and knowing the next chapter would reveal a crucial twist in the story. The same excitement, the same happiness, the same giddy knowledge of just…  _ knowing _ what was about to happen.

Inside the bureau waited Itachi. The raven had his arms crossed over his chest and what led to Kakashi’s surprise was a silent conversation with the red-haired secretary, who was shyly smiling at him, but only until she saw how a crowd of people walked in. Immediately, an icy mask fell over her features and the girl went that far to even crinkle her nose at his presence before quickly shoving herself past the people. Not even Ibiki scared her and for that, Kakashi had to give her some points. She didn’t even flinch when she needed to brush aside a few leaves of the plant beside the door in order to avert crashing into Morino. The leaves rustled loudly in the silence, then the door fell close.

Ibiki grunted wordlessly. The small note in his fingers crumpled, then vanished in between his gloved hands. “Finally.” He hoarsely repeated Kakashi’s inner thoughts. His small eyes settled on the detective, measured him, hopped to Itachi and did the same thing, from head to toe, only to land on Obito, who was close to jerk away, but stood his ground against the judgement; An improvement to last time.

Nagato wrinkled his forehead. “What finally? Commander, I know you like to shroud yourself in mystery, but-!”

Ibiki cut him off with a single gesture, eyes then again transfixed on Kakashi. “Finally,” he growled and stepped forward, “finally I meet little Star’s family and the man who helped her to find herself again. And on top of that he’s also my former colleague. What a small world.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And again, sorry for the cheap cliffhanger ;)
> 
> a lot of thanks to Chisie, who works a lot and suffers even more for this fic :)


	70. Another truth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kakashi received one part of the truth in May, when Hiko explained what happened to her. Now, he's about to get another part of the truth and that part is far bigger than anyone could have imagined.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: huge information blob incoming. I tried to make it bearable but... Meeeeeh :/

The air was full of tension after Ibiki’s words. Kakashi himself needed a few seconds to actually process what the tall, intimidating and usually unemotional man said. One look at Itachi and Obito, and he was greeted with the view he expected: Itachi’s eyes were possibly the size of saucers and Obito’s jaw nearly hit the ground. Not a beautiful view, but it captured their shock pretty well.

“Little Star”? He nicknamed Hiko out of unknown reasons “Little Star”? Kakashi would’ve never accounted Ibiki Morino, the unswayable leader of the SFU, survivor of different assassination attempts and interrogation expert as someone who nicknamed people as he saw fit. Especially the nickname “Little Star” was… unthinkable for someone of Ibiki’s caliber.

Then, the meaning of his statement settled down in his mind and Kakashi nearly screamed out in excitement as he gestured towards Ibiki.

“You’re her advocate. You helped her getting into the police academy of Sunagakure.” Just a shot into the dark, but slowly Kakashi believed everything was possible.

“Hm.” Something close to impressed amusement flashed over Morino’s features. “Someone did his homework. But I should be accustomed to you being one step ahead of the rest.”

“Kakashi…” Itachi had overcome his shock. But the raven was struggling with the fact that Kakashi held more information than him at least that would explain the slightly miffed expression on his face. “What is he talking about?”

“Yeah!” Obito nodded wildly. “What are  _ you _ talking about?”

Kakashi was dimly aware of Nagato’s piercing eyes following the play, but he couldn’t care less about possible unwelcome spectators or eavesdroppers. “Hiko is too small. It’s a fact. Too small for the regular police work. Nevertheless, she got accepted by maybe  _ the _ strictest police academy around and even finished the education on top of all the other students, disregarding their rules and guidelines in hindsight at the physical and her psychical condition of their applicants. She needed someone who would convince the responsible council to still accept her application, otherwise I couldn’t explain it.”

Ibiki chuckled darkly. “You’re right. I’m Hiko’s advocate or however you want to call me. But there’s more to tell about her… And her parents.”

“Those fuckers aren’t worth talking about.” Obito hissed. His whole posture told about the anger he directed towards Hiko’s producers. Frustrated, the raven growled lowly, then shook his head in disbelief. “Those… those creatures aren’t worth the… the farts which crawled out of their rotting insides!”

Ibiki only shrugged. Relaxed, he stood in the middle of the bureau, straight and not bothering with the search for a chair. He crossed his arms over his chest, his dark eyes intently fixed on the loud Uchiha, who met the stare with obvious anger lying underneath every inhale and exhale he made.

Then, the scarred man snorted. “Obito Uchiha. Parents deceased at the age of four. Your grandmother took you in. Mediocre results in elementary school, high school and police academy. The only subject you excelled in was the shooting range. High score at the police academy is still up. Achieved the rank lieutenant three years after getting the job at the KPD. Girlfriend is Rin Nohara, nurse at the Konoha Central Hospital. She’s close to a promotion. Congratulations.”

“Th-thanks…?”

Whoops. Apparently Obito hit a sensitive spot, because Kakashi’s former boss only played the “I know more about you than you know about yourself”-card when someone pissed him royally off. Kakashi first experienced Ibiki’s infamous treatment for the ones who disappointed and annoyed him when he was for three weeks in the SFU. Thankfully, he wasn’t the target; another newbie managed to totally fuck a simple check on a possible big-scale smuggler up, so Ibiki talked him into the ground until the adult man of thirty years hid himself in the bathroom and cried like a hurt dog. That day Kakashi swore two things; One, never cross Ibiki, especially if he had a bad day; Second, never forget to check the name of the criminal for misspellings. Otherwise the SFU could and would storm into the house of an unsuspecting family father and not into the den of a criminal. Kakashi still remembered the fear his boss installed in him that day. Ibiki was probably one of the scariest people he would ever met, closely followed by the coroner Orochimaru and the unpredictable Tsunade Senju.

And it still worked. Obito was visibly nervous. He fidgeted on his feet, nibbled on his lower lip and his fingers were always busy, either with the sleeves of his long tight sweatshirt, his hair or fiddling with his other fingers, tightly lacing them together only to loosen them just as fast. The epitome of a flabbergasted and shocked man.

But Ibiki wasn’t finished. “But there’s more. Do you want to hear more about yourself?”

“No, sir.”

“What a shame. Though you seemed to have learned your lesson.” The scarred man raised a thin eyebrow, what caused the map of scars drawing deep lines over his face to move upwards too. “Behind every person is more than it seems and everyone has his secrets, if not the holiest saint or dirtiest devil. And it’s my job to know everything about every saint or devil and all in between. So, Uchiha…” Ibiki lowered his chin. “You want to insult my friends further?”

One bomb after another. Now, Hiko’s non-loving parents were Ibiki’s friends? Hell, Kakashi wouldn’t have guessed the other man was able to make friends! But, he assumed, other people would’ve said the same thing about him, at least a year ago.

Itachi coughed into the silence, what caused all present people to intently look at the raven. “I’m impressed,” he said calmly, “by the amount of information you gathered there. But everyone with a little bit of technical expertise and the right program can achieve that much. What I want to know is your name, occupation and foremost the reason why you’re talking that intimately about Hiko.”

Ibiki smirked; stretching the scars obscuring his lower face to almost impossible limits. “Then, get one of your fancy programs and try to find something about me.”

Itachi’s dark eyes darkened even further. Defiance was easily visible on his features, something which didn’t happen every day. Usually he was the ice prince, unreadable to the point of appearing emotionless, but the last days also took a toll on the man. “Name. Occupation. Reason why you’re talking about Hiko like you know her,” he demanded again.

Slowly, the smirk dwindled from Ibiki’s face. After a few moments of mustering the stubborn Uchiha, the middle-aged man grumped and adjusted his stance. “Fine. My name is Ibiki Morino, commander of the Special Forces Unit of Konohagakure. And as Hatake already stated, I’m Kobayashi’s  _ advocate _ ,” hearing that, Kakashi got the hunch there was much more to those circumstances than it seemed, “and was also an acquaintance of her parents. Now listen up children, because I will only talk once about the mitigating issues surrounding Hiko’s current case.”

“Mitigating?” Nagato muttered in utter disbelief. “With all respect commander, we have proof Kobayashi was involved into the homicides. DNA was found at one of the corpses, a hair of hers was buried under the organs of one of the victims. Another was found leaning against her car and we have eye witnesses, who-!”

“Eye witness, sir.” Kakashi threw in.

A glare was thrown his way. “Sure, Hatake. An eye witness who saw Kobayashi-!”

“Someone looking like Kobayashi.”

“Hatake, would you…?”

“Sure, sir.”

“Thank you. We have an eye witness who saw  _ someone _ like Kobayashi dropping the third corpse, what was by the way her former therapist, at the bridge in the middle of Konoha. Also, people who witnessed her – _ someone like her, I know already Hatake- _ someone looking like her in the bar where the first victim was seen for the last time alive. There are a ton of things which point into her direction and we can’t dismiss the proof just because you waltz into my department and claim that everything is different than it seems!”

Nagato breathed heavily by the end of his monologue and Kakashi was feeling for him. From the point of the chief, the SFU came in and tried to steal their homicide case, no matter which one of his officers or workers was involved and how, and the fact that the media, that was following every step would definitely note down the change of leaders if the SFU dared to make a move, wouldn’t help either, which would lead to a decreasing of the KPD’s name.

But Kakashi also knew Ibiki didn’t care about such things. He was only interested in capturing the real bad people like murderers, gang members or notorious thieves. And the butcher –if now Hiko or Kabuto- was extremely dangerous, ruthless and apparently careful enough to not be discovered, even though he or she killed for years.

His old boss continued to stare without the hint of an emotion crossing his face at the chief, until he sighed almost inaudible out and leaned against the wall opposite to the door. “This case is much bigger than it seems. The killer operated for years around and the results of my investigation are that he started when he was a teenager.”

“He?” Nagato asked.

Grimly, Ibiki nodded. “He. But let me tell the background first.”

On a wordless command, Itachi and Obito complied and settled on the available chairs down. The loud raven leaned forward, his forearms shored on his thighs and intently staring at Morino, while Itachi leaned into the backrest, but his eyes were just as fixed at the SFU commander as Obito’s. Both were tensed, but Kakashi’s own tension was surely higher than both of theirs together.

Finally. Finally, he would hear what this was about, why all of this happened, why Kabuto forced Hiko to break up with him, why she saw the need to walk away.

“Before I start,” Ibiki’s eyes squinted, “no word I say will leave this room. Do I make myself clear?”

All men nodded, though Nagato’s nod was less enthusiastic than Obito’s and Itachi’s.

“Alright.” For an eternity, the tall man thought about which words were the most fitting for the current situation. Outside of the bureau, Kakashi heard the murmurs and whispers of a hushed conversation, the ringing of the phones and the busy typing on keyboards and when Ibiki spoke up, the sounds drowned in the explanation. “Everything started more than forty years ago. Back then, the SFU was freshly formed and promising people were working on their first cases. For example, Ami Sakamoto, Seishin Kimura and my person. Originally, we just had to do a background check on the newly appointed aides of mayor Sarutobi but included into the map was a copy of the financial situation of Konoha. And we discovered a slight irregularity in the financials. Ami studied business management before she changed her opinion about her career, so only she noticed and pointed that out. More money was leaving the town hall than necessary, less money was used for schools, the KPD, the different aspects of the daily life of the citizens.”

Until now, nothing too shocking. But Kakashi was sitting nevertheless at the edge of his imaginary seat, all the while Obito and Itachi were literally sitting at the edges of their chairs. Obito even started to gnaw on his fingernails and the clicking sounds of his teeth was nerve wracking.

“We investigated further and more and more irregularities started to pile up. Strange occurrences, people who suddenly resigned from their posts over the years and made place for a trio of aides. Sure, it sounds really easy to you, but remember,” Ibiki smirked grimly, “what I’m telling you is the result of an official investigation which lasts now for thirty years. All those changes were converted at a snail’s pace, not suspiciously fast, but fast enough to catch our attention. Before Ami, Seishin and I researched everything on our own, besides our work at the SFU. Not an easy feat.”

“And what has that to do with today?” Itachi threw in, voice flat and pressed.

“Aah, the Uchiha’s…” Shaking his head, Ibiki sighed. “Always impatient.”

“I’m not impatient, I’m just asking myself if your story has any value.”

“Then, stay silent and listen for once.” After Ibiki’s reprimand, Itachi clicked his tongue, but leaned again back, all the while the tall man continued his tale, not even caring about the looks which were thrown his way. “After the strange occurrences increased, we went with our file to our commander. He decided to make it an official investigation but considering the sensitive information and the involvement of the town hall, the investigation wasn’t known to the rest of the SFU. My person, Seishin and Ami became a special unit, responsible for researching and finding new compromising information on Danzo Shimura, Koharu Utatane and Homura Mitokado. But it was hard. Too hard for three young agents. So our commander let us make a choice, a choice which probably led us today. And I’m still…”

Kakashi could imagine where this was going. In the SFU, there were two possibilities for information gathering if you didn’t have an eye witness or a traitor who was willing to save his own ass from prison.

“We had the choice. Either we would try to find the usual proof for his involvement or smuggle two people into his organization. I voted for the first option, but Seishin convinced Ami to go along with the second. Becoming undercover agents… It meant no contact with them over months, the risk of getting found out, but also faster results. Otherwise we would probably still not know who is behind all this.”

Undercover work. The old wound in Kakashi’s side started to ache at the mere memory at one of his undercover missions he had taken part in. Dangerous and risky. Sure, the results came fast and steady, but the danger for the agents themselves…

Incredibly high.

Ibiki had his eyes closed, now totally lost in his past and the past of his friends. “For the mission they took the codenames “Deer” and “Hawk”. And…” Another deep sigh and the proud stature of the man bend doubled slightly over. “For the sake of a better cover, they married. As a newly-wed couple, they were granted little, but important privileges. They weren’t suspicious when they met up or vanished from their working place, it was brushed aside with the explanation of the honeymoon phase. First, Deer and Hawk were stationed here in the town hall, slowly working their ways up into the close proximity of Danzo and his helpers. Five years passed and they managed to get accustomed to their new work, but then Danzo became the correspondent for the relationships to the other cities around and they travelled a lot.”

Kakashi perked up. Deer and Hawk… The names sounded frighteningly familiar. Didn’t he read something about them, something terrible? Dread spread in his stomach, making his heart flutter in sickening misery and sympathy.

“As I said after a few years,” Ibiki continued without mercy, “the excuse of the special honeymoon-feeling didn’t work anymore. As a last attempt to maintain a halfway working cover, Deer and Hawk decided to reproduce.”

‘Fuck. Fucking hell. This is… fucking bad.’

“Wait.” Obito had paled at Ibiki’s admission. The usually loud raven looked like a ghost as he whispered, his black eyes big and pleading the other male not to repeat what he just said. “So you want to say… This Deer and Hawk… Ami and Seishin… They’re…”

“Yes. They were Hiko’s parents.”

Kakashi heard of such children. Children of undercovers agents in the field, only created for the sole purpose of granting a better cover. Nobody suspected a young family of spying. But those children were mostly not loved by their parents. They weren’t wished, they just were necessary, they were…

Unwanted.

So that was the reason Hiko’s parents gave not even a flying fuck about her. That was the reason the brunette spent most of her childhood asking herself what she had done wrong to deserve this treatment. Because she was just another layer to protect them from discovery. Just a tool, something to hide themselves behind, not a human being, not a child who needed support and love, not someone who was depended on the help of older ones.

Kakashi had to ground his teeth together in his attempt to control his emotions. Currently, he was absolutely hating the SFU and the circumstances of the mission Hiko’s parents had taken part in.

“Did they love each other?”

Kakashi needed a few moments to realize he had been asking that question. Only the strange looks from the surrounding people let him notice the sounds vibrating on his tongue and teeth, formed to syllables and in the end to complete words and sentences.

Forcing himself, the silver haired detective coughed, then straightened his position. “Did Deer and Hawk… Did Ami and Seishin love each other? Did they love Hiko?”

“What do you want to hear Hatake?” Disappointed, Ibiki snorted. “That they fell magically in love with each other? This is real life, not a novel or movie where everything is easily explained. Deer and Hawk were connected through their passion for their work, not letting criminals slip away. After years of being together for their undercover work I can certainly say they were friends, but everything further than that…” He shrugged. “That’s up in the stars, I guess.”

“And Hiko?” Kakashi asked again. “Did they at least love her as their child?”

“All I can say is that they were concerned for her well-being.”

“This is not an answer.”

For the first time, Ibiki showed some kind of aggression towards him. Growling lowly, he paced to Kakashi, his whole presence threatening and made to intimidate the cop. “I’m not here to discuss her childhood with you, Hatake,” he said darkly, “I’m here to show that someone else is responsible for the homicides and tries to let her appear guilty. So, shut up, let me tell my story and judge at the end. Do I make myself clear?”

He met the cold small eyes calmly. “Indeed. Very clear. And I hopefully make myself clear when I say that I will not shut up, because it’s Hiko we’re talking about and I care for her. We all do. We earned the right after the weeks of not knowing what to do or to think.”

“Yeah!” Obito jumped out of his seat, one fist raised like he wanted to start a revolution. But one cold glance of Ibiki and Nagato and he quickly sunk back into his seat, back slumped and hands clenching around each other.

Kakashi watched how Ibiki shortly closed his eyes. The other man was exhausted, he realized, exhausted because of the same reason he, Obito and Itachi were exhausted. Because Morino spent the night awake and searched for clues on how he could save the small brunette from prison.

Or worse.

“Anyway,” he rasped and the raspy voice became even hoarser with every word, “Deer and Hawk managed to uncover and reveal parts of a huge underground organization. The borders don’t stop where Konoha ends, every city has some kind of base from where they operate. The name is quite fitting. “Root”. They work in the shadows, manipulate influential businesses, underline the ministration of the cities, bring their people into high positions, whatever they need to do in order to gain influence. And Danzo is the head, at least we’re suspecting that.”

Ibiki raised his hand, just like he had sensed the unwilling question burning on Nagato’s lips. “Yes, I know. But Danzo is slippery. Every action he follows through has a back-up plan just in case, he never shows himself, never does anything without thinking things through at least three times. We need solid proof to nail him down on something and currently…”

“You have nothing.” Kakashi finished silently.

“We have nothing,” Morino repeated, “foremost because the investigation our special unit kick-started came to a stalemate. Root found out about Hawk and Deer, just when they moved to Sunagakure to look into a suspicious looking branch of the town hall. At that time, Hiko was fourteen. Knowing they had a daughter, Root threatened my friends to stop or they would kill Hiko.”

Kakashi’s heart dropped straight through the ground. The words echoed inside his head, getting louder and louder with each repetition, ripples at his usual calmness. Agitated, he was close to rip his flu mask off, but then only readjusted with trembling fingers the rough fabric.  _ Kill Hiko _ . Again and again. The shorty had possibly the worst luck of all woman he ever met. “Bad luck” didn’t even hit the point, misfortune and bad karma also weren’t fitting. It was like from the very moment she was born, some kind of cruel devil had taken a liking to her and brought nothing but rain, thunder and storm into her life, only to show her hints of a beautiful blue sky with white clouds and a nice spring breeze, just to pelt more rain upon her.

It was… just cruel.

Dimly, he noted that Obito spurted various questions out, nearly burying the present people underneath the true avalanche, while Itachi was deeply intrigued with his own thoughts. Feeling weak in the knees, Kakashi leaned against the nearest wall and closed his eyes for a moment, trying at the same time to shove the far too late worry for the brunette away.

But it was useless. What if Root was still on her heels? What if Danzo-?

“It’s about revenge,” he murmured, “right?”

“Not so fast,” Ibiki gave back, arms again crossed over his chest and standing like a statue in the middle of the room, “I’m not finished yet. You’re talking ahead of me Hatake. Anyway… You asked if they loved Hiko. And I said they were concerned for her well-being. Now I can add to that. They loved her enough to want to protect her and too much to let her completely go. Instead of sending her away, what would’ve been the safest option, they kept her close, but dropped every emotional tie to their daughter. They abandoned Hiko in their own house. I’m not saying I agree to their method, just…” A shadow of regret flashed over his scarred features. “I guess in their situation Ami and Seishin saw no other way.”

“But…” Obito cocked his head to the side. “What has this to do with Kabuto?”

“After her parents severed the ties to her, Root wasn’t convinced enough about their play. Thinking they fooled the organization, Deer and Hawk continued their investigation and unknowingly bought danger over their daughter. That was the risk they willingly carried and Hiko was the one suffering from their miscalculation. To send a message, Root send someone to torture Little Star, someone who was willing to dirty his hands in the cruelest way possible.”

“Kabuto,” Itachi stated and Ibiki nodded sadly.

“Yes, Kabuto Yakushi. I paced through the data the KPD assembled and I have to say, you covered all of his doings. Some were real suicides, of course, but mostly you have every case where the SFU and my person suspect an involvement of him.”

Dully, Kakashi stared at his former superior. Too unbelievable, too terrible were the revelations dropping like bombs around him. “And after that?” he asked weakly. “What happened after the rape?”

“As you know, Hiko underwent rehabilitation. While Kabuto fulfilled his orders, Ami and Seishin came back to Konoha to personally deliver the results of their investigation. They weren’t finished, but for the first time I had the name of the leader on paper. One little victory after years of undercover work. When they returned and found out Hiko was in hospital… They were broken. Broken by the realization their mistakes costed Hiko’s innocence. Driven by the knowledge, they made their final decision to let go of their daughter, by finishing what they started so many years ago. By blaming the fault on her, they drove Hiko away. And even though she was deeply injured, she didn’t know that the apparent hate of her parents brought her freedom and peace for the following decades.”

“And Yakushi? What about Yakushi?” For the first time in minutes, Nagato interjected. But his stoic façade was also shaken up by the revelations. Hastily, he dragged his fingers through his red hair, the glasses on his nose blinking in the movement. “Where did he go? The files say he vanished without a trace.”

“Indeed, he did,” Ibiki answered, “for the police officers of Sunagakure. The SFU though, managed to follow him until he climbed into a car registered to a guy who was loosely connected to Root.”

“And why wasn’t he interrogated?”

“It’s hard to get some information out of a corpse.”

“Of course.”

Kabuto or more precise, Danzo, would clean up every possible trace which would lead back to him. Kakashi had to suppress a bitter chuckle. Every hope for Hiko dwindled with every word Ibiki uttered and so did Kakashi’s hope sink like a ship which met an iceberg in the middle of the ocean. The hope for a life with the brunette, the hope of meeting and seeing her again, just the simple hope for a normal life with her.

Pained, he closed his eyes. Like his brain was mocking him, memories of lazy mornings with the shorty awoke, of waking up before her and simply watching the small body beside his. Or even more basic: simply talking to her, listening to the melodious up and downs of her voice, teasing and loving, reacting to the cute huff or a snort whenever he dropped the pitiful excuse of a pun or a corny pick-up line. Exchanges about the day, what he did or what she had done, the excited squeal whenever he told her about the dogs he had seen on his patrols or the agitated comments when he spoke about the different kinds of small scale thieves and drug dealers he dealt with.

Hiko was really interested in his day. Some people only acted like this because society taught them to do so, but the shorty really cared. She was interested, she was invested and tried to make her home comfortable when his day had been stressful.

In the back of his mind, Kakashi followed the conversation, though the biggest part of his brain was still fixated on the fading hope of a life with his Firefly.

“Deer and Hawk went underground after that. Thinking Hiko was safe, they investigated Root and Shimura further. But before they vanished, they appointed a trusted person to watch over Hiko, to guide and protect her if it was necessary. This person was me. Unfortunately, due to my position I couldn’t be a proper guardian. The only thing I could do was indirectly laying the groundwork for her occupation wish after the crime she was entangled in.”

“That wasn’t enough! She needed someone to care like a parent for her! That doesn’t erase all their mistakes!”

“There were circumstances which prevented me from getting close to Hiko. I couldn’t-!”

“I don’t care! You should’ve been there, you should’ve cared more!”

“Obito, we don’t know what happened.”

“You can’t say you aren’t enraged about this, cousin! She was alone all those years, she needed to hear to the reason why she had to live through the whole ordeal! She needed guidance, not some shadowy figure who watches over her! What the fuck!?”

Suddenly, there was a hand grabbing into Kakashi’s shoulders. Abruptly, he opened his eyes and stared into Obito’s dark ones, who wore an equally frustrated and despaired expression. “Kakashi!” he pleaded and strength of his grip hurt the detective slightly, “What are you thinking about this? Are you okay with this?”

“I’m not,” he rasped out, “I’m not okay with it. But there’s nothing we can do currently. Let’s listen to Ibiki a bit more, he said he has proof which would help Hiko.”

“But…”

The situation was tense. Obito obviously struggled to accept Ibiki’s words and someone had to beat some sense into him. Kakashi was close to look around, but then he realized it was no use. Obito wanted his assurance, he came to him, not to somebody else. Now he had to step up to the plate.

“Listen,” he murmured and ignored the growing pain oozing from Obito’s tight grip, “it’s in the past. We can do nothing about the things which happened already, you said it to me yourself. But we can help her now, we can help her in the next days and weeks by listening to what Ibiki has to say. Got it Obito?”

The raven grimaced slightly. Obviously, he didn’t want to listen. The energy was radiating from him in languish waves, infecting Kakashi with the same restless force and making him want to do  _ something _ , anything to just… move. To move further, to search further, to just help Hiko, when a lot of answers were in his reach after all those weeks. But apparently, his words reached the Uchiha.

“Okay,” he breathed and loosened his tight grip at Kakashi’s shoulders, “okay, okay, okay… Good. You convinced me.”

“Can I continue then?” asked Ibiki. “I don’t have time all day.”

Only after Obito closed shortly his eyes and heavily concentrated, he nodded at the scarred man, face dead serious and his whole posture showing he was highly focused on everything Morino would say.

A shudder wandered over Kakashi’s back at the sight. That was the creepy Obito he knew, not the childish and joyous man he showed to the world.

‘ _ Good. We need this Obito.’ _

“Yeah,” the raven said and gestured towards Ibiki, “you may.”

If Kakashi didn’t know the older man was as cold and unmovable as ice, he would say Ibiki was smiling almost before speaking up. “Fine. As you know, Hiko got sick after that, depressed and suicidal. During the year after her rape, I supervised my friends further and tried to keep an eye on her, but even I can’t have my eyes everywhere. Then, Hiko’s attempt to kill herself. Ami and Seishin heard about that but couldn’t revoke their decision as harsh as it sounds.” Ibiki fell silent for a few seconds. Then, he sighed out and shook his head. “The years passed. Hiko changed herself and went to the police academy, where I convinced the council to let her in. Suna never regretted their decision to follow my friendly advice and she graduated with one of the highest scores in the history of their department. All the while Deer and Hawk went deeper and deeper into Root, collected information left and right, sure Hiko was safe and sound despite their ongoing investigation. And for seven years, everything was relatively peaceful.”

“Then…” Itachi interjected calmly.

Ibiki nodded. “They died in a car crash.”

But there was more to it. In the back of Kakashi’s mind, his senses were tingling, warning and reminding him that there was more to the story than the SFU commander wanted to spill.

‘Deer and Hawk… Agent Deer and Hawk… A car crash, two agents killed in action…’

As an assignment, all SFU-agents had to read through a few unsolved cases in the database of their employer. Most of them were about SFU-members killed in action, fulfilling missions and helping the community before they got discovered by the dark side and got erased from the surface of earth. And Kakashi would swear he had read through a file retelling the story of a staged car accident, involving two agents on an undercover mission which had been going on for decades. The brake disks of their car had been manipulated, additionally someone poured liquid grill lighter over the motor. Enough for the car to burn down to ashes as soon as the brakes overheated, lit up a thin thread drowning in another load of grill lighter and inflamed in the process, the motor block. In panic, the male driver tried to stop the car, but only managed to crash the vehicle completely at a tree. He was instantly dead, but his female co-driver wasn’t that lucky. She survived the initial crash but burned to cinders due to the fact that she couldn’t free herself from the safety belt. Both could only be identified by their teeth.

They had no chance.

_ Deer and Hawk _ , he realized and the world started to spin around him,  _ Ami and Seishin. Hiko’s parents were  _ killed.

“You remember,” Ibiki hoarsely said, “you remember that particular case.”

Kakashi nodded weakly.

“So, you know too that their crash wasn’t an ordinary crash. That their car was manipulated, that someone let the homicide look like an accident, so nobody would look too close. That they were killed because they dared to go up against Root and fooled by their play Ami and Seishin put up to protect Hiko, they went straight after them instead of bothering with her.”

“In order to stop the investigation and destroy every possible further attempt to pick it up again.”

“Statement and clean-up at once. Easy and effective. If he hadn’t taken out my friends,” Ibiki said, “I would applaud the one who did this for his efficiency.”

Kakashi swore he heard Obito mumble under his breath “cold-hearted motherfucker”, so he threw a skeptical glance at the raven. Their eyes met and Obito grunted as the silver haired detective’s glare intensified, warning him to open his mouth in such a disrespectful tone once more.

Maybe Ibiki didn’t notice their wordless exchange, but Kakashi doubted that highly. Ibiki had eyes in the back of his head, always had. But he didn’t show any disappointment or annoyance, just continued to explain and shatter their worlds and beliefs like he even enjoyed it. “Anyway, we’re making now a huge jump in time. As your investigation bought to light, Hiko or namely tRuthseekEr ratted out Danzo just in time before he could fulfil his assassination attempt on the current mayor. Years of diligent conspiracy, shattered because his partner in crime wasn’t able to browse through the web without turning off his firewall and clicked on suspicious links in e-mails without wondering when nothing happened. All of you can imagine how Danzo reacted, I’m sure.”

“We can’t,” Nagato said, “because there’s no proof.”

A creepy smile crawled over Ibiki’s face, eerie and made to scare small children. “Oh. Is there, I’m asking myself.”

Kakashi perked up. What Ibiki indicated here was monstrous, enormous and would definitely lift a huge weight off his and Hiko’s shoulders. Especially off Hiko’s, if there was also a connection to be found to Kabuto. His fingers eagerly fiddled with the sleeves of his pullover, trying to control his sudden urge to storm out of the police station and search for the brunette, up and down to tell her the good news.

The other men in the room had also noticed the changed atmosphere. Obito was sitting at the edge of his seat, his hands firmly glued to his knees and looked just as intently at Ibiki as Itachi who remained in his indifferent position, but the black eyes of the icy Uchiha stared with enough intensity at Ibiki to burn him to the ground.

“Proof?” Nagato said, his voice only barely showing he was interested, “Commander, you want to say you have proof for Danzo’s involvement?”

As Ibiki shook his head, Kakashi despaired. But the emotional rollercoaster wasn’t finished.

“Unluckily not,” the tall man shrugged, “but I have proof for Hiko’s innocence.”

The first to react was Itachi. Surprisingly, he balled his hand into a fist of victory and huffed lowly, then gestured defensively as all of the present people who turned flabbergasted to him. “Don’t mind me,” he said, as suave as ever, “please, explain what proof you have.”

Without building the tension up any further, Ibiki explained, all the while wandering up and down, that the black coat fluttered like the wings of a bat behind him. “First, the erased reports to the incidents Kobayashi wrote and vanished. My team restored them and I have them with me.”

Nagato wanted to interject, but the commander of the SFU wasn’t one to be stopped. “Second,” he growled, “the times where Hiko wasn’t in the proximity of people which unfortunately cross with the times the victims were kidnapped and killed. I have found witnesses who are trustworthy and can testify she was not involved in any of this and was never in the range of the estimated kidnap-spots. Third, as unbelievable as it sounds, her secret identity as tRuthseekEr can help her to prove she wasn’t involved in the killings further. I’m not going into that too deep, this information is for her ears and her ears only. Fourth, which is maybe the most important, we took the liberty to invite the witness who saw  _ someone  _ like Hiko Kobayashi dropping off the third victim Ryuzetsu.”

Ibiki stopped, waited for a second, then continued, his voice slow and deliberately accentuating every end of a sentence. “Through a closer inspection and a blood test we found out that Anko Mitarashi was drugged and manipulated through a clever mix of hypnosis and psychological pressure to believe she saw Hiko Kobayashi dropping off the corpse.”

“Neuronal re-calibration,” Kakashi mumbled under his breath, “making one believe he saw something he didn’t.”

“Right,” Ibiki nodded, “it’s easier than you think. I did it too, one or two times. Makes dealing with unwanted witnesses a lot simpler.”

“I noticed she seemed a bit off when she reported in, but I pushed it on the fact she saw such a cruel crime.”

Obito shook his head and leaned over to Itachi. “Are we not acknowledging the fact that the creepy guy just admitted to manipulate the memories of people…?” he whispered loud enough to wake the dead.

Ignoring the whisper, Ibiki tugged a small USB-stick out of the depths of his coat and placed the small silver device in front of Nagato’s computer. “The erased and restored reports, the names and testimonies of the witnesses and a video how we allowed Mitarashi to remember the truth are on this. Please, take a look. But before,” he slapped as quick as a lightning his big hand over the stick and stared at each of them, “no word will leave this room about Hiko’s innocence.”

“What!?” Agitated, Obito jumped up, swinging his fist around in angry trembles. “Are you fucking kidding me? All of them need to know this, they need to know Hiko isn’t guilty and she needs to know so we can protect her from…” His voice trailed lower, until the raven fell silent, dull understanding blooming on his face. “We can’t,” he started slowly, “we can’t rehabilitate her now. Because Kabuto is probably watching, right?”

Itachi cocked his head, but the genius was already silently processing and thinking, like always making plans ahead. “That means he should have one or even better, two people, who are constantly in the office and report to him about the state of the investigation. And letting the whole staff know about Hiko’s innocence would warn him and probably make him either sharpen his attempts at whatever he wants to do.”

“He wants Hiko.”

Kakashi wasn’t aware he spoke until all the eyes turned to him. Strangely, Ibiki was now the one looking a bit confused, so he attempted to explain, but had the distant feeling he wasn’t doing a good job. “I worked at the files of Hiko’s rape in the last days. She said something to me at the mayor ball which made me believe that her rapist and the murderer from today are the same person. And we really have hints pointing into that direction, beginning with the cut at the hip all current victims spot and a similar one with the same characteristics at Hiko’s side. Then, there are also the similarities between the actions of a killer who acted over the years and the current killings, random things between homicides nobody can reproduce without the necessary knowledge, what leads me to the conclusion Kabuto either changes his method rapidly to confuse the police or because he tests them out, one after one to find the best one suited for him only.”

“And why are you suspecting that Kabuto wants Kobayashi-san?” Ibiki asked.

“The third victim with a real personal connection to Hiko was brutally killed, more brutal than the other ones. He changed his method dramatically when he was supposed to maintain the same method he used on Yamanaka and Kagero. Also, he acted hasty, got sloppy. There was a hickey at the neck of the second victim, a sign he was sexually invested into the victim.” Kakashi breathed deeply in before he continued, calming him while he ordered his thoughts like his life depended on it. And somehow it did, but also Hiko’s life was on the line. “It was an unnecessary risk he took, betting that the mark of his teeth was never found or leaving DNA behind which would connect a corpse to him. Apparently, he was clever enough to erase every trace of himself, but still.”

Ibiki nodded grimly. “It was risky.”

“Yes. And there were things Hiko said, things about messages when the second corpse was found directly leaning against her car, indicating she knew what was going on, knew who was behind the homicides before everyone else. Out of reasons she didn’t tell anyone about her suspicions, maybe she was scared to be rejected because of the lack of proof.”

Ibiki was dangerously silent. The silver haired detective knew what that meant and didn’t want to be in the same room with his former superior when he exploded, but there was no chance to escape. He could only wait, his hands crossed in his lower back, his spine straightened to the point of nearly breaking under the tensions and breathing sneakily in as Morino started to move again.

“You,” he pointed at Kakashi, “will tell me what you collected. Every little detail. You,” now he turned to Obito, “will work further at the current case. I noticed your investigations leading to a store-unit where Hiko saved something for herself and I want to know what’s in it.”

Obito automatically saluted. “Yes, sir!”

“Uchiha, you have to deal with Sato. She absolutely can’t end her internal investigation before we find Yakushi and have enough proof to cash Shimura in. And you-!”

Abruptly, Nagato stood up. His movements were sharp, the purple eyes behind the glasses were sparkling in a dangerous light when the redhead slammed his hands on the desk, Obito was close to squeaking again.

“I don’t remember giving you any authority in my department. I don’t remember either giving you the reigns over the butcher-investigation. How dare you to try to steal this from under our nose-!” he snarled.

Suddenly, Ibiki was right in Nagato’s face, growling and snapping at him like an enraged bear. “This isn’t about political games, Gedou. This is about my protégé, this is about my dead friends, this is about an investigation which is far bigger than you can imagine. We started to hunt after Danzo Shimura before you were even thinking about the position you’re currently in, so let me do things my way and don’t stand in my path, or else I’m going to remove you for the time span of this investigation you cling so desperately onto. Do I make myself clear?”

Nagato chewed on words, but nothing came out.

Kakashi followed the measuring of power only half-interested. His mind was elsewhere, to be exact, his mind was with a certain short brunette and the hope rising at the proof Morino bought with him.

‘There’s a chance I can wake up to her hurried steps again. There’s a chance to listen to her rants and snarky comments. There’s a chance to hug and kiss Hiko, to sleep by her side and with her, to let her know she is cherished and appreciated in my life. I want her back and I don’t care one bit about her hacker-past. I don’t give a fuck if she hacked hundreds of companies or thousands. I only want her back.’

Finally, Nagato sunk back into his chair, still defiant, still totally miffed, but nodding slightly before grabbing the stick and shoving it rudely into the PC.

Ibiki sighed heavily and shortly allowed himself to show how tired he was, before the nearly soft expression vanished from his features and the same old stone-poker face was back, unmovable and only parted by the many scars in his face. The tall man was still suffering, even after all those years, Kakashi realized, and would probably never stop feeling guilty. He suffered because of the decision his friends made, because they decided to stay faithful to their jobs and to their mission, because they were killed and he couldn’t support Hiko the way he wanted to.

Ibiki was just as bound by his guilt as by his duty to stay in the shadows. He wouldn’t give up before Hiko was able to come safely back, that much Kakashi could see, because of the overbearing guilt. For once he was ahead of his former boss. While he had spent time with the shorty, the silver haired man slowly let go of his guilt and the shame of having killed people. Not that much that he would reveal anything about his past to the brunette, but enough for his mind to suffer less from the decreasing nightmares.

Hopefully, Ibiki would someday meet someone who would become for him what Hiko was for Kakashi. Maybe he would overcome his personal nightmares one day, just as Kakashi nearly did, with the help of someone who was willing to forget all of their personal mistakes and shortcomings.

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The moment the four men stepped into the bureau, they had a listener. Unnoticed, Karin managed to place a microphone in the plant right beside the door. And over this microphone Hiko was able to listen to the secrets spoken in the bureau. The sound was a bit dulled and annoying radio sounds sometimes interrupted the sentences, but overall the connection directly into Nagato’s personal room was pretty good.

But then the explanation. With every year Morino went through, Hiko went paler. With every bomb he let explode, her fingers clenched more around the PC mouse, with every horrifying revelation her tears started to pile up more and more, until Hiko couldn’t listen anymore to the cruel words without constantly swallowing said tears down.

And then…

Then she knew the truth about her parents. Everything. That they were agents, that they only had a child because they needed a cover, that their work was more important than their daughter they produced in such an irresponsible manner, that they purposely pushed her away, that she was only raped to warn her parents…

All those years of trying to find the answer to the ominous question “why” the rape happened. All those years and surely Hiko had expected something greater, something about herself, as cruel and twisted as it sounded.

Not… Not something like  _ this _ .

The brunette ripped the earphones down, breathed in, breathed out…

Then she was crying until she had no idea why she was crying, only one thought remained clearly in her mind, screamed over all the other chaos going on.

_ You’re nothing. No one gives a shit about you. Not your parents, not Kabuto, not your brothers, not Kakashi. _

_ You’re nothing. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Proofread by the awesome Chisie! Thank you a lot, it means a lot to me what you're doing for me :)


	71. Stale blood

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hiko knows now the full truth and thinks about something what she hasn't done in years. Hurting herself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is not, I repeat, this is NOT a pretty chapter. Mentions of self-harm, suicidal thoughts, depression etc. The whole deal. If someone is uncomfortable with reading this, you have to jump at least halfway through. I'm sorry.
> 
> (There is a silver lining though. Halfway through. I swear!)

_ Somewhere in Konoha…  _

Until now, everything went just as planned. For a few days he had actually doubted his education, but when his greatest creation obliged and stayed out of the spotlights instead of running to her little detective, he had actually allowed himself to give in to the unfamiliar urge to chuckle.

No, his education had been perfect. All the time. But no matter which woman he tried to turn into a perfect replica of the brunette, they weren’t her, didn’t react the same way, weren’t that responsive or missed specific traits. All of them needed to be small, all of them needed to have blue eyes and brown hair, but he never encountered such a mix of those traits. Sinful chocolate brown hair, ice cold blue eyes. Smaller than him, but warm and living, obedient and listening whenever he wanted.

Hiko was the one. She was the one he needed by his side, she was the one who would follow him throughout all the countries, she would experience everything he had to give and would love everything.

“ _ Kabuto.” _

“Excuse me.” Adjusting his glasses, Kabuto concentrated again at the phone call. “So, what’s the next step?”

_ “We will wait.” _

“But-!”

An angry hiss.  _ “No. You almost ruined everything. You’re working for me, don’t forget that and you’re not as irreplaceable as you believe. There are hundreds of people like you who want to be acknowledged for what they are. Your obsession with this…  _ girl _ is getting in my way, so I order you to forget about her and do your job.” _

Kabuto snarled, nearly. Just in time, he kept the edge out of his voice, but not the obvious dislike as he answered his boss, the one who he owed big time for picking him up from the despicable place he had live in. “I understand. And what comes when we waited long enough?”

Not that he planned to let go of Hiko. He was far too close to have her again. Just a tiny little push, then the short woman would crawl back to him, a small thing which would show her that she actually needed him, not the blind masked police officer she spread her legs for.

The voice on the other side sneered. “ _ No going after her, understood? I just want her dead. Is that understood?” _

“…”

_ “Kabuto…” _

“It’s understood.”

No. No, it wasn’t. Never would he kill Hiko, never would he dare to take the life out of her body like he had done to so many other people. Sure, he would play with her a bit, maybe choke and pressure her, tie her up and cut her milky white skin a tiny little bit up, but never would allow her to slip away from his fingers again, one way or another.

This time, she would stay forever. And if he had to kill more, to torture more, to lie to his savior a little bit about his intentions…

Then be it.

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Hiko was pretty sure she had passed out on the sofa, face stuffed into her pillow and her broken sobs muffled in the tear-soaked fabric, but when she awoke from her horror, she was standing in front of the bathroom door, her trembling hand already on the handle and pushing the door open.  She even had no idea what time it was, but one look at the dark outside only worsened her darkest thoughts.

__ __ _ ‘The razor blades are in the hanger above the sink.’ _

No helpful positive thought came to her rescue. There was nothing left to make her resist the call, so the brunette pushed the door fully open and stepped inside, quickly closing the only barrier between the world and her again.

Like magnets, her eyes were drawn to the small white and simple compartment. Stumbling over, Hiko tried to find  _ anything  _ worthy for not doing what she had in mind, but…

_ ‘My family thinks I’m guilty. They hate me. My parents were killed, never loved me and only conceived me because they needed a baby to not blow their cover. Kabuto only was nice to me because I was an order and the rape too was an order, a message for my parents. And Kakashi… I betrayed him. Lied to him, made him question his sanity, hurt him more than anything. No wonder he doesn’t want to have anything to do with me anymore. No wonder he can’t say “I love you” anymore.’ _

“My whole life,” the shorty whispered, “is based on lies and crime. I shouldn’t be surprised it blew up right into my face. I fucking shouldn’t be surprised.”

Dully, she watched her hand reaching out to the hanger and opening it. The plastic underneath her fingers was frightening cold, but when she set her eyes on the little colorful package of razors blades, she didn’t care at all about anything else.

Ironically, it was even the brand she had preferred years ago.

“What a fitting coincidence.” First, Hiko only stared at it, slowly rocking back and forth on her heels. Her eyes traced the name of the brand, the edges, the little yellow arrow slashing over the package and especially fixated on the open ledge at the side, showing off the shiny metallic price.

Then, not even realizing properly what she was doing, she reached out and warily touched the razor blades. Only a grace of her fingertips, nothing much. But it was like she could already feel the metal between her fingers, how it would feel to hold them again, what it would feel like to just  _ do it _ again…

Her tattooed forearm throbbed. Hesitantly the woman drew back from the blades and gripped her left arm, but her eyes were still focused on the package, like moths drawn in by the fascinating but deadly hot fire, flying into it and blissfully dying in the same instant.

It was basically the same.

“It would be the same. It would be the same shitty thing, the same fucked-up…”

Her words weren’t really convincing, not with the underlying promise to  _ forget  _ and  _ not feel  _ anymore. Because that was what Hiko wanted: to forget, to not feel anymore; Not the painful sorrow ripping at her insides, not the horror of being hunted by Kabuto, not the shame and guilt of lying to her brothers, to Obito and Itachi and Kisame and…

Another tear slithered down her cheek. And  _ Kakashi _ . Kakashi, who waited patiently until she was ready to open up to him and his advances, who was trying his best at accepting her strange quirks and habits, who never forced anything on her and only offered so much.

And what did she? Take, take, take, greedily take everything without giving something back, strip him off every barrier and ruining Kakashi by taking the one thing he had put truly his heart into.

The image of the innocent Hiko he had.

She didn’t deserve an ounce of his love. She didn’t deserve any love, not the brotherly love of her brothers, not the admiration of the youngsters at the police station, not the gentle affection of Rin, not the friendliness of Kurenai, not one bit. Not at all.

‘I shouldn’t be here. I shouldn’t be here. I shouldn’t be born, I shouldn’t walk on this earth, I shouldn’t breathe the same air as the others do, I’m unwanted, unwanted,  _ unwanted by everyone around, nobody wants me, I should just die, I should just slit my throat and be over with it, I should just DIEDIEDIEDIEDIEDIE-!’ _

Before she even had the chance to think, Hiko was sitting at the toilet seat, the razor blades in her hand. Her fingers trembled as she fiddled with the package, tearing through the paper when it didn’t open fast enough until the cool metal fell into her waiting palm.

Such a small thing. Such a small insignificant thing, but right now, Hiko’s whole world centered around this piece of metal on her open hand, waiting to be used.

To be used. Like she was used. To be a bearer of a message she didn’t even know about, like the girl which had leaned against her car, dead and emptied out like a fish.

A bitter laugh rose in her body, bubbling up like acid, making her wrench and cough until the bile choked the short woman, hurting her lungs with the force of the coughing fit. Even then, she still laughed, tears streaming down her face and desperately clinging to the razor blade which cut through her skin. The pain was good.

_ It felt good. _ To release, to let it flow, to make her blood spill, to sacrifice some of her usual restraints, to just  _ let go _ after all this time.

Dully, Hiko noted she let go of the package. The clatter on the tiles was drowned out by the mere rush in her ears, by the fierce pain in her hand. How good would it feel to cut herself a bit more…? How good would it feel to see the blood running down her forearm, the cuts like haggard cliffs in her skin, opening and closing whenever she clenched her muscles the tiniest bit or the simple pleasurable pain, the jolts and careful reminders of her cutting?

Hiko whimpered nearly out as she loosened her hold around the slippery blade. New blood dripped out of her open palm, rolled down her skin and dropped on the white tiles.

‘Later. I can clean this up later.’

Only shallow cuts. Nothing deep, nothing she craved for. Hiko needed more, so she finally took the matter into her own hands. Three times. Her fingers shook in their eagerness to grab the bloodied blade, so the thin metal slipped through her fingers, until at the fourth try she managed to properly pick up the razor blade.

The next steps were well-known. Rolling her sleeve upwards, making sure the arm was clean, searching for a place where the pain would be great. The wrist would be good. With every move of her hand, she would feel the pain again.

So the wrist it would be. Breathing in, Hiko adjusted her seat on the toilet once more and stretched her left arm out. Blank, scarred skin. The tattoo would suffer but in the moment, she didn’t care at all about the words edged into her skin and the meaning behind them.

“I’m letting you know,” she snarled out, “that you don’t control me… the feeling is cold and life is unfolding…”

Nothing would ever change. Nothing would ever be different; Kabuto would always find her, would always have control over her, nobody would ever care for her, not one bit and it was right. She shouldn’t even be born, so why bother with Hiko, right?

“Why bother with the good ol’ Hiko…?” she asked herself dryly and settled the razor blade down. All those months of exercise didn’t leave her, she just needed to add pressure and do it. Draw the line, cut across the skin, feeling the surface split open, the pain running down her veins.

But strangely, she couldn’t do it. Her fingers resisted, trembling only when Hiko tried to order them to the last step. A grimace laid over her features, grim and darkening with every passing second where her fingers didn’t do as they were told.

“Come on!” she hissed after another minute of empty staring and trembling, “Come on, just do it!”

Her fingers only clenched briefly around the sharp razor blade. Nothing else happened.

Hiko licked her lips, settled the by-now-warmed-up metal directly against her wrist again, removed the blade to find a better angle and lowered her hand again to the same place, noting it was already the best place to cut herself.

The pain would remove everything. Erase the whirlpool of confusing emotions at least for a moment; Allow her to breathe for a mere second. The pain would be sacred, a salvation in comparison to the martyrdom her life was; An escape and wonderful, simply wonderfully, simple.

Only one movement of her hand, then she would forget. Only a sharp blade, then she could drown in the pain, making her nerves tingle.

It would be a sweet relief.

So why were her fingers shaking that much? Why were they resisting, why couldn’t she just do it? Was the angle wrong? No, the angle was fine. Everything was fine and ready. Everything would be fine, after…

Suddenly, there was a broken sob torn from her lips. Why couldn’t she get that right? She was, in the end, still a hopeless piece of trash, not even able to cut herself properly. Such a disappointment, failing again and again, herself and the ones around her.

The single sob was followed by another. More tears spilled, her eyes swelled slowly and the blade between her fingers was in the danger of slipping away, but like everything became insignificant, even the important tool grew less and less important with every shuddering breath she drew in. Wail after wail echoed between the tiled walls, distorted by her low wet mumbles, unrecognizable even for herself.

This was all so  _ wrong _ . Even thinking about cutting herself was wrong, she knew it. And yet here she was, in a small bathroom, sitting on a toilet seat and clutching an already stained razor blade to her heart and thankfully she wasn’t able to pull herself through the procedure. Self-harm wasn’t an answer. Self-harm wouldn’t be an answer like, ever.

Cutting herself wouldn’t make those problems disappear. They wouldn’t miraculously vanish into thin air, puffing away into non-existence and the illusion of temporary relief was just that: illusionary and restricted. Nothing would change and the woman…

Hiko would be pulled back into a devilish vortex, spiraling further and further down until there was only one exit right in front of her. Death.

The blade fell out of her numb hand and clattered weakly on the ground. Only a few seconds afterwards did the brunette react to it, slowly lowering her eyes to the few red splats on the white tiles and the small streak of red, together with the tool which could’ve been her downfall.

So close. Far too close. Her situation was getting to her head and messed with her mind more than the brunette had realized. The chase, the unsuccessful search for clues, the mayor ball, her fears of Kakashi rejecting her and her worst nightmares becoming a gruesome reality… All that had piled up and nearly dragged her down. The revelations about her parents and her past were the last famous drop, which let the barriers she controlled so tightly over the years to tumble down, like a gust of wind pulling down a house of cards.

From one second to the next, Hiko grew terribly horrified of herself. If that was all she needed to pick up a razor blade again, what would the next impact do to her weakened mind? Another attempt at cutting herself? Or… even worse?

Frantically, the shorty scrambled down from the toilet seat and averted to step into the trail of blood. One last look at the razor blade lying on the ground, fear in her gaze, she opened the door and sprinted out.

In her past, she had talked to Ryuzetsu when the depressing thoughts grew too strong to bear alone and writing into her logbook also helped tremendously. But her logbook wasn’t here and her former therapist was lying without a pulse on a cold metallic table in Orochimaru’s lab. Besides, Hiko wanted to talk only with one person, wanted to hear his warm voice and the teases and gentle mocks he was known for. Only with him, she wanted to talk about nearly giving in to her self-destructive behavior and her confusion and overbearing sadness, about the nearly spilled blood and her frail state of mind. Hiko wanted to hear him, only a glimpse of the man would already do.

She didn’t think much in the next minutes. Still with tears in her eyes and sniveling from time to time, she searched quickly for her cellphone, checked if the battery was full and completely ignored the computer silently humming beside her makeshift bed.

The shorty needed him. She needed to hear him - badly.

It was so stupid. Kakashi was angry at her. Calling him would do nothing but bite her in the ass, though while Hiko hauled her wind and weather jacket over her shoulders, and pulled the fingerless gloves over her fingers, she couldn’t bring herself to care. If he wanted to know where she was, she would tell him. If he demanded an explanation, she would happily give it to the male. If he decided to immediately throw her into prison without a proper court, she wouldn’t protest, just smile and accept whatever punishment he saw fit for someone like her.

Just in time, Hiko remembered to shove a pair of keys into her jacket, then she tugged her heavy boots over her feet and walked out, not caring the entrance door felt to be closed rather loudly and that it was too deep in the night for such noise.

Nights in Konoha were always calm, especially during the winter. And with such a heavy blizzard going on just a few days ago, the streets stilled partly blocked by the sheer mass of snow. When Hiko stepped outside, a fresh wave of snow fell on her nose, adding to the old blanket of frozen water on the ground. She stared blindly into the dark sky and smiled shortly. Clenching the cell phone in her uninjured hand, the woman started to stomp through the snow, almost climbing due to her shortness through the piles. She didn’t know where to go, had no plan, the only dull guideline she followed was to get away as far as possible from Suigetsu’s flat, just in case Kakashi called the police to her position. Never would the shorty rat out her little helpers like this.

Maybe hours passed, maybe only minutes, but sometime Hiko found herself in a small park with a nearby playground. Actually, she knew where this was located, it was not too far away from her and Kakashi’s apartment complex. Only a ten-minute walk.

Her boots were soaked from the snow and sweat, but Hiko wasn’t at all concerned by the possibility of getting a cold. After all, she was already coughing loudly when she finally punched Kakashi’s number into the cell phone and waited impatiently for the other party to pick up.

Surprisingly, she didn’t have to wait long. Only two rings, then a click in the connection and the smooth voice resounding in her ears left Hiko breathless and nearly whimpering out.

“ _ Hello?” _

Desperately, she pressed her eyes shut. A bite into her bottom lip prevented Hiko from accidently talking to him, anything more than listening to Kakashi would be a sacrilege.

‘Only listen. Don’t talk. That has to be enough.’

Still… Hearing his slightly gruff and sleepy voice was great. A mightier relief than any cut could give her.

_ “It’s one a.m. and I’m not in the mood for some stupid telephone pranks. Either whoever waits there reveals his name and what he wants from me or I’m going to cut this call short.” _

Hiko shakily breathed in. An unconscious reaction to the sheer annoyance radiating through the phone and for a second, she thought he didn’t hear anything, but for Kakashi and his wolf ears, the shaky inhale was enough. He also breathed in, a sharp inhale of surprise and shock.

_ “I don’t know,” _ he started, slow and picking his words very carefully, “ _ who you are and how do you got this number and I don’t really care. I just… want to know who’s talking to me.” _

No. With new tears in her eyes, the brunette shook her head, the cold air crashing into her wet features in the harsh motion. Hearing him was already too much. If she allowed herself to also talk to him, to respond and talk with him, practically begging for comfort she didn’t deserve… She would be greedy again. Hearing Kakashi just had to be enough to ease her worries.

Her resolve was weak like a newborn kitten. Far too weak to resist when Kakashi only said one word, silent and pleading; One single word which send her into a new fit of tears, sobbing and hiccuping more than before when she broke down over her close relapse into her self-harming behavior.

_ “Please.” _

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Kakashi was wide awake when his cell phone rang beside him. He was busy doing push-ups in the middle of his living room with his thumbs as his only leverage, around him the remains of Hiko’s file spread out and trying to wrap his head around today’s revelations. But then the sound of “X gonna give it to ya” resounded through the room and he ended the set with a heavy puff, before picking the device up and pressing the green button. Around one in the morning, it could only be the KPD, so he didn’t even bother to look at the ID.

“Hello?”

Instead of a professional voice telling him he needed to come to the office, static silence was blaring into his ear. Irritated, Kakashi looked at the screen. Yes, the call was still going. So, maybe a stupid prank from some bored teens with too much time on their hands.

The man rolled his eyes before snarling sharply into the speaker, already picking up his exercise again and pushing himself off of the ground with his left arm while the other held the cell phone close to his ear. “It’s one a.m. and I’m not in the mood for some stupid telephone pranks. Either whoever waits there reveals his name and what he wants from me or I’m going to cut this call short.”

He waited a little, but when nothing came, Kakashi was close to end the call, but the little frighteningly familiar gasp at the other end of the line froze his entire body; A gasp he heard far too often when his girlfriend had watched one of her dramas and was close to break into tears, when she was fighting with a panic attack and hoped for some comfort, when she wanted nothing more than to be held and steadied by him.

Instantly, he got up on his feet, ignoring the fact that he was sweat stained and his feet ruffled over some photos of Hiko. A cold shudder wandered through his insides, weighing him down and at the same time, the man was lightheaded. Kakashi wandered into his bedroom, all the while trying to find any words for this situation he dreaded and hoped for at the same time.

His senses were dulled by the shock, so when he totally ignored where he was going, he stubbed his toe at the outer rim of his bed. The sharp inhale which followed was a nasty mix of the outer pain and the inner struggle to accept that, yes, this was real.

“I don’t know who you are and how do you got this number and I don’t really care. I just… want to know who’s talking to me.”

Kakashi stared blankly ahead, not seeing one bit of the plain white wall of his bedroom, instead a picture of his brunette and troubled girlfriend rose before his inner eye, how she bit into her bottom lip like she would always do when she tried to suppress her tears. But she never managed, the salty drops would already roll down her cheeks and her shoulders would shake in her attempt to at least cry silently.

More silence and static cackling in the line. But the connection wasn’t cut, the call hadn’t ended and the shallow exhales on the other side told him the caller was indeed close to falling apart. Every time a pitiful snivel distorted the pained gasps, his heart clenched a little and he hated every second of it.

The silver haired man closed his eyes. His shoulders sagged down and he leaned forward, scrubbing his palms over his eyes in his attempt to keep a calm mind, but there was no use. He was already under her spell again, not that he would have cared much about it.

Before Kakashi could even think logically about his next step, his mouth was already darting forward with the only possibility he had left.

“Please.” he said weakly, whispered it into the speaker, just a little bit more than a rushed exhale. Raw despair laid in the single word, together with his utter confusion and the sympathy he could admit freely. Sympathy for the brunette, who had been born for the sake of a cover, not because she would be loved or admired like children deserved.

Nothing was transferred in the following seconds, only some quiet breaths, huffing and puffing slightly ragged in the connection. Then Hiko – _ there was no way the cries of another woman would make Kakashi feel so lost and out of place-  _ broke down, audibly heaving for the crisp winter air when she wasn’t crying.

Kakashi grimaced but tried to maintain his cool. Nevertheless, his heart started to hurt more and more with every broken and sobbed word she muttered, throwing the syllables together and jamming them until some of them were unrecognizable.

_ “I-I-I’m s’ s’rry, I didn-didn’t kn-ow, I’m s’rry for wa-kin’ you ‘p…” _ A choked cry broke another piece of his heart.  _ “I didn’ wan’ this, nev-never wan’ed you to be-e hur-t an’ I dunno what I sh-should do anymo-ore, I jus’ want… I jus…” _

Furiously, Kakashi scrubbed through his sweaty hair, then sank down on his bed, his free hand still tangled with his silver mane. “What do you want Hiko?” he asked.

The question was raw, rebelling against his wish to be uttered in a controlled voice. Instead, even the man heard how utterly hoarse and tired he sounded. “What do you want from me?”

_ “Hear’ about my par-paren’s. I… I know what happen’d.” _

His stomach made a double flip. So she knew.

‘Shit.’

Somehow Hiko found out. Kakashi had no idea how, but the intelligent woman found out what Ibiki revealed today and was understandably terrified, out of her mind, simply panicked. Everything she thought was true got turned over and she had no chance to make it stop, had been forced to listen, or to read, while Ibiki uncovered everything he knew.

Before Kakashi could get a word in, she continued to sob into the speakers.  _ “…I can’ think-! This is… They w-were kill’d… And, and  _ Kabuto _ ,” _ a hysterical breathless laugh rippled at her voice,  _ “he didn’ select me b’cause I-I fit into h’s tastes. I was a fuck-fucking task. A goddamn task,” _ she repeated and the laugh changed into a low hiccup.

She was lost. For years, Hiko had tried to find peace and finally managed to live with what happened to her. But lately all the buried and tamed emotions came back to life because of the investigation, because of Kabuto, because of the things which got unraveled and discovered. All her life, the shorty had tried to order everything into an according drawer. Her parents simply didn’t love her. Kabuto raped her because he had an obsession with her. Her brothers would always be there, protect her from the world. Now all those drawers got ripped out, overturned and emptied out and Hiko was left with the mess those actions created, left to align the new information anew and on her own, with no one to help her through all this.

Kakashi wasn’t sure if he would deal better if someone told him his whole life until now was a lie.

“Hiko,” after the lonely weeks, her name on his lips was a bittersweet treat, “I’m here okay? I’m listening.”

A pitiful snivel, and the picture of the brunette and her running nose with her reddened eyes automatically rose before his inner eye.  _ “Really? After I hur’ you s-so mu-much? After I-I lied to-to you all th’ time?” _

No ill intent. Just the self-conscious questions of someone who cared, who was scared to burden him further. His eyes burned slightly, nevertheless he hoarsely whispered back. “Yes. I’ll listen.”

He heard Hiko exhale and the exhaustion just as the relief was easily audible in the small sound.  _ “Thank you,” _ she whispered,  _ “than’s Kakashi. You… You have no idea… how terrible… How dis-disgusted I’m at m’self. For, for hurting you, for leav-leavin’ that note, for lettin’ you guess and r-run around in the darkness, and alon’ on top of that.” _

“I don’t know either.” Tiredly, he sank backwards and laid flat on his bed, blankly staring up at the ceiling. “I don’t know anymore what to think, in what I can believe in.”

_ “Then we’re pr-pretty much on the same p-page.” _

“You know more than me.”

_ “Right.  _ Right _. Sorry. I’m sorry.” _ Hiko’s voice was shaking and her teeth clicked loudly together. She was out in the cold, possibly somewhere lonely to make the call in relative peace. In the background, he even thought he could hear the crunches of snow, telling about the slow steps she made during their talk.  _ “I couldn’… There wasn’ much t-time to think and the only thing I c-could do was ma-makin’ sure you were s-safe…” _

“So, you’re sure. Kabuto contacted you and ordered to break up with me.”

Another choked sob.  _ “Yes. Yes. I’m s-sorry for that too, for-for listenin’ to him ‘ven though he sh-shouldn’ have any kind of po-power over me, ‘ven though I sh-should be stronger than before and I still can’…” _ Her next words broke his heart completely, shattering it into fierce shards, ripping at his insides and making him bleed.  _ “I’m still useless. I still can’t do anythin’. I still have n’idea what to do, what to say, how not to solve my problems by cuttin’ myself. I’m a f-fucking mess and I was so fucking close to do it again, to forget about my situation and all this shit-!” _

“Wait.” Kakashi sat up, cold fear ripping at his insides at her words. Instantly, pictures of her tattooed forearm came back to him, to the thin silver lines on her pale skin and the sad admissions she shared with him over the time. “You wanted to cut yourself again?”

When Hiko started to cry softly, he buried his face in his hand with closed eyes. A single tear rolled over his cheek, but he had no time for crying. First and foremost, Hiko was his friend and as a friend, he had to support her, especially when she had been this close to a relapse and was apparently still close to the edge.

“Hiko,” Kakashi started, hoarse and far too weak to even pretend to sound like he wasn’t fazed by her admission, “Listen to me. You’re not useless. You’re everything but useless, understood?”

_ “No. Kakashi, please don’t…” _

“You’re not useless.”

_ “Kakashi…” _

Suddenly agitated and full of anger, the man jerked straight up and started to walk circles into the carpet of his bedroom. Thankfully, now his voice was listening to him and didn’t tremble anymore. “You’re not useless,” he repeated with a little snarl swaying in the syllables, “you will never be useless. Don’t you dare to think of yourself like that. There are people who care deeply for you, who would do anything for your sake and you have a meaning for those people, much stronger and deeper than you believe. Do you hear me?”

_ “…Yes. But…” _

“No ‘but’. No questioning. You are useful. You are, don’t deny that. You helped catch bad people, you caught bad people yourself, you always were there for your brothers, you were always there for me when I needed you. Repeat it,” he demanded, “repeat my words. You’re useful.”

_ “I’m… I’m use-useful.” _

“Again. Louder.”

_ “I-I’m useful.” _

With a sigh, Kakashi allowed himself to indulge into his protective feelings he had to suppress for so long. “No,” he said softly, “like you mean it. Like you truly mean what you say.”

Hiko breathed in, hiccupped once more, then a meek  _ “I’m useful,” _ followed. No stuttering anymore, no stammering, only the insecure tone which was unnerving him.

“Good. You did good Hiko.” Unable to stare at the walls anymore, Kakashi wandered aimlessly back into the living room. Not bothering to turn the lights on, he leaned against the kitchen counter where the remains of his sparse dinner were spread. Lately, the man hadn’t found the motivation to clean up after himself like he would usually do, occupied by the investigation and his own case he worked on. Shortly, Kakashi’s eyes slid over the leftover pictures on the ground, now only dark quadrats in the darkness.

A static sigh was transmitted over the line. It crackled slightly, vibrated in his chest and made the man close his eyes in melancholy.

Then, suddenly…

_ “Can you step to your livin’ room window? Please?” _

“Why?” In the same second, he hectically stumbled over to the window and ripped the curtains apart. Instantly, Kakashi searched the empty street up and down, over the white snow, the cars parked at the sidelines, the trees and bushes, a single dark figurine standing underneath the window…

At the sight of the starkly cloaked human Kakashi’s heart jumped, only to accelerate until he felt like breaking down. Unconsciously he gripped tighter into the fabric of the curtains, hurting himself in the process, but he couldn’t stop staring at the lone person down there, an unknown emotion rising in him. His stomach felt like it tied itself into a knot and his throat grew tight.

Unable to say anything, he raised his hand and waved; a little, tiny wave. Nothing much. The other side of the connection emitted a wet gasp, followed by the audible endeavors not to break into a new crying fit.

Kakashi leaned his forehead with a heavy sigh against the icy glass. “Hiko?” he asked weakly. Though he wasn’t completely sure if he wanted an answer to his wordless question.

A high whimper.

“Please don’t tell me you’re standing underneath my window.”

Another watery laugh, together with a few snivels and the hooded figure buried her hidden face in her free hand, while the other clutched a cell phone to the side of her head like her life depended on it.

Out of reasons, the silver haired man broke into a just as hopeless, but less wet short laugh and pressed his free hand flat against the glass. “Please Hiko,” he whispered, “please say I’m just imagining things. Please say you’re joking. Because there’s no fucking way I survive with you being…”

‘ _ So close. So close to me, yet unable to truly see you face to face. So close, but not allowed to touch you.’ _

Breathless and hungry, Kakashi stared at the thickly clothed woman. She was bending over and his misery at her situation rose only when he heard the meek huffs of air forced out of her lungs when she coughed painfully or her teeth clicking together faster and faster with every passing minute.

Out there it was freezing. But strangely inside his flat he also felt cold.

_ “S-sorry…” _ she mumbled finally after her coughs subsided after what felt like an eternity. First, he thought she apologized for being so loud, but when she started to ramble again, Kakashi cocked his head to the side, eyes closed and trying to control the urge to run out in his sweaty clothes and wrap her in his arms.  _ “I-I thought h-hearing you would be e-enough… Then I gave i-i-in and t-ta-talked to you, t-telling my-self I could  _ stop _ … Then I h-had to an-answer you, again and a-again, b-breaking even th-that promise… And-and I jus’ want’d to see y-you so desperately and b-before I knew it, I was standing h-here and… And…  _ And _ …” _

Hiko’s breath hitched and flashed a quick glance from her position. Kakashi only noticed because he was intently staring at her, drinking in the sight of the woman who made his heart act against the natural order: jump and sing inside his chest.

_ “Now,” _ she said,  _ “I f-find myself not satisfied with only seeing you. I n-need to be n-near you, to feel you, actually s-seeing how you are, actually touching you, hugging you, but I know that this isn’t an option here, so I try to c-convince myself this  _ has _ to be e-enough, but I c-can’t. I fucking… I s-simply  _ can’t _ …” _

She was the one feeling bad. She was the one nearing a relapse, she was the one close to the edge of self-harm. And still Hiko apologized to him for making their situation complicated, she was the one trying to protect him over herself, when she needed support and help more than anything. The urge to dash out and ignore all rules and risks was almighty, but Kakashi also knew it would be dangerous to follow his urges.

“God Hiko…” he choked strangled out, “don’t say more. Please, don’t say more, I’m begging you.”

‘Before you convince me to drag you inside and never let you leave again. To shelter and protect you, from the world and the demons inside you. I want nothing else, but at the same time I logically know…’

Despair creeped through his stomach like a sickness, coiling around his guts like a snake, slithering through his insides. Together with the hope and happiness of seeing and speaking with Hiko, it was far more than he could take. Today, Kakashi had reached the borders of what he could bear once more, so it was no real shock for him to feel his eyes burn.

It was dangerous to keep talking. The police still searched for her, her ex was on the hunt, the whole city was trying to find Hiko and Kakashi didn’t care even the slightest bit. Someone could see her, someone could report her presence to the KPD, everything could happen.

Kakashi shouldn’t keep the call up. He just… shouldn’t. It was wrong; Danger for both of them. Nevertheless, he desperately clung to the connection, not even thinking briefly about cutting it. Instead, he wanted to do those things he dreamed about and much more. Hugging the brunette close, allowing her to slide her ice-cold hands underneath his shirt and over his warm skin. Kissing the crown of her head and relishing in the familiar scent of vanilla and raspberry. Going to bed, spooning Hiko or making her snuggle into his chest, only living in the moment and not thinking one bit about tomorrow.

He was so fucking tempted.

Hiko sniveled, then giggled, a sad and hopeless sound which tore more pieces out of his heart.  _ “I know, my heart,” _ she whispered and the new nickname sent Kakashi’s own organ into a wild frenzy,  _ “I know exactly what you mean.” _

“What would you do?”

She chuckled again.  _ “So many things. Probably… first, I would ease my fingers through your hair. Always love your soft spiky mane.” _

“’s that everything?”

_ “No. Never.” _ Her voice grew clearer with every word and the husky tone vanished slowly.  _ “A very close second is to just jump into your arms. Literally jump. Since the ball, I miss you so much that I just want to sling my arms and legs around you and never let go. And currently my toes are freezing off, so I really would like to ruffle your feathers with my cold feet a bit.” _

“What is an evening without the ice blocks you call feet pressing into my calves?” Kakashi joked weakly and was rewarded with another, much happier giggle.

_ “What is an evening without your complaints about my cold feet?” _ she gave back.

They both knew they just put off the inevitable. Either one of them had to be the adult and end the call, what was the safer option for both of them or take the first step into dangerous lands. Into each other’s arms, seeking comfort and granting some, adding to the relief of finally feeling complete again.

In the streets, Hiko fidgeted around. The snow crunched loudly underneath her feet as she moved, maybe trying to warm herself up a little bit, even though it was useless. At the same time Kakashi listened to the jittering and soft huffs of the brunette. Inside him, his guilt and his emotions battled; a bloody ugly war without any rules or any chance to protect himself from the impact.

His Firefly still shook audibly.  _ “You won’t believe how cold it is out here. Please watch out tomorrow when you drive to the police station, the streets will be iced over for sure. And clothe appropriately, won’t you?” _

Kakashi just had to smile meekly when he heard that. Hiko, the little mother-hen. Some things would never change. He loved her for that.

Instantly, when the thought flashed through his head, the silver haired man froze on the spot.  _ Loved _ . He loved her. He loved her still, no matter how hard he had tried to kill those emotions in the week he thought she betrayed him.

Even though she stole his taser from him. Even though she lied about her past a bit, even though the shorty didn’t want to say anything about today’s situation. Kakashi still loved her unconditionally and telling by her actions, she also loved him unconditionally back.

Making a decision, Kakashi awoke out of his daze and strutted quickly away from the window.

_ “Kakashi?” _ Hiko’s slightly panicked voice rung loudly in his ear.  _ “Where are you going?” _

“I can’t take it anymore.” He answered. His fingers only shook slightly in anticipation as he laid them on the button for the intercom, ready to open the doors below with a single push. “Just get in here and warm yourself up.”

_ “No! Kakashi, you shouldn’t-!” _

“I insist.”

_ “But if somebody sees me, you’ll get-!” _

“I don’t care. Now come in.”

_ “But-!” _

“Hiko,” Kakashi snarled annoyed and slammed the door opener, “if you don’t come in willingly, I’ll come down and carry you up here, no matter how much you struggle.” The danger of being found out was insignificant, so was the risk of someone seeing her. He just wanted to shelter her, to speak and talk with her face to face, not over something as inferior as a phone call.

Breathing heavily, he pushed the button over and over, hearing the buzz of the door echoing in the connection and the crunch of the snow underneath Hiko’s feet as she neared the door, then the hesitant opening and closing of the entrance. Instantly, he let go of the intercom and opened the entrance to his flat the tiniest bit.

Kakashi tried to peek into the darkness of the staircase. Wisely, his Firefly hadn’t flipped the lights on. Not only had that made their actions invisible in the night, also the man felt well in the darkness. Underneath the artificial light, the risk would be screaming at him, though in the shadows it almost felt right to let Hiko in.

Steps echoed through the staircase and nervousness grabbed his heart with the strength of a giant. Steps endeavored to be silent, steps Kakashi knew just as well as his own and as he listened to the steps, the shorty whispered into the speaker, apparently not even noticing she was rambling.  _ “…Can’t believe I’m seeing him… I’m really seeing him, touch him maybe… Really… This feels like a merciful dream and I don’t want to wake…” _

Yes. Kakashi closed his eyes, all the while leaning against the edge of the door ajared, forehead dropping against the wood. It really felt like a dream, a bittersweet, merciful, cruel dream. And it felt so right. Knowing there was proof for her innocence had lifted a heavy weight off his shoulders and off his soul, erasing every doubt he ever had in the brunette. Sure, there was still the matter of her hacker identity, but seriously? As long as she hadn’t killed anyone, as long as the shorty was still the same caring woman he knew, then they could surely talk this out. The man was certain.

Jitterish to the bones, Kakashi ended the call and dropped the cell phone carelessly at the nearby drawer, his brain already fixed on the small shadowy figure ascending from the staircase. His breath hitched in his throat as he watched the shorty growing closer, stumbling a few times and sniveling still in the many layers of thick clothing. She looked a little bit like a marshmallow and at the picture of her stuffed into a silly marshmallow costume the man had to chuckle lowly.

She was close enough to hear his outbreak. Confused, Hiko stopped. Only one meter in front of the open door. Her glasses were fogged and a scarf was draped over her lower face. As she reached upwards to tug the fabric lower, he saw the fingerless gloves clinging to her fingers; gloves which seemed familiar.

“What’s so funny?” she asked.

“I don’t know,” he answered truthfully. Then, he stepped aside and let her in. Unconsciously, he held his breath when the female brushed past him, her hands close to skidding over his forearm. A weak whiff of vanilla and raspberry trailed into his nose and instantly the worry and fear eased a bit.

In the back of his mind, Kakashi noted that he closed the door, but his eyes were fixated on the silhouette which dropped carelessly a few layers of her protection onto the ground, shedding also her heavy boots in the process. “Funny,” she mumbled and turned to him, “I also don’t know why I feel the urge to laugh.”

Kakashi forgot how small Hiko was. At the mayor ball high heels had obscured her true height, but now, only in socks, sweatshirt and jeans, nothing could hide the slenderness and delicate limbs. Her head was at the same height as his chest, her short strands curling wildly around her frame like a dark halo.

In the darkness, the silver haired man couldn’t see her properly, but as he reached gently out and traced the outline of her cheek, he could feel some wetness lingering there, if now fallen tears or melted snow.

“What are we doing?” Her question got obscured by a new tremor shaking her voice. “I shouldn’t be in here. We both know that.”

“Yes.” Unfazed, Kakashi let his fingers wander lower, down to her neck and checked her pulse. Strong, but fast; He could feel her blood pulsing underneath his fingertips. His fingers wandered further back, gently cupping her neck and tugging the woman closer until his body warmth mingled with hers.

“Kakashi, we both know…”

“We both know what?”

“We know this isn’t the brightest idea.”

“No.” A single strand was tickling his palm, so he loosened his touch and tugged gingerly the strand behind her ear. It fell right back into its previous place, but the gesture alone let all the surfacing doubts disappear. “It’s not. But I don’t care.”

Hiko choked, then Kakashi suddenly found himself with an armful of brunette woman who clung to him like her life depended on it. Slinging her short arms around his middle, Hiko pressed her nose into his sternum, whispering words against his clothed skin he couldn’t understand, but their loving meaning couldn’t be obscured. The man almost cried out in relief when he laid his own arms around her shoulders and the shorty moaned weakly, just a slight muffled sound into his chest.

It had become his second nature to hug the female and bury his maskless face in her hair. And even when she really sneaked her ice-cold hands underneath his shirt and pressed them against his warm skin, the man wouldn’t dare to complain. He just accepted the uncomfortable coldness and raised her up, hoisting her until she was safely tucked away in his arms and carried the shorty into the bedroom.

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Proofread by the amazing Chisie! Thank you so much for doing all this for me T^T
> 
> If somebody wants to chat me up, my tumblr is historicfailure. I owuld love to talk a bit! :)


	72. And what now?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After weeks of doubt and anger, Kakashi and Hiko spend the night together. So many things standing unsaid in the room and the night is already halfway over.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> my tumblr, if somebody wants to see what else I'm up to: historicfailure

Nobody said a word as Kakashi laid the short woman on the bed and tugged the blanket out from underneath her. He could feel her eyes sliding over his form as he arranged the cushions, attentive of everything he did or possibly could say, but he stayed silent. His relief was choking him and he had nothing to say right now, so his presence had to be enough for Hiko.

Ruffles from her side of the bed told him she was slowly slipping out of her jeans, accompanied by painful coughs which wrecked her whole small body with their force. His cue to also drop some clothing, but for the sake of her warmth and health he toweled himself completely dry of any lingering sweat before slipping into his pajama pants.

Her voice was hoarse as she finally spoke up, hoarse and shy. “Thank you for letting me stay.”

“Ssh. It’s alright.”

“No. No, it’s not.”

Tiredly, Kakashi slipped under the blankets. “Stop,” he mumbled and tried to peek through the shadows at the woman, who still wiggled uncomfortable on the bed, “Just… stop for now.”

And thankfully, Hiko really shut up. Truth was, Kakashi didn’t want to hear anything anymore. No doubts, no guilt, nothing which could spoil the deep calmness spreading inside him. Not even the shorty’s voice would add to the simple contentment he felt. Calmly, he dragged his pillow closer and stuffed it under his head, adjusted again the blankets until he laid halfway comfortable in the cushions and looked at the shorty, how she stared blankly at the ceiling, her blankets untouched and stiffly lying there.

Then she tried again. “Kakashi, just-!”

With a deep sigh, the man laid a finger over her mouth, gently silencing and reprimanding her before she could say anything what would destroy his current mood. “No, you will listen,” he said, already knowing what Hiko wanted to say, “I want this, just as much as you do.”

Maybe he imagined things, but her blue eyes blinked brightly in the darkness at him. When she spoke, her lips moved his fingers, slightly rising and lowering with their movements. “You… You want…  _ this _ ?”

“Yes. Not the running away and breaking up with me-part, but sleeping with you in one bed, talking, looking at you…” To underline his wishes, Kakashi edged closer, his hand wandering lower and gliding again over her sensitive neck and shoulder. A brown strand got entangled with his fingers, so he tugged gingerly at it, what forced a breathless giggle from the woman. “Touching you is also one of my favorites. By the way, have you really stolen my gloves?”

Still chuckling, the brunette turned on her side and faced him. “I needed them. Have no gloves on my own.”

“Really?” A mocking tone slithered into his voice, but Kakashi wanted to joke now. He needed to joke to distract her from the dark thoughts in the back of her mind. “No other reason?”

“They reminded me of you. Why I did what I did.” A hesitant hand slid underneath Kakashi’s blanket and carefully traced his naked chest. “That I have to protect you.”

Wordlessly, he hummed and slid even closer. He could feel Hiko reacting to his presence, her breath hitching slightly before she dared to close the last bits of distance between them. Her hand lying right above his heart, her small feet pressing into his calves and her chest so close with every inhale she took, they touched again and again. Automatically, Kakashi slung his arm over her waist and dragged her further towards him.

A familiar motion. They slept almost every evening like that, so close hurdled together their limbs couldn’t be distinguished by themselves anymore. When Kakashi was lying comfortably and it looked like Hiko also calmed down a bit, he decided to drop the wards.

“And why didn’t you say anything? You had a clue, am I right?” he asked, his breath tousling her short tresses.

Instead of jerking away or getting scared, he felt the nod of the shorty more than seeing it. “Yes.”

“And why then…?”

“I had nothing. Literally nothing except from a blurry memory from my rape. Back then I heard him…  _ Kabuto _ ,” she said the name with so much disgust her mouth curled into a snarl, “talking with someone over phone. He said they had a contract and he wanted to keep me in the end… I always thought it had something to do with me, but the truth…”

“Is far crueler than just that.” Kakashi added weakly.

Hiko nodded again, her hand still drawing lazy circles on his naked skin. “You trained. I can feel it. Your waist got more ripped and your six-pack…” She actually whistled impressed as she traced the named regions, the coldness of her fingers only slowly vanishing.

“Don’t avert the topic.” Nevertheless, his manly pride swelled a bit at the obvious admiration swinging in her voice, and Kakashi didn’t stop her at all from discovering his body anew. He enjoyed the loving ministrations far too much to make them stop, after all the days he had questioned her feelings. Out of instinct, the man started to return the favor and let his hand hanging over her back discover everything anew, slowly trailing up and down, following the line of the spine underneath the tight shirt. “You got thinner. I can feel it.”

“I’m not eating much lately.”

“Why?”

Hiko sighed lowly but continued to trace his scars and muscles with a tenderness Kakashi had missed dearly. “Anxiety. I’m always on edge, can’t relax, can’t sleep properly, I’m working day and night to gain more insight… I have nightmares. And since I ran away, I’m not hungry any longer.”

“When was the last time you ate something?”

When the time Hiko needed to answer stretched longer and longer out, the silver haired man stopped his ministrations abruptly and stared down at the brunette. “Hiko…? When was the last time you ate something?” he asked.

“Don’t know. Last night, I think.”

“And what?”

“Toast.”

“How much toast?”

“Half a slice. Or was it a banana…?”

“You’re kidding me right now.”

“Could’ve been also some rice waffles or cereal, but I certainly don’t know anymore when I ate what. Let me think a bit more…”

Even when the topic wasn’t a particular happy one, Kakashi broke into a little laugh at Hiko’s mocking tone. Relief flooded his veins and he used the chance to snuggle closer, to flush his whole body to the brunette and give her the feeling she was needed in his life. “You should take care of yourself a bit more,” he murmured into her ear, “otherwise I wouldn’t know what the KPD could chase effortlessly.”

“The real killer, obviously.”

“Right.” Her hand wandered over his waist to his back, trailed back muscles with the tenderness of care and love, dropped lower until her hand was lying on his lower back, right above the edges of his pajama pants. Kakashi shuddered, but the contact was brief. Quickly Hiko’s warmed up hand went again upwards into safer areas. Her fingers entangled with his silver mane, playing with single strands and tugging gently at them from time to time, all the while her forehead was pressed to his sternum. “Did you hear that too?”

“What should I have heard?”

His stomach sank down. “That there is proof for your innocence, but the SFU made the decision to not reveal them yet.”

Kakashi had expected disbelief, anger and a frantically scrambling shorty, who demanded to meet the one who made that “ _ absolute brain-dead decision” _ , but instead Hiko only nodded again, unusually silent and compliant. “You’re not mad?” he asked.

She shrugged but didn’t continue.

Oh, Kakashi knew what that meant. He softly, but determined, loosened her hold around him and pushed her off, not much, but enough to allow him to see her features in the darkness. “You know something.” he stated bluntly.

And when Hiko rolled her eyes and nodded, a new wave of negative feelings rolled through him. With a click of his tongue Kakashi locked her in place, even though she protested faintly and tried to wiggle out of his grip. “What do you know?”

“Could you let me go beforehand? I’m not fleeing from you, okay?”

“But you’re keeping something from me again.”

Hiko snapped and Kakashi was nearly happy about seeing her harpy-personality shining through her tired and exhausted demeanor. “Because I have no proof! Only vague suspicions and that will not be enough to be convincing!”

“Of what, Hiko? Of what do you have no proof?”

“There has to be someone in the KPD, someone who deleted my reports and manipulated, for example, the server tower which got destroyed! Someone who could gather some samples of my DNA like my hair or anything else, someone who is able to move through the building and through the system with ease, someone who works for Kabuto. And that means Kabuto has power over him in some kind of way, got hold of a weakness or found a dirty secret, something like that,” Hiko breathed rashly in, “because Kabuto knows no other way but to force people into his wishes. That or… Or he manipulates them to have a weakness.”

“Ibiki said more or less the same.” Kakashi mumbled. Carefully, the man allowed the brunette to hug him again, but this time, he dragged the small woman on top of him. Now he could see faintly her features, illuminated by the weak artificial light from the streets and the reflections of the snow outside. They were haggard, sharper due to the lack of sleep and there were big black circles around her eyes, telling him she slept more or less the same amount as he did.

Maybe less.

Hiko cocked her head to the side and the shadows running over her face made her cheekbones even sharper than before. “Ibiki?” she asked interested.

“My former superior. He was the one who…”

“Oh. He has a gruff voice. Smoker?”

“No. At least he didn’t smoke as long as I know him.” Their position could’ve been sexual. Kakashi could feel her thighs flexing around his middle, he could feel the slight pressure of her hot center pressing against his stomach, her hands travelling over his chest in such a sensual way the man wanted nothing more than to ravish her. But he resisted, because it wasn’t the right thing to do. Instead Kakashi reached up, praying she wouldn’t jerk away, and cupped her face. His fingers vanished in her short locks, dipped to her ear and drew a small circle there, what let the woman lean more into his hand. But Hiko surprised him once again, like so many times.

Her smile was exhausted to the very core, but so beautiful, his heart started to pound loudly in his chest. Then, she leaned forward until her breath brushed in harsh waves over his face. “Do you have to wake up early tomorrow? Or namely, today?”

Wordlessly, the silver haired man shook his head.

“The afternoon-shift it is then.” With a little cute yawn, Hiko slid down and beside him, her naked thighs brushing against his waist as she slung one leg around his body. Without a word needed, Kakashi offered the nook of his arm to her and when she nosed his shoulder full of affection in return, his whole body lit up like he was close to a fireplace.

Yes. That was the perfect position. Hiko was lying on her side, Kakashi was facing the ceiling, but her head rested nearly on his chest and his arm was slung around her waist, what maybe sounded uncomfortable, but was indeed as natural as breathing to him. And then there was the short leg draped over his stomach, wiggling slightly and rubbing his skin in all the right ways.

Unconsciously, Kakashi sighed out. Night over night he had tossed and turned, restless and unable to close his eyes for a minute, just because the empty space at his side had mocked him to no ends. But now Hiko was there where she belonged, tightly flushed against him and also drowsing off, what Kakashi only noticed because the motions of her hand on his chest slowed with every heartbeat. A hum vibrated through his chest, low and melodious. Something he hadn’t done in weeks.

He could feel her words more than actually hearing them. Nevertheless, Hiko’s voice was cracking in the middle, but even he could notice the teasing undertone.

“We are so fucked.”

“What do you mean?” Kakashi enjoyed the ongoing slow ministrations far too much, so his mouth curled automatically into a degenerated smile, despite the dark premonition dawning on him. “Now that we’re together, he can pack his things.”

“We both know I can’t stay here, my love.”

His heart clenched painfully. Yes, the shorty couldn’t stay here, not in his flat, not in this apartment complex. Not near him. Though it was all he wanted, to shelter the brunette exactly right in his flat, to return to her every evening and morning to talk with her… But he also knew in the deepest part of his logical brain that nothing would be solved this way. Hiko was more effective when she was running free and he was more effective where he was.

So, Kakashi leaned over and pressed a gentle kiss to her crown, then whispered into her hair, low and sensual. “Yes. But I still can dream.”

Sappy words, clichéd and too cocky for his own good. The blush creeping over his face told everything. Shortly, he wished he could take this ridiculous sentence back. Hell, it sounded like he tried to copy “Icha-Icha” into his own life!

But Hiko apparently liked them. Chuckling lowly, she closed her eyes and kissed his shoulder before sinking back into their hug. “Then let me dream about that too Kakashi. I beg you.” she whispered hoarsely.

“As you wish Firefly. As you wish.”

(…)

_ ‘Mhm. Warm. Like it. Five more minutes. Don’t want to stand up.’ _

Kakashi groaned annoyed when the pesky light stung in his closed eyes. He didn’t want to wake up early, he had time until afternoon before he had to begin his shift. And since Hiko vanished, his bed didn’t feel this comfortable, this good and warm, soft and compliant, breathing deeply and luring him into cuddling more to the small body lying by his side, every delicious rounded curve pressed against him in such a delirious way-!

The realization let his eyes snap open. Panicked, he tried to look at the nightly visitor, but the residual sleep clouded his vision too much to see more than blurred lines.

Did he do something very stupid? Did he pick someone up who looked remotely like Hiko and used her as a replacement? Sure, she was on the run, though finding out she was innocent and having certain proof for it changed everything. Sleeping with somebody else would feel to Kakashi like cheating, even before the revelation, when he truly thought about it. Blatant cruel cheating. And after being at the receiving end of such a distrustful act was only the worst he ever experienced. But his silent and quick inspection of his state confused him. He still wore his pajama pants, he didn’t feel extremely sweaty and not even an uncomfortable sticky feeling in his pants told about a dry fuck and a terrible mistake.

No, apparently, they didn’t do anything else but cuddle and search for comfort in each other’s arms.

_ ‘Comfort…’ _

The word rang a bell, high and chiming and foremost reminding him. Kakashi blinked a few more times, cleared his vision more and more with each blink until he could truly see the person beside him. Then he saw who exactly was snuggled closely against him, face pressed into his chest and her breath brushing in languid waves over his skin.

Unconsciously, his arms tightened.

Hiko. Hiko was here. Yesterday she came back to him, in tears and cold like ice, and they had talked over phone, before he invited her in. She had been close to cut herself, but that wasn’t the only reason he ignored every rule the teachers in the police academy had hammered into him. Kakashi had missed her terribly and hearing her cry and so desperate it broke his heart, he… just couldn’t resist anymore.

He let her in, opened his doors wide and allowed the shorty to come in. And he had slept more peaceful than in the last weeks, thanks to the comfort she granted him so easily with, just because she was by his side.

Hiko grumbled in her sleep and edged closer. Both of them were pretty calm sleepers, so it was no shock for the man to find them in the same position they had taken up in the end. Hiko was draped across his body, one leg slung over his stomach, head placed in the crook of his arm and he had dragged her close enough to wrap his arm around her waist. In his sleep, Kakashi had also placed his other hand on her naked thigh and now he traced absent-minded the crane of her knee, all the while the fear waiting in the back of his mind creeped into the foreground.

Fear of losing Hiko  _ again _ , fear of getting discovered and ripped apart  _ again _ , fear of never seeing her  _ again  _ if he let her go.

A cold, cruel morning, that’s what it was. Reality was waiting just behind the door to his flat and Kakashi didn’t want to wake up to that reality. Cuddling more with Hiko, hidden away under the blankets and protected by the soft cushions of his bed, that was what he wanted, more than anything.

Melancholy curled in his stomach as Kakashi buried his face deeper in her chocolate brown locks. Like an answer, her own arms draped over his chest slipped higher and the melancholy eased a tiny little bit as her fingers came to a halt right above his heart.

His Firefly. His little brave Firefly. The loving pet name echoed deep in his mind, bitter and sweet at the same time. How desperately he wanted to say the name out loud, to feel the familiar syllables on his tongue and see the effect they would have on the shorty. Though with every desperate repetition of the nickname, the bitterness lessened and the sweet relief flooding his veins made the man almost smile.

At that point he simply didn’t care anymore. With a low sigh he released the name which laid now for how it felt years on his tongue. “My Firefly. My lovely, little Firefly…” Nothing more than a quiet exhale into Hiko’s hair, ruffling the tresses and mouthing single strands until Kakashi had a bunch of them under his tongue. It didn’t matter. Such discomfort was insignificant to the feeling of finally being whole again.

Later he would blame the warm fuzzy state he was in, produced by a good night’s sleep and a warm, soft body beside him, what caused to loosen his mouth significantly. Otherwise Kakashi would’ve never whispered so many embarrassing things into Hiko’s hair, who was unaware of the admiration and the raw feelings swinging in every word and continued to sleep, her features for once relaxed and her warmth coiling around his body.

“I don’t want to spend another night without you,” Kakashi whispered weakly and stroked softly over her thigh, “Need you. I need  _ you _ . Please don’t leave me anymore, please don’t go away. I don’t care how many companies you hacked, I just want you back. Know I’m selfish an’ delusional. I know.” Out of instinct the male pressed a kiss to the crown of her head. “Want to protect you. Just want to live with you again. An’ the thought of Kabuto going after you… Hate it so much. But…” Another deep breath in, and vanilla and raspberry flooded his nose. “I believe in you. You will do it. You can and absolutely will do it, because you’re my Firefly.”

Thankfully, Hiko didn’t hear him. She was blissfully unaware, sleeping soundly and so far gone Kakashi doubted she would wake up if he would play loud music right beside her ears. But the little unconscious grunt coming from the shorty when Kakashi kissed her forehead once more made him blush fiercely. He had heard that grunt a hundred times before, but today it was like the very first time Kakashi experienced it. So endearing, so cute, low and muffled in his own skin.

For the next hour the silver haired man just laid there, hugging the female close and enjoying the simple satisfaction coming along the embrace, while Hiko only slept. She had to, after all the shit she discovered yesterday took a huge toll on her. And maybe he imagined things, but weren’t the shadows underneath her eyes a little bit smaller than before? A little bit fainter, a tiny bit less blue and big?

One look at the clock on his nightstand and Kakashi knew he had another five hours until he had to go to the police office, minus thirty minutes to get ready and drive to his working place. So he closed his eyes once more and tried to slip back into sleep, but with Hiko sleeping so near and smelling so nice despite the fact she didn’t shower for a good amount of days it was an almost impossible feat.

She still smelled like vanilla and raspberry. A little smile flashed over his face just to die just as fast as he looked at her short brown locks, now visible in the winter sunlight. A shame she had to cut them, he had loved her long hair. But Hiko was always gorgeous, if now with short or long hair, in jeans and shirt or a dress, with make-up or completely overslept and wasted.

She thinned over the last weeks. On the ball Kakashi didn’t have too much time to recognize that, to add were the wool pads she had stuffed into her cheeks, but now he could watch her in peace and saw what exactly those weeks of stress and running away did to the brunette. Her face became a bit haggard, new lines appeared on her forehead and her lips were dry and chapped alone when he looked at them. Kakashi tried to concentrate on other things, on the way how her nose twitched from time to time in her sleep, the little quiet inhales and exhales and the occasional weak cough, the unconscious gripping into his chest. But every time his eyes betrayed him and returned to her lips, like moths drawn to a flame. He really shouldn’t. He really,  _ really _ shouldn’t. The man already broke every available rule in the book, from not communicating with a suspect to give the suspect a residence, so he really should keep the last bits of his dignity and definitely  _ not _ kiss Hiko. No matter how much Kakashi craved for it.

No matter how tempting it was, no matter how fascinating her lips were, no matter how much Kakashi wanted to move in and close the last shreds of air between them and did he just move towards her or was her face always this close…?

Before the silver haired man could truly think about it, his own lips had moved to brush against hers and his heart pounded like it was the very first kiss Kakashi ever shared with a girl. A hasty pressure, nothing worthy of being called a kiss, nevertheless his cheeks lit up the moment he retreated. With his heart pounding loudly in his ears, he leaned again back and tried to calm himself, but it was useless.

‘Oh my god I kissed her. A true kiss, not a silly little kiss to her crown or her forehead, a real kiss. I’m so fucked, I’m so fucked, I’m so fucked,  _ fucked, FUCKED _ -!’

“I can hear you panicking.”

Startled, Kakashi jerked. He didn’t expect to hear Hiko’s voice at all, thinking she was still asleep, but apparently, something disturbed the necessary hours of rest.

“Morning,” she continued, a nice rasp swinging in her greeting, “or is it already noon?”

“No. Still morning.”

“Good.” With a yawn, the shorty closed her eyes again and snuggled into his arms. Thankfully, she didn’t say anything about the kiss or if she even noticed Kakashi had kissed her. That gave him time to calm himself. Maybe she sensed he was distressed to the very core.

“You’re still panicking.”

“I’m just… thinking.”

“May I ask about what you’re thinking?” Hiko whispered hoarsely, her voice far away and still brushing over his skin. She moved a bit, wiggled her leg and automatically Kakashi grabbed her leg slung over his stomach tighter. “Maybe we think about the same thing.”

“Breakfast?”

Hiko snorted. “Not really.”

“Lunch?”

“Still totally cold.”

“Damn,” Kakashi sighed, already knowing about what the brunette was thinking, “and I was sure…”

“Your joking won’t solve any of the problems we have. Or, more namely, the problems  _ I  _ have.”

Her dry comment made Kakashi cringe. Hiko was aware this was her life and problem but she wasn’t aware there were people willing to help her, except the ones who stood currently at her side. But… Again, the shorty apparently didn’t trust them enough to tell them about her breakdown. Maybe she tried to keep them as uninvolved as possible, if it was even possible to keep anyone out of this case. The investigation seemed to drag everyone around into its wake, like a sinking ship would drag down every passenger in the near proximity into the ice cold and deadly water.

Slowly, Kakashi closed his eyes again and breathed in, savoring the familiar mix of Hiko, his own scent and the surroundings, of dust and books and the lingering smell of wet dog. “I know,” he drawled, “I know.”

“I don’t think you know.”

“Then please, explain it to me, whatever you think I’m not going to understand.”

Another painful cough and her small body wrecked against his. But as Kakashi wanted to sit up to make breathing easier, Hiko waved in dismissal, still coughing weakly and sniveling in the end. “’s fine,” she mumbled, “I just… It gets worse. Anyway… I have to find him and he has to confess. Otherwise, my name will never be cleared off the accusations.”

Instinctively Kakashi tried to drag Hiko closer, to protect and shelter the small woman, but there was no space left. So he just tightened his embrace, not too tight, just the right amount of letting her feel the rising pressure.

She continued without an ounce of mercy, all the while her hands picked up the task of the night before: trailing symbols and looped letters on his skin, one by one and sprawled over his torso. “I can’t stop now, not when I’m so close. The data Danzo tried to erase and I restored in the town hall alone is sufficient to bring him into prison, but there’s no connection to the homicides. Only suspicious and convenient crimes surrounding the old snake, from defamation to degradation, but no blood and murder in sight.”

“According to Ibiki he’s the leader of an underground organization called “Root”. Would explain a lot of things.”

“But there’s no message, no e-mail, nothing which would connect him to the current crimes.” A sliver of frustration mixed into her voice. Hiko growled lowly, then clicked angrily her tongue. “Nothing. He cleaned up after himself. If I had to take a guess, the reason why Yamanaka was selected as the first victim is that he failed. He was the weak spot in an otherwise flawless plan and he was the one I hacked.  Maybe they only communicate over telephone…”

“Hiko…”

The brunette looked at him. “Yes?”

It was painful to glance at her and see everything he saw. Kakashi saw the way she danced through her flat, singing off-tune and shaking her behind, he saw the way how the brunette would laugh loudly whenever the man would utter a weak joke, he saw how she moaned and screamed his name while he would pleasure her, if now with his fingers, tongue or dick. Kakashi saw so many things and none would properly describe how he felt at the moment, lost and happy and betrayed, all at once and nothing at all.

Only when her blue eyes met his and Kakashi managed to stand his ground, he continued and his imagination made him believe his lips were still tingling from the shy kiss from earlier. “I can’t. You’re a hacker, you’re tRuthseekEr. I-! Did you ever plan to reveal yourself at least?”

To his frustration, Hiko laughed sharply. “You think I never felt guilty because of this?” she asked. “You believe I wasn’t feeling bad because I kept such an important part of my life from you? Kakashi… If you really know me, if you truly got to know me in the last months, then you know how ashamed I felt for many,  _ many _ days and nights.”

“Did you?”

The question was faster out than Kakashi could think. First, Hiko didn’t even react. Only her hand stilled, her palm flattened against his ribs and fingers stopping in the middle of drawing circles on his skin. Then he felt the unbelieving stare she gave him, motionless, cold and glaring. “Did you just…?”

Only when she wiggled out of his arms and detracted her leg, Kakashi truly realized how much he hurt her. Deep wrinkles appeared on her face, a scowl tugged at her mouth and the icy glare she gave him before quickly propping herself up and climbing out of the bed was enough to make his stomach churn.

Another angry glare and Kakashi watched Hiko strut out of his bedroom. If the situation wouldn’t be that serious, he would’ve definitely made a comment on her butt, only cladded into a pair of black laced panties. But now, a short look and a half-ashamed and half-aroused tremble in his guts had to be enough, then he also sat up, scratched his scalp and listened to the ruffles of clothing in the entrance area.

Hiko entered his bedroom again, jeans adorning her legs and Kakashi knew he would regret his carelessly uttered words the second she crossed her arms over her chest. “You’re lucky I’m still too tired to argue much over that comment. And your naked chest is distracting me, so I find myself tongue-tied. The only hint I’m going to give you is to look inside my TV, got it?”

A last shake of her head. “Can’t believe I’m giving this into your hands…” With a heavy sigh, the shorty left the bedroom yet again, her steps weak and faint in Kakashi’s ears, but the mystery around her words echoed loudly inside his mind.

“Inside… The TV?” Confused, he cocked his head to the side.

‘And my chest is distracting her? What the…?’

Okay. Just a compliment, nothing Kakashi couldn’t handle. Though the blush rising and crawling over his neck and cheeks told another language as he settled his feet on the ground and grabbed his morning coat. Self-conscious, he tied the knot and closed the coat before he followed the female, who was in the kitchen, looking obviously troubled at the two different packages of cereal he owned.

“Still not hungry,” she informed him with a tired sigh, “but don’t worry. I’m nearly on my way. You don’t have to bear me for much longer.”

“Hiko, it’s not about bearing you-!”

“Oh no, I totally understand.” Agitated, she stepped backwards and leaned against the kitchen counter. “I’m a nuisance, I know that much.”

Kakashi was close to shake the shorty. This was so utterly frustrating! Why couldn’t she listen to him for once? “Can you listen to me first before you jump to con-?”

“Listen to you?” Bitterly, Hiko laughed. “You just expressed how much you are willing to listen to  _ me, _ Kakashi. But I’m a reasonable person, so please. Enlighten me.”

Shortly, her eyebrows jerked upwards, all the while a defiant pout flashed over her face.

If she wouldn’t be so cute right now, Kakashi would’ve totally snapped at the brunette. But he was soft and still a bit drowsy, lulled in by the long and actually relaxing sleep he had, so the man wasn’t in the mood to argue. Instead, he carefully stepped closer to the woman and laid a single hand on top of her head, ruffling through the short locks and pretending not to notice the little sway of her whole body into his direction. “Considering the amount of years you spent with hacking, I can understand you had problems with revealing your secret identity to anyone. It’s not an easy matter, especially seeing the… circumstances of today. But even though rationally, I know you had no other choice but to keep it a secret, I’m naturally still miffed. Sorry for the earlier question. I didn’t mean it.”

A little growl made him nearly regret his forgiving attitude. But then Hiko slacked under his hand, now obviously pouting in embarrassment. “Can you be,” she mumbled, “can you be a little bit less forgiving? I want to be angry with you, but you always are so calm and damn logical. I can never be angry with you, especially now when I want nothing else but to hug and kiss…”

Thankfully, her voice trailed off before she could finish that sentence, otherwise Kakashi had to resort to drastic measures to stop her from tempting him.

This morning was simply strange. Just like yesterday evening, but now the silver haired man could look at the situation with a clarity which scared him. Hiko was innocent. There was proof for her innocence. But Ibiki wouldn’t reveal this proof until the mole inside the KPD was discovered and Kabuto was on top of that in the hands of the police. Hiko was working for the same cause, but from the other side of the law, trying to gather more evidence against Danzo and Kabuto at the same time, all the while her ex was out to get her back by any means. She had access to data no one else had and was probably the closest to discover the connection between Shimura and Kabuto, based on said data. And this connection was the most important evidence, because on that would base a lawsuit against both criminals. If there was no certain proof for a close partnership between Kabuto and Danzo, everything else would be meaningless.

“Why would you want to be angry with me?” he asked instead of picking up the more important talk. Distracting Hiko was suddenly a little bit more important than talking things over, distracting her from the inner pain and struggle she had to put up with. “Did I do something to deserve your wrath?” A small smile lessened the edge of his words.

For a few more seconds, the brunette struggled, her lips opening and closing uselessly, apparently too confused to focus properly. Then, she carefully glanced at him only to let her eyes drop just as fast, shame written all over her face.

“Not at all,” she mumbled, “you deserve nothing but the best.”

“And you want to say…?”

“I’m not the best. Not the best you deserve.”

For once Kakashi was actually speechless. Hiko thought she didn’t deserve him? Him out of all people, the emotionally stunted ex SFU-member who pushed people away by hiding behind a perverted romance novel? Who killed and lied, dirtied his hands for a greater purpose and crashed his first marriage against a wall for his work? If they were talking about such a sensitive topic,  _ he  _ was the one who didn’t deserve Hiko, who was so cheerful and accepting of all his habits, never judging and waiting for him to open up and…

Baffled, the man could only stare at the shorty, who misinterpreted his silence and shrugged her shoulders upwards, waiting for a scolding or a rude answer.

He couldn’t allow to let her think this. So, Kakashi gingerly cupped her face, forced Hiko to look him into his eyes and tried to express what he would’ve never clothed in words when the situation wouldn’t call for it. “Listen,” he said and hoped he sounded at least halfway believable, “you’re the best person I got to know so far. At first a bit harsh, but a marshmallow on the inside, caring about the ones around her more than herself, accepting and cheeky, smart to no ends and so beautiful I can’t take my eyes off of her whenever she enters a room. Sounds familiar?”

With big round eyes Hiko looked up, her bottom lip quivering and a suspicious glaze lying over her them, then she reached up and clawed in silent despair into the sleeves of his morning coat, all the while the trembling of her lips grew stronger.

Kakashi also felt the tears piling up, but he swallowed them, tears of luck and joy, but also of sadness and fear, deep inside his chest until he felt like his chest would explode anytime, just because the brunette was so close to crying. With a certain rasp in his voice he continued, weak and even the man heard his own raw emotions. “It’s you I’m talking about, if you haven’t recognized yourself. Because that’s how I see you, Hiko. Not anything else or less. If we’re talking about deserving each other, I always thought I would never be good enough for someone like you, but…” Gently, he hugged the shorty, cradling her small frame in his arms and only mildly worrying about the sobs she tried to stifle in his morning coat. “But slowly I start to believe we are just the person we need to be to… to fix each other, at least a little bit.”

His hand laid in her neck, his other arm was rubbing soothingly over her back, all the while her own short limbs were slung around his middle and clawed with enough force into his skin to hurt Kakashi a bit. Her tears were genuine and when Hiko started to shake and whimper, crying louder and louder into his chest, Kakashi only shut his eyes and hugged her closer.

He didn’t blame her for what happened. The circumstances – _ Kabuto _ \- forced her to do so, to break up with him and run away. Not even that she kept her secret identity a secret could Kakashi hold her responsible for, if he had done something illegal, he also wouldn’t tell anyone who walked up on him. Kakashi just wanted to know “Why?”, and if Hiko ever planned to tell him about her secret or not. That was everything he was asking for.

Kakashi let Hiko cry. He wouldn’t dare to disturb the short woman in her grief or sadness or whatever she felt right now. Besides, the man also was somehow overthrown by everything that was going on, so the pause in their conversation was more than appreciated. It allowed Kakashi to control the urge to cry with Hiko, a break for him to breathe freely and inhale the heated scent of vanilla and raspberry and enjoy the warmth and closeness to the brunette.

He had no idea for how long they stood there, in the kitchen on the cold white tiles, she crying softly into the morning coat, her hands tightly gripping into his back and Kakashi stroking through her hair and humming lowly, just like Hiko did so many times for him. Sometime, the trembles of her body lessened and the muffled sobs drowned in snivels and a snuggle into the pit of his arm.

“Better now?” he asked carefully.

Hiko nodded, ruffling with her nose his morning coat.

Kakashi kissed her crown once more, a total instinctive gesture on his part. He stiffened, realizing what he did  _ again _ , therefore the brunette reacted accordingly and also tensed up, just when she had started to relax in his arms.

“Sorry,” just to prove his point and go against his self-conscious shame, the man pressed another loving peck to her forehead, “I’m just…”

“Nervous? Scared? Ashamed?” Immediately, the brunette threw adjectives at him, weak and insecure, but at the same time bitter and dry. It hurt to listen to her.

Slowly, Kakashi shook his head. They were still wrapped around each other, but Hiko had raised her slightly swollen face and blinked upwards through her wet lashes, ice blue irises bleary and pleading. Unable to look away, Kakashi again shook his head, then tried to concentrate, but her lips were again in his vision and his concentration slipped away like a stubborn eel.

‘Were they always this plump and red and… just so goddamn tempting to touch? I want to rim them with my fingers, see the surprise in her eyes when I do so, hear the little weak gasp spilling from her mouth and feel the tremble of anticipation of her body against mine.’

“None of this,” he finally rasped and desperately tried not to look at Hiko’s lips anymore - could she please stop biting down into the soft flesh, it made his perverted thoughts only worse - , “I guess I’m still a bit confused about everything.”

She had noticed his stares. The faintest hints of a smile danced over her face, tugged at the corners of her mouth and brought a little bit of life back to the woman. “Confused?” Hiko echoed and her fingers in his back again trailed his muscles. Unconsciously, Kakashi arched into the cautious touch, nearly purring in satisfaction when she complied to his non-spoken wish and continued, her hands gentle and discovering each and every inch of his clothed back. Kakashi nearly wished to have foregone the morning coat, to allow the shorty to trail his naked skin once more, though somehow the excitement of her touch through the thick fabric was even more intimate than just simply stroking over naked skin. He had no explanation for this.

The crave to kiss the brunette grew stronger and stronger with each second Kakashi spent with her. Just a few more seconds, just a few more glorious seconds…

Kakashi was so fixed at Hiko’s mouth that he only saw the motions of those and didn’t hear the words coming along her movements. Only after some more moments he managed to hear the single syllables and make a sense out of them.

Smiling sadly, Hiko chuckled. “You’re cute when you look like that, you know? With the look of a child who wishes nothing more than to do what he pleases but denies himself because he knows his parents forbid it. Or like a dog who found the steak unchecked on the kitchen counter but knows exactly when he eats it, his owners will lock him outside.”

“What do you want to say?”

“I understand. Kakashi, I understand you.” Another short and wet laugh, then she smiled widely at him, her eyes closed, but the first tears already trickled through, down her cheeks and dripping from her face. “Sorry for making it so hard for you.”

That was it. The last line. Hearing this, a pain Kakashi never experienced before slashed through his chest and went right for his heart, clenching and aching from the storm raging in his mind.

One last breath to steady himself, then the man laid his index and middle finger under Hiko’s chin. “Don’t be sorry,” he mumbled while leaning in, “Don’t be sorry for being here.”

Her blue eyes fluttered from Kakashi’s eyes to his mouth before dropping close, her lips parted slightly in anticipation. Just before their kiss was sealed, the man also closed his eyes, his heart pounding loudly in his chest and the blood rushing in his ears from the mere excitement.

This kiss differentiated from their other kiss at the mayor’s ball like day and night. Where the latter kiss was passionate, this one was deliberate, where the other had been forceful, this one was soft, where the other had been bordering to a punishment, this one was salvation and forgiveness at once. Like never before, Kakashi experienced the kiss in a clarity usually reserved for crime scenes, the warmth which seeped into his bones, the tremble of Hiko’s body and her hesitant response, his fingers caressing her chin and jaw, slowly slipping down to her neck and her collarbones. A little nib at her lips and the shorty moaned out, allowing Kakashi to push further and foremost closer. Flushing himself to the woman, he kissed her thoroughly, making sure his actions made clear what he felt and he didn’t care about the world if he just had her.

Hiko whimpered and for a second it seemed like she would back away, but then her hands were ruffling through his hair. A gentle tug at the tips, a lazy hand dragging across the skin, the other lying in the back of his neck and trying to tug him closer than they already were. Kakashi smiled weakly into their exchange. This was the brunette he knew,  _ this  _ was his Firefly. Feeling him up, a tiny bit awkward, loud in her eagerness to taste him and not even aware of her adorable attitude. So sweet it made Kakashi all hot and bothered, but careful at the same time. He continued to taste Hiko and she answered, just as compassionate and with so much tenderness his heart ached.

There was no doubt. Somehow, they would make this work, somehow, they would clear the accusations on her name; Somehow, they would set things straight. That was all that mattered.

With a low sigh of contentment, Hiko loosened the hold after what felt like ages. Apparently, he did a good job in distracting her. Her lips were shining and a little bit swollen from their kiss, a beautiful shade of red had creeped over her neck and spread over her cheeks, just as sweet as the little babbles which spilled from her lips, inaudible and sounding more like soft curses than anything. And according to the dazed expression she wore, he did something right and when the shorty tiredly let her head fall forward and cuddled again into his chest, another sigh dropping from her lips, Kakashi felt lightheaded and more secure than ever before.

Until a loud knock resounded through his flat.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Proofread by the amazing Chisie! Thank you so much, all the digital (and real!) cookies to you ;)


	73. A surprise visit from a hungry ghost

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Someone knocks at the door and leaves Hiko and Kakashi in quite a predicament...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> From next week on, the posting-time will rpobably shift a bit due to me switching timezones again. The new chapters will come a little bit later from now on, but they will come!  
> Thanks to everyone who still follows this story :)

No one reacted. Kakashi was frozen on the spot, Hiko right in his arms was equally surprised and paralyzed. Then the brunette slowly looked up, obvious panic rising and when the next knock aggressively echoed in the living room, she even went as far to gasp out in fear.

The only thing Kakashi could think of was…

“So… One last kiss before we go into prison?”

The sentence, paired with the creased eyes smile he gave her managed to lighten the panic on her face. Not enough to completely lift the curtain, but just enough to make Hiko move.

Weakly, she slapped his shoulder, all the while a smile flashed over her features. “You stupid… idiot.”

“Your id-!”

“No time for silly plays. Have to hide.” Instantly, Hiko wiggled out of his embrace and he nearly pouted in childish frustration, but then she gifted him with a short touch at his face. Her fingertips brushed his lips, drew the lines and the faint wrinkles around his mouth until Hiko shook her head and awoke out of her gentle daze.

A last apologizing smile, then the shorty walked as silent as possible into his bedroom. The last thing Kakashi saw of her was how she mustered full of exhausted unwillingness to the space below his bed, then he closed the door and prayed shortly nothing would betray his excitement or the fact Hiko was in the room beside them. Just in time, he remembered to strap his mask over his lower face but with the knowledge the brunette was here, the usually familiar fabric felt itchy and just wrong on his skin.

As Kakashi opened the entrance, prepared to sweet-talk whoever stood there, he was confident he would certainly convince his visitor to drop whatever important reason he had to stand right now in front of his apartment, but he wasn’t prepared for the unpleasant sight.

At all.

“I must say,” Hanare tilted her head to the side, her hair falling nicely around her features, “this flat is really an improvement to your last one.”

Instantly, Kakashi put his wards up - inside and outside.

‘I’m like never before thankful I wear a flu mask.’

“What are you doing here?” Out of instinct, the man blocked the path into his flat, the entrance only slightly askew and making sure his ex-wife saw only the most basic things of him, a part of his front and his disapproving gaze. “How did you get the address?”

“My.” She chuckled lowly. “So many questions.”

“I’m not in the mood to play games with you.”

She was clothed casually. Kakashi glanced at her thick jeans, the high sturdy boots and the thick cable sweater underneath an open coat with fake fur rimming the hem of the hood, and inwardly compared her carefully selected and carried out style to Hiko’s hastily thrown together marshmallow-look from yesterday.

In his opinion, the shorty surpassed Hanare easily and without breaking a sweat.

She was still smiling but wasn’t there a hint of her grim side shining right underneath her white teeth and the expression of... joy? “I wanted to talk with you about the things which happened between us. And I asked Chief Nagato for your address.”

“Who let you in?”

“Oh, this friendly man who nibbled at a toothpick or something left the building and was so kind to hold the door open for me.”

_ Genma _ . Kakashi cursed under his breath. This goddamn womanizer obviously was swept away by the aura of light indifference around Hanare and opened the main entrance in the hope to pry her phone number out of her, but like the predatory female shark she was, Hanare just brushed past him without batting the firefighter another eye.

Not caring about his brooding, his ex-wife stepped closer, her hands meekly crossed in her lower back and smelling heavily of faked flowers and overbearing sugar. “So, will you let me in? For our little talk?”

Unconsciously, Kakashi retreated, closing the gap between door frame and door a little bit more in the process. “I’m not in the mood.” The fact he wore only his thin pajama pants and his soft morning coat suddenly jumped into the foreground and self-consciously the man reached upward and tucked the hem of the coat higher in the vain hope to cover more of his neck and naked chest.

“Then when you will be in the mood?” she asked.

“Not in the near future.”

“Next week maybe?”

“I have work to do Hanare.”

“Me too. But my evenings are free.”

Desperately, Kakashi peeked at a nearby clock. The precious time Hiko could stay here dwindled by, slipped through his fingers like sand and just because of his ex-wife! She stole already enough time of him. Years of marriage, months of secrets, weeks of affairs and secret meetings with another. Then more months, spend with tiring paperwork and the painful question “why?” echoing over and over in his mind.

“Stop.” Kakashi didn’t even realize he had spoken until Hanare flinched slightly backwards, her carefully arranged mask crackling after the harsh reprimand. “We will talk, but not today. And while I’m being honest, I don’t like the way you try to force this talk on me. I will come to you and set a date, not you. Is that understood?”

A wrinkle appeared between her perfectly trimmed eyebrows. Nevertheless, Hanare nodded, reluctantly and obviously not liking his determination and dead-set mind, but, she nodded. Finally. Kakashi had been close to just shut the door close but now he could clear this up rather clean and nicely instead of acting hostile. “Excellent,” he said. “I will see you at the station. I know where to find you and I have your number. See you around.”

No better way to tell in a roundabout way “fuck you” but to quickly brush Hanare off. Kakashi could see his unspoken message was received, in the way her expression darkened for the fraction of a second and the wrinkle between her eyebrows deepened, before straightening perfectly into an empty smile.

One last nonchalant eye-creasing grin, then the male was finally able to close the door, a relieved sigh dropping from his lips. His mood was currently bad enough to just sink against the wooden barrier and bury his face in his hands, but there was someone patiently waiting underneath his bed and he wouldn’t dare to make her wait even longer.

His bones cracked slightly as the man kneeled down beside the bed and peered into the darkness, only to lock eyes with the brunette female, who stared back expressionlessly.

“She’s gone,” he mumbled and reached out, hoping in the back of his mind she would instantly take his hand.

However, Hiko didn’t react in the slightest. Instead, she crawled out on the other side of the bed and brushed a few lost flocks of dust off her black clothes, all the while Kakashi propped himself up, a certain burning in his throat telling him about the stress he experienced.

“Was that who I think it was?” she asked in the end, after being satisfied with the state of her clothes. But there were still some crumbs of dust in her short hair and Kakashi wanted nothing more than to comb with his fingers through her mane and fish those grey flocks out of there, but when the man reached out, Hiko unconsciously jerked backwards.

First, disappointment settled deep down in his guts, but when the shorty opened her eyes and rightful anger radiated from her in small, but mighty waves, Kakashi understood and he smiled while lowering his flu mask, all the while Hiko started to snarl in short, sharp hisses. “Who does she think she is? Some kind of irresistible goddess who can just come in and erase everything she did to you? She fucking cheated and like the stupid fucktart she is, she-she… She sounded like she wanted to put the blame entirely on you! What is this shit? Where comes this blissful unawareness of herself? Honestly, I want to know, because I could right now use a good portion of that-!”

Chuckling, Kakashi gave in to the urge to be close to the rambling brunette and wandered around the bed. “Ssh,” he murmured and reached out to tuck a single wild lock out of her features, “just… It’s alright.”

Agitated, Hiko threw her hands into the air. “No, it’s not alright!” She snarled, “It’s not okay! She just expects you to jump whenever she wants, like you’re a trained dog or something and I can’t understand how someone can be so delusional, so completely cut off of reality to-!”

“ _ Ssssh _ …” With a low hum, Kakashi shed his morning coat and dropped the cloth at a nearby chair, then dragged the shorty into another tight hug. Red tinted her cheeks as soon as the male had started to wiggle out of the morning coat and when her cheek met his chest, the little squeal escaping the woman was full of righteous happiness and surprise. A grumble back in his throat was born when his hands roamed over her slender and strong, yet unfortunately clothed backside, making the woman wiggle closer and press against his chest. “Silence now, please,” Kakashi whispered into Hiko’s short locks, “I need to recharge.”

She was still angered; the silver haired man just knew. Her muscles were tensed up and trembling as he trailed them, her fingers clawing into his sides unintentionally hurting him slightly and even the little coughs escaping her had somehow a tiny angry edge to them, if that was even possible. But because Kakashi asked, the brunette kept silent.

After a few minutes of hugging and weak coughing, Hiko sighed deeply and together with the wave of air rushing over his naked skin, a whole lot of the tension left her body. Like a wet rag, she slumped against him, mumbling single words she wasn’t able to put into proper sentences before into his chest. “Can’t believe… The  _ arrogance _ … So rude and presumptuous, to think that bitch would… How can you stay so fucking collected…? A greater person than me…”

Hearing this, Kakashi laughed lowly. “Nope. I’m just used to keep my feelings in check.”

“Even around me?” she asked weakly.

He snorted. “Around you? Never.”

‘ _ Because of you. Because of you I’m able to be like this, more open and expressive than I ever thought I would be. Though I only feel comfortable to be this open around you, my little silly Firefly.’ _

Obviously, the brunette was pleased with the answer. It was Kakashi’s turn to blush fiercely when Hiko placed a quick kiss to his chest, right to his sternum. The spot tingled, if now from the loving gesture or the overall shyness standing clearly on Hiko’s face as she turned her eyes upwards. “I still don’t understand myself for running away. Right now, I’m feeling so secure and safe, like nothing could ever hurt me. I… I still don’t understand why I  _ listened  _ to him, why I blindly followed his  _ orders _ and didn’t think for myself for once…”

Again, Kakashi shushed her. A long slender digit laid gently against her moving lips and she fell silent, eyes wide and full of hesitant regret. Words formed in his mind, words with meaning and a real sense, but when he tried to speak them, the single syllables clawed into his tongue, rebelled against him and his intentions.

Frustrated, Kakashi grimaced. Just when he needed to tell her that this wasn’t her fault, that he understood, at least, partly Hiko’s instinctive reaction to Kabuto and her scared obedience, and adding to that was her protective nature, directed at him in this case. Hiko wanted to protect him from Kabuto, nothing else. 

But right in this crucial moment where he needed to speak clearly about his feelings, his mouth and tongue resisted.

“It’s not…  _ You’re _ not…” he stuttered, growling nearly when his meek words met his own ears.

Then, he felt another kiss directed at his neck. Startled, the man flinched, but Hiko wasn’t one to let him escape. After another little glance into his face, obviously asking for approval, she moved to stand on her tiptoes, leaning in for a true shower of kisses all over his neck and collarbones, chaste ones to his jawline and so close to his lips that Kakashi’s breath hitched. Relentless and without mercy, the brunette continued to assure him, to tell him silently that it was alright to be tongue-tied and unable to express himself properly, because Hiko would accept him nevertheless, even when he would stumble over his words and continued to be the emotionally stunted detective he was.

Her last kiss was a long line of butterfly-pecks leading upwards to his pulse point, sweet little assurances. Then, she nuzzled her nose into the crook of his neck and whispered into his skin. “Slowly, I started to believe we stopped getting to know each other over the last months. And now, faced with a new situation, I’m learning more and more about you, Kakashi.”

“I was certainly surprised to find out you speak german.”

“Really?” Hiko paused, her head cocked to the side and a sparkle of mischief in her ice blue eyes. “Well… Should I tell you something?” Only when her breath brushed over his ear shell, ruffling the tiniest bit the strands of his mane, she started to speak and the unknown words clung for a long time to Kakashi’s brain, warming him up even when he left the flat later. “ _ Egal was passiert ist, egal was noch passieren wird… Ich verspreche dir, dass ich dich immer lieben werde, auch wenn du es gerade nicht zu mir sagen kannst. Und danke, mein Herz _ .”

Then, the brunette retreated and stepped out of his arms. Masking the warm pleasant feeling deep in his guts, Kakashi warily touched his still tingling ear, knowing just as much as feeling how his blood creeped up onto his cheeks. “What did you say?” he asked.

“That, my love,” a last longing look, “will be my secret. Or you can just use a translator. If you remember all the things I said.”

For a very short moment, the man imagined he would be brave enough to drag Hiko back into his arms. Kakashi imagined he would be brave enough to offer her his flat, to let her stay in the duration of the investigation, to care for her, return to the woman every evening and sleep again with her by his side, not caring about his dark past and her dark present. But Hiko was already shuffling through her clothes, preparing herself to leave and another marsh through the snow.

“Shouldn’t you wait until it’s dark?” he hesitantly asked, just when the brunette slipped into her heavy boots, “Would be safer.”

One glance over the rims of her glasses and she shook with a small chuckle her head. “Kakashi, I know myself and you should be honest enough to say you know me too. I wouldn’t go if I stay any longer, I would stay for the night, telling myself I would go tomorrow, then tomorrow I would stay with the excuse of going when it’s dark again. And so on and so on and so on.”

Grunting, she looked around, her hands propped into her hips. “By the way, did you steal my lip balm again? I thought it would be in my coat,” she gestured to a spare jacket the woman had stored once into his wardrobe, “but it isn’t there.”

Surprised, Kakashi stilled for a moment. Then, the embarrassment crawled into his guts and he felt his blood creeping upwards when he pointed wordlessly at his own coat, hanging right beside hers. Yes, Kakashi remembered the incident she referred to clearly.

_ “If I wouldn’t know you would never cheat,” Hiko glanced up from her paperwork, only to grin brightly at him, “I would definitely question you right now.” _

_ What? Confused, Kakashi stared at her. How did the shorty get that impression? He would never cheat on her, so where did she get that-? Then he saw the mischievous spark in her smile and immediately relaxed. She was joking. Good. And still…? _

_ “You have lipstick on your mouth.” _

_ “What?” Flabbergasted Kakashi touched his lips, expecting to see nothing at all. But when he retracted his fingers, a sheen of red clung to his skin, bright, offensive and everyone would’ve noticed, if it wasn’t for his mask. _

_ “You probably wonder,” the brunette paged through the papers in her lap, then started to absent-mindedly scribble a few notes down, “why I knew beforehand you are wearing lipstick. Well, easy. My lip balm keeps disappearing. You’re not the only one with dry lips, okay? And when I noticed that yours became smoother and softer, I knew what was going on, especially considering you claimed to know nothing, wearing at the same time your special puppy-eyed ‘I have done nothing’-face.” _

_ “I have a what face?” Despite his defiant behavior, Kakashi felt how sweat tainted his palms. How did she find out, so fast on top of that? Panicked, he suppressed the urge to reach upwards and touch his really soft and smooth lips once more, instead the man fidgeted on the spot behind the couch, on which the brunette had sat down to go through some documents. _

_ Hiko snorted. “Don’t try to redirect this. I knew you were behind this and also knowing you, you would never read too closely the ingredients of some nonsense lip balm. I just had to exchange my colorless one with a lip balm which smelled similar but has also some nice color mixed into it.” Chuckling, Hiko looked up from the papers, her eyes happily creased. “I must say, you look great with red lips, my love. Next time I’m trying purple on you.” _

“Believe me,” she murmured and ripped Kakashi out of his thoughts, “I don’t want to leave. But this visit was already dangerous enough. I  _ want _ to stay, but you would be in danger if I would…” One arm was stuck in the sleeve of her jacket, the other was trying to tug the stiff and slightly wet fabric into position. With a weak curse on her lips and obvious discomfort clearly visible on her features, Hiko slipped further into her clothes. “My god, I should have hung this up properly. Karin will be so pissed when-!”

Suddenly, she stopped in the middle of the motion and threw a horrified glance at him. Her blue eyes were blown up wide, almost masking the still sharpened edges and wrinkles in her face, making Hiko appear at least five years older than she was. Then, the realization sunk in.

Kakashi cocked his head to the side. “ _ Karin _ ?” he asked.

“Uuuh.” With every passing second Hiko went paler and telling by the hasty glances back forth between him and the door, the guilt was eating her away. “I shouldn’t have said that, I really shouldn’t have said that…” Manically, she shook her head, panic oozing from her in waves.

Before the brunette had the chance to fly out of the door, Kakashi reached out and tugged at one of her short brown locks; Teasingly, reassuring in itself and loving. Instantly, Hiko’s head whipped around and nearly ripped the strand away from the man, but he only stepped closer, making sure he moved in, but not too close to make her feel threatened.

“Yes. You shouldn’t have said that.” With a low sigh, Kakashi started to twirl the strand around his finger, knowing now it would be a little bit harder to play it safe regarding the investigation running against her. “Make sure not to spill more to me. I don’t want to know about the people you asked for help because then I would only be tempted to…”

He left the sentence unfinished but seeing Hiko’s face lightening up like a child at Christmas morning was worth the partly uttered thought. For the fraction of a second, the woman leaned towards him, already the hints of a trusting smile showing on her features. Then, like a curtain was sharply drawn, the smile dropped and Hiko backed away, almost like her skin burned in his presence.

“I have to go,” she said, regret as clear as the snow outside laced into her voice, “otherwise… You know what I’m going to say.”

“Probably.”

“Kakashi…”

“Mhm?”

Frustrated, Hiko threw her hands into the air but was careful enough to avoid his fingers which entangled themselves into her hair, closer and closer to the goal to cup gently her cheek. Kakashi hummed nonchalantly, already knowing they were living off stolen time. Naturally, the brunette was right; she had to go now or she would stay. And staying wasn’t an option, not in their situation. Not when she was still known as the butcher, brutal killer of three people, not when her whole reason of being tRuthseekEr wasn’t clear enough for him to fully forgive her. Because that’s what was standing as the elephant in the room, Kakashi realized as he watched Hiko hesitantly enjoying his tender ministration. He felt betrayed, betrayed by the realization the brunette wasn’t the one who he thought she was, that there was more to her than he originally thought when he believed to already know all of her quirks and habits,  _ that  _ was exactly his problem. But he was on a good way to partly forgive and forget, at least that.

“Your wordless answers will one day not bring you anywhere anymore,” she said dryly, “just like your gestures and smart-ass answers will-! Can you stop, I’m serious here!”

“No. Don’t want to.” Kakashi had chosen his words very carefully here, repeating Hiko’s words from the mayor’s ball. Just like she hadn’t planned to let go of her teasing, her cool fingers crawling underneath his black mask, the man planned now to stretch out the moment as long as he could. His hand was cupping her cheek, feeling how much she thinned over the last three weeks ( _ Only three weeks? Three long, unbearable weeks since she was gone _ ) and knowing this loving touch had to last for possibly more than the following three weeks, maybe even longer if they didn’t manage to find any evidence against Kabuto.

A distant thought had been flying around in his head for some time now, but only when Hiko laid her own hand over his and slightly squeezed it, Kakashi was able to form the according words, whispered and sounding like a child hoping for comfort.

“Can we stay in contact?” And, adding after a second of hesitation and inner discussion: “Please?”

Instantly, the worried wrinkles on her forehead softened. “Sure, if you want that. You have my number, I believe.”

Hiko offered. She wouldn’t bother him, wouldn’t try to contact him if it wasn’t absolutely necessary. If Kakashi wanted to talk with her, the shorty would be there and listen, but out of her pride, patience and sheer stubbornness, she would not even dare to think about messaging or calling him again, not when she could avoid it.

Kakashi bit into his bottom lip, briefly forgetting he wasn’t wearing his mask anymore, so Hiko saw the traitorous motion of his strained nerves. “Don’t worry.” With a tired smile, she slipped her scarf over mouth and nose, until only her closed eyes were visible, “In case I can’t contact you by ordinary means, I will become creative. Nothing will be below me, even invisible messages written with my lip balm on the bathroom mirror.”

“I’m not worrying,” he mumbled automatically.

For the first time Hiko’s old calm and unbelieving glances broke through the various masks of exhaustion, hounded fear and terrible shame feasting at her insides. “Sure, you do not,” she answered with a low sigh, but Kakashi would swear she was still weakly smiling underneath the thick fabric of her scarf, “the mighty detective Kakashi Hatake never worries. Then, allow me to play the part of the scared female.” A mocking light bow of her head, like she stood on stage and just delivered him a speech rivaling one of Shakespeare’s pompous monologues. “Just remember. Look inside my TV when you have time and still doubt my resolution to tell you everything.”

Briefly, Kakashi thought Hiko would add something to her cryptic message, maybe a little “Love you,” or anything else which would assure him completely, but just when the shorty turned around, he could read the brutally obvious hesitation and straight out fear in her eyes, so his wish died quickly. There was just another last tender moment between them before Hiko vanished in the dim light of the staircase, her shoulders more tensed up than when she had woken up.

She was already ready to go, had clothed herself in all her thick layers and her hand was laying on the door handle when Kakashi reached out, more an unconscious action on his part than a real decision. Wordlessly and not knowing if that was really what he wanted to do, he hugged her for merely a second. Then he let her go, her weak but quick response to his embrace lingering on his skin and her hands even lingering a little bit longer than that, before Hiko smiled one last time and walked away, not without throwing some sneaky little glances over her shoulder.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Cold and fierce, the waves of winter air crashed into Hiko’s face, but she stood her ground against the force of the nature. Not that there was much left of her face to be assaulted by the wind, but nevertheless, the small sliver of skin around her glassed eyes prickled uncomfortably when she stepped outside and into the snow. Behind her, the mechanical click of the front door of their apartment complex told the woman the only way back in was closed. Still, she turned around to stare at the heavy gate, the name tags with the doorbells right beside them, the slightly rugged and washed out drawing of a pitiful dick with obscenely large balls right underneath which was there since the shorty moved in all those years ago.

Did that really happen? Did she really walk all the way from Suigetsu’s flat to her home (a distance of two miles at least) without even realizing? Only driven by the unexplainable desire to see Kakashi, nothing more than a faint glimpse of his shadowy figure in one of the windows, and while she talked with Kakashi, did he really invite her into his flat, not caring about the risk and danger of being found out he talked and sheltered a sought-after criminal? Did he really hug her; Did he really take her to his bed and spooned her; Did he really kiss her so sweet and caring her heart stopped for a second only to accelerate into unknown heights?

Did he really talk her out of her need to cut herself? Unconsciously, Hiko reached for her left forearm. Sure, the desire was still there, waiting and preying on her whenever she would have a weak moment, however after Kakashi had reassured her silently with his gestures and words, the crave wasn’t as strong as before. Definitely weakened. Definitely weaker than yesterday night.

‘I’m not feeling exactly good, but… Everything is better than yesterday. Absolutely everything.’

With a shudder, Hiko pushed the memories of the cold steel and the painful wish to suffer out of her mind. What did Kakashi tell her?

“I’m useful.” She mumbled into the thick scarf and her lips perked slightly upwards. Alone, the imagination of being useful was nearly throwing her off her feet, not to talk about the love oozing from all the actions Kakashi displayed. Hiko was maybe right now insecure about a lot of things but she still thought she knew Kakashi good enough to tell when he was lying or attempting to cover the truth, and neither his actions nor his words were tainted with the faint realization that they weren’t truthfully uttered or done.

A warm flame was burning deep down inside her stomach, not more than a small resistance against the darkness resting in her mind. But it was like last night and this morning let the flame shine a little bit brighter and a little bit stronger than before, fighting and struggling to stay alive. Always scratching at the brink of being extinct, always shortly before her mind completely sunk into the dark… But Kakashi, with his hugs and his silent reassurances and the inability to say what was on his mind, fed the flame, made it bigger and secured Hiko in her doings.

Her smile widened and deeply entangled in her thoughts, the brunette started her way through the snow-filled streets back to Suigetsu’s flat, where an agitated redhead and the worried shark-tooth-boy would wait for her.

Like this, Hiko only saw out of the corner of her eyes a pair of two men sitting in a nearby car. Quickly she stomped past, her hands buried in the deep pockets of her jacket, so she didn’t see the glares they gifted her with. She also didn’t see how one of them reached for a cell phone and typed a number, didn’t hear how he whispered to his twin brother, shortly before the other party could take the call: “He will not like this. Fuck, Ukon. Think he will only skin us?”

Ukon grimaced around the last sip of long cold and weak coffee, before he threw the disposable cup over his shoulder. The plastic clanked silently, mixing well with the other rests of food and drinks the twins collected over the last days. “No shit Sakon,” he hissed straight through his teeth, “after what he did to the psycho-bitch… Shit. Don’t want to think about that.”

“At least we weren’t sitting here for nothing.”

“Tell that to my ass.”

“Your ass can-!” Sakon fell silent when the other party picked the call up. Only seconds before, his voice had been arrogant and flat. Now, he sounded almost afraid of the one who he called as he hastily spoke into the phone, his lifeless eyes still set on the retreating back of Hiko, who just vanished around the corner of the next apartment complex. “We found her. Was in her flat. Maybe visited the mutt.”

Ukon snorted loudly. “Man, she did visit the dog. Can’t you see the fresh “I just got fucked”-aura around her? If she didn’t spread her legs for him,” shrugging he angled in the bag between his feet for a snack, “then she smoked pot.”

“Can you just shut the fuck up? No! Not you, boss. It’s my useless brother.” Sakon tried to reason with the other side of the connection, but nothing else but icy silence and the occasional static crackle was transferred. “Boss? All we know,” a poisonous glare to his twin, who shrugged and bit down into a cheap cracker, “is that she visited her apartment complex.”

_ “She was with him.”  _

On the other side of the town, Kabuto trembled in badly concealed anger. His fingers shook as he pushed his glasses further up his nose, then he tried to concentrate. How dare her. She dared to betray him, thought he wouldn’t find out, thought she could get away with her infidelity. But as always, he had been smarter and wiser. Positioning the twins in front of her flat was only a precaution, but apparently a necessary one if the short woman believed she could visit her dirty mutt. Betraying him. Breaking their deal.

Without another word, Kabuto cut the connection. For a second, he stood in the middle of the dark room, staring blindly at the ground, then he breathed in and slowly cocked his head to the right. His bones popped loudly in the silence, then he repeated the motion into the other direction, earning another loud pop of bones and tensed muscles.

“Breaking our promise?” Kabuto hissed like an angered snake, “Betraying me? Hiko, you chose the wrong opponent to cheat on.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lots and lots of love to Chisie, who proofreads this gigantic work! Thank you so much for everything you do for me :3


	74. Welcome back

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's time for Hiko to return to her hide-out, where her little helpers are worrying endlessly for the brunette. Meanwhile, Kakashi has to return to the KPD and hide the fact his mood is on an unknown high due to the relaxing night he spent with a runaway criminal...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm still thinking about slowing the updates down. Lately, I didn't have that much time to continue writing. Maybe another chapter and then I'll go over to upload every new chapter every two weeks or even three weeks.   
> It's for the sake of continuing this fic on a regular pace and I'm sorry for (probably) slowing it down. Let's see until next week, I make a decision until then.  
> Have a nice day! :D

Hours later, so it seemed to Hiko, she stood again in front of Suigetsu’s flat, her feet hurting from the distance she walked and trembling from the coldness that seeped into her bones, even through the many layers of clothing she wore. Her nose was running and her glasses were still a bit fogged due to the harsh temperature difference between outside and inside the run-down apartment complex. But there she was, her clenched hand raised for a hesitant knock and yet, still pausing in her movement. How would they react? After all, Hiko ran away in the middle of the night, not telling anyone where she went. Maybe they detested her now. It wouldn’t be a big surprise.

With a weak cough, Hiko lowered her hand again. And what would Karin say? There was no way she wouldn’t make a comment on her sudden disappearance. The redhead was too loud-mouthed to keep her mouth shut, especially considering Hiko’s slow degenerative behavior and attitude over the last weeks.

The brunette fidgeted around. But just in the very second, she wanted to turn around and away from her last bastion of safety, the lock clanked in the empty hallway and Suigetsu appeared in the doorframe. A coat was messily hanging off his shoulders while he tried to bind a dirty and old scarf around his neck, a pair of brown boots on his feet, practically made to stomp for hours through wind and storm. Fortunately, he didn’t notice Hiko immediately due to the fact he was speaking with someone inside the flat, possibly Karin, so she had a spare moment to duck away before he could see who was standing outside of his home and tried to find the courage to enter.

“-must be somewhere,” he just said and threw one end of the scarf around his neck, “It’s not like she’s a fuckin’ ghost!”

Karin’s loud voice was muffled, but there was no way Hiko wouldn’t hear the worried undertone tainting every syllable. “Not even leaving a note! What is she thinking?”

“Don’t know. We just have to-!” Then, the white-haired boy turned around and his attentive purple eyes focused on the narrow staircase. Even though Hiko was small, she had no opportunity but to duck behind the see-through stair rail. A pitiful attempt to hide herself.

Instead of instantly screaming at her, a flash of relief wandered over his features, before he sighed deeply out and slowly unwrapped the scarf again. “Doesn’t matter anymore. Found her.”

“What?” Hasty steps from inside of his flat, then Karin appeared right behind Suigetsu, her red hair messy and her glasses sitting askew on the tip of her nose. Also, her clothes were disheveled, like she didn’t sleep for long and sat all night long in front of a computer. “Big T!”

Hiko had already raised her hands, trying to talk her way out of the undeniably following reprimanding talk, but then the redhead jumped at her and nearly strangled the short woman in a bear-hug. “Don’t vanish like that ever again!” Karin growled and in total difference to her gruff tone, her hug was soft and compliant, “You scared the shit out of us!”

“S-sorry…?”

“Is that a question or an honest answer!?”

And back was the female demon, screaming right into Hiko’s ear, still clutching to the shorty with all her strength and in that moment, Karin could rival a Russian wrestler in the strength department. It even hurt slightly.

“Shh.” Escaping her death-hug wasn’t easy, but Hiko wiggled out of the grip and nodded at the entrance, where Suigetsu watched the scene with a bewildered twitch on his face. “We are too open. Come on, get inside. We need to get to work,  _ I _ need to get back to work.”

Quickly, she brushed past the redhead and the barista, who regained his laid-back attitude by a thread. Peeling himself out of his winter clothing side by side with Hiko, he threw glances at her, caught between the need to ask where she had been and what she had been doing. His intention was as clear as the snow outside.

Then, the brunette was busy untying her shoelaces and Suigetsu just stuffed his scarf into his jacket while Karin stomped past them into the kitchen, the young man saw the right moment in front of him.

“Where were you? I tried to message you, but you didn’t read any of my texts.”

“Oh?” And really, there were thirteen unread messages blinking when Hiko finally bothered with her phone for the first time since she heard about her parents. They were all similar, asking, and with growing panic, swinging in the short and further shortened words. Also, Karin tried to call her a few times, but unfortunately Hiko didn’t hear any of the calls or messages coming in, just as simple as that. Maybe setting the phone on vibration hadn’t been such a good idea.

‘Considering the peaceful time, I spent with Kakashi… It was definitely worth it.’

“Oh, yes… Sorry for that.” Hiko mumbled in the end and fiddled with the cell phone. She wasn’t looking for a text from Kakashi, totally not. Maybe… Only a little bit.

“Sorry? You’re telling us you’re  _ sorry _ ?”

Shocked, her head whipped around to stare at Suigetsu. For the first time since Hiko revealed her real identity to him, he sounded genuinely annoyed and angry with her. Usually, Karin was on the receiving end of such an eerily similar (and a bit more aggressive) tone. But now he showed clearly how sharp his teeth were, bared and blinking in the faint light. “Shut the fuck up,” he continued, hissed words and barely contained rage swinging with them, “Your empty apologies will not make it better. Man, Karin worried endlessly! Not a word and when she found the fucking blood in the bathroom, she totally lost it! One motherfucking note would’ve been fine, one motherfucking message, one goddamn motherfucking  _ word _ about your whereabouts!”

“Suigetsu, I said I’m-!”

“Don’t you dare to say that! You aren’t truly sorry, not as long as you haven’t apologized to Karin! She was  _ so _ close,” the distance between the index finger and the thumb he shoved into Hiko’s face was almost non-existent, “to hack the KPD-cameras to look for you! I had to drag her away from the computer, telling her you surely had some kind of plan and we shouldn’t know about any of it, because it would be safer!”

Fuming in his anger, the usually so laid back young man was towering over the short brunette. Deliberately careful, Hiko pushed her cell phone into the pocket of her jeans, all the while trying to wrap her head around the situation and how she should explain her problems to her little helpers.

This was definitely a delicate matter.

“Listen,” Hiko mumbled and lowered her head, “I can’t… I can’t explain what happened. No idea what I thought by… By running away and by…” She warily gestured to the slightly askew bathroom-door. “By doing  _ this _ …  _ Again _ …”

‘Nearly. I nearly did it again. Cutting myself. Thank god I had a flash of clarity before the relapse would’ve destroyed me for sure.’

Her lips turned upwards into a bitter smile. “I’m not expecting you or Karin to understand me. Perhaps… Perhaps it is time to clear some things up.”

Before, telling those youngsters the truth would’ve scared Hiko to no ends. Revealing her past to them, the whole cruel story without any chance to cover up some of the ugly picture that was surely painted of her. But now, after the wordless night with Kakashi and the silent assurances, the brunette was at least halfway sure she was capable of standing their judgement, if now for the good or the bad.

Suigetsu blinked in oh so obvious confusion. He had expected everything, but clearly not that. “What…?”

“Yeah, I think it’s for the best.” Hiko cocked her head to the side. With every second, she really thought about it, the more her resolve hardened. Sharing her past with Suigetsu and Karin felt  _ right _ , just like it had felt right to go to Kakashi’s apartment. Smiling slightly, the brunette gestured the white-haired boy to follow her inside the kitchen, where Karin was busy with making coffee. Well, her endeavors were made to look busy, but in reality, she already struggled with the overly complicated and strangely dangerous looking machine.

The redhead flinched when Hiko coughed audibly, only to break into a nervous giggle when seeing the short and haggard woman. “Hey truth. Interested in some… coffee?”

“No, thanks. But tea would be nice.”

Karin immediately lightened up. With new enthusiasm, the girl shuffled through the insides of the cupboards in the search for some mugs, all the while Suigetsu stepped inside his own kitchen, his feet bare and wearing again skin-tight clothing which left nothing of his physique to the imagination. Lazily, he scratched his neck but the eager interest radiated from him in waves.

On the small kitchen table laid the leftovers of a hastily ordered take-out. Unconsciously, drool assembled in Hiko’s mouth as her eyes laid upon the long cold noodles and the Peking duck from a nearby Chinese restaurant. “Is anyone still interested in their food?” she asked.

Karin stilled; standing on her toes to reach out for the highest shelf where some clean porcelain mugs were located. Then, she threw a shocked glance over her shoulder, sharing her surprise with an equally mortified Suigetsu, who stared at Hiko like she just turned into an elephant.

“And?” Impatiently, she pointed at the two boxes. “Are you still eating that?”

“I guess not,” the male mumbled when Hiko already reached over the table and tugged the still delicious smelling food closer, “just... help yourself.”

“Thanks.” There was no time to warm the Chinese food up. Hiko just dug in, satisfying her empty and growling stomach immediately, not caring she was wolfing the noodles down, or the more and more horrified and bewildered glances she received from the younger people present. And since she didn’t have a proper meal in weeks, the cold and probably too oily take-out was maybe the best breakfast/lunch she had ever eaten. A little moan dropped from her lips around every bite and Hiko shook her head, too invested into her meal than to pay any attention to her stunned little helpers. Only when she gobbled the whole rest of the cold meal down did Hiko emerge from her bubble and nodded gratefully at Karin, who just placed a mug with warm and fruity smelling tea in front of her. “Thank you,” she repeated and tugged the second box with duck into her direction, “and would you please sit down? I have something to tell you, both of you.”

“Oh? Ok.” Despite her white blouse and stylish jeans, Karin plopped rather ungracefully down into the chair next to Suigetsu, who couldn’t hide the little sway of his eyes towards her more or less hidden cleavage.

‘Here I come.’

Hiko coughed weakly. “Okay, boys and girls… First, I’m again apologizing to you for vanishing suddenly. My reason will not be… reasonable for you, maybe. But you asked several times for the background story behind my problem. And I believe I owe you one for keeping up with my fits I threw over the last weeks. So, buckle up kids, because my life was, if I may say so, one hell of a ride.”

(…)

When Hiko finished her story, her mouth was dry, the barely touched tea cold and the weak sun vanished, making place for the pale moon. With a deep inhale, the woman finally managed to take a sip from the beverage and continued to hold the cup in her hands, all the while wrapping up her life in a few short sentences. “So… Now my obsessed ex-rapist is back to make my life even more miserable by murdering three people and shoving those homicides into my shoes, all the while he apparently sided with an old goon who runs an evil underground organization with an absolute ridiculous name,” she snorted into the tea, “and took it personal that I ruined his chance to become the mayor. Anything else I forgot?”

For a while, no one said anything. Pure shock was visible on both of their faces. Karin’s glasses were lowered during Hiko’s explanation to the table, while the redhead blankly stared at the brunette, her red eyes dull and not focusing on anything in particular. Suigetsu in hindsight had to collect his jaw from the floor, still showing off his teeth, but now in an unsightly manner than before.

Hiko snapped her fingers and both young people jerked awake out of their daze. “Right. I wasn’t the product of the love of my parents... but a valuable cover for the sake of their investigation. And they died to the old man gang leader or one of his goons. Not that I ever thought they loved me,” sighing in content, Hiko drank from the fruity tea, “but it was still a shock. Good choice here, Karin. This tea is delicious.”

Said girl stuttered around, pinching, in her need for a release of her tension, the bridge of her nose. “How can you… Why are you…? How can you be so calm and collected?”

“Yeah.” Finally, Suigetsu managed to pick up his old cocky behavior. But there was still a hint of worry laced within his voice as he continued, his elbows placed on the kitchen table and his chin comfortably snuggled into the palms of his hands. “How come you can talk so dryly? That’s some strong stuff.”

Embarrassed, Hiko shrugged. “What can I say?” she asked and took another sip, “I may be melodramatic, emotional and unbearable annoying if I’m in a bad mood. And at first, I can’t deal well with sudden reveals, which overturn my whole life and show off everything in a new, far crueler light… Though I learned over the years that worrying will do nothing but increase my emotional weight, so I try to look forward right now and do what I can do best.”

“Hack their asses until they don’t see what’s coming for them.” Karin’s eyes started to sparkle.

“Exactly.” The cheesy finger guns Hiko made into her direction fulfilled their purpose and lightened their expressions further. “Hack their asses until they can’t make out where is up or down, until they ask themselves if what they see is the reality or the matrix, until they have no idea I’m standing directly behind them, ready to strike them down with a karate-punch from hell itself.”

The brunette had expected a lot of reactions, but she surely didn’t expect Suigetsu to suddenly jump out of his chair, his hands balled up into fists which he raised above his head, pumping them into the air in his fit of joy. “Fucking goddammit  _ finally _ ! Big T is back in black, ready to kick asses! Man, that’s what I’m in for!”

Taken by the risen excitement, Karin also jumped upwards and started a weird dance of victory, her arms flailing around and occasionally brushing against the white-haired boy. Totally coincidental, of course.

In between the cheers and bold exclamations how Hiko alias tRuthseekEr would dominate the cyber scene for the next days, the shorty closed relaxed her eyes for a moment, absent-mindedly tracing with her index fingers the edges of the borrowed cell phone, hoping in the back of her mind for a sign, a little message blinking brightly on the screen, though she knew it was impossible.

Not so soon after they parted. He had to figure out some things, was in his own right proud and probably tried to hide behind the façade of a successful SFU-member and detective. He needed time to accept the mere possibility of being able to contact her.

Maybe tomorrow.

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‘Just do it.’

‘ _ No.’ _

__ __ ‘Why not?’   

_ ‘I shouldn’t. I really just shouldn’t. Hiko is still considered a criminal, every contact could be crucial and is a potential risk-!’ _

‘What’s with the false pride? You left it on the doorstep as soon as you whispered mushy sweet-nothings into her ear, as soon as you kissed her while Hiko was still sleeping, as soon as you kissed and hugged her when she was wide awake, looking up with tears in her eyes and her lips trembling. So, go on,  _ text her _ .’

The line of numbers blinked mockingly. Hesitantly, Kakashi’s thumb hovered over the part of the touchscreen, either ready to drop down and select the number or to retreat and shamefully bury the cell phone again in the depths of his coat. Like he had done over the last three hours over and over. With a deep sigh which he buried deep in his chest, Kakashi followed his second train of thought and closed the caller’s list yet again and tried to concentrate at the task at hand. Even though the blizzard had almost stopped every normal action throughout Konoha, the criminals apparently loved the calm atmosphere. Lately, the same group of thieves which appeared when he was in Kumogakure ran wild, again robbing defenseless small-scale supermarkets from their money and belongings. For that he had to skip through reports Shino had written, but more than once the silver haired detective paused and shook his head in slight amusement, seeing the clear influence of Hiko shining through some words.

It was the same group. Too coincidental were the similarities. The same escape car, a black transporter and no car plate to identify, the same described mannerisms of the single members of the group, the same tactic. One, a bulky man, would guard the owner of the store or gas station, while the other four would systematically pace through the store and bag everything up they liked, mostly unhealthy amounts of junk food and lemonades. Then they would break the cash register open and take the earned money too, before cuffing the store owner to his front desk and vanish in said black transporter, mostly accompanied by different dirty insults the only female would spit out. Except… Kakashi quickly shuffled through the reports to prove his train of thought. The female robber was missing in the last two attacks. Now the group consisted only of males, who pulled their stunts with the same enthusiasm as before.

Frustrated, Kakashi carded through his hair. Why the pause? Why did the robbing stop in the first place and why did they start again? Why was the female missing and where was she now? Why, the fuck, just goddamn why?

‘ _ Call her. Call her. Call her, text her, do something, but speak with Hiko!’ _

__ __ ‘No. I. Can’t.’

‘ _ Stubborn mule. That’s what you are, an old stubborn mule.’ _

The chance alone to finally be able to contact her was almost too… much. Too much responsibility, too much hope, too much alleviation. Too many things Kakashi couldn’t name and he was also unwilling to name them. Wasn’t her innocence the most important part? Wasn’t that enough? Sure, she may have hacked herself into various…  _ countless _ facilities. So many people, so many crimes, so many people saved. And yet she was a criminal and would be treated as one if the police would get a hold on the small brunette. A court would judge over her, not seeing her loving and heartwarming nature, the little signs of care Kakashi knew so well. No, they would treat her like the thief coming before the woman and the rapist after her. Considering her long years and her “successful” work, the judges would throw her for a long time into prison, without a chance of probation. A maximum security-prison. No windows, massive grey walls, motionless guards. No sunlight. No fresh air. And visitors… Only on special days like Christmas and birthdays.

Unconsciously, Kakashi sighed heavily. Hiko in such an environment… He couldn’t imagine how she would get out of there alive and with all of her mental abilities. Or without the next wave of severe depression.

_ ‘But you noticed you are already down to occupy the visitor times as much as possible, right?’ _

Right. And that the detective was also hoping for mitigating circumstances (Hiko’s words, not his!) just like the brunette did, spoke about his dedication to the small woman. His reawakened, rekindled dedication.

Unknowingly to Kakashi, a small smile graced his lips as he stared emptily at the reports, fully dazed by his memories of the early morning. A sleeping Hiko, unaware of her appeal, snuggling into his arm and her hand curling over his heart, her slightly colder fingers touching warily his skin. Or an awake Hiko, her bright blue eyes blinking sleepily, trying to sharpen with every lowering of her eyelids, lips curling upwards as she woke up enough to see who was lying by her side. An even more awake Hiko, tracing his sides with her warm fingers, her lips on his lips, her lips on his neck, collarbones, shoulders, each and every contact conveying how much she missed him, how much she  _ would _ miss him, how much she loved him, right here, right now.

Kakashi paused, his own hands arranging blindly the papers before him. Like the dead leaves they were, they dangled in his grip, fluttering uselessly as the man slowly lowered them in a perfect stack to the desk, ordered after their significance and information value. Then suddenly the big doors leading to the atrium opened and like every other officer present, Kakashi flinched at the hoarse shout of Obito, who briskly walked in, a struggling Tenzo on his heels.

Strange. They wanted to investigate the store-unit Hiko booked a few years ago, so why held Tenzo such a large number of slim notebooks in his arms? Had that really been in there?

“Uchiha.” Like an ominous bat, Ibiki appeared out of nowhere. At least it seemed like this, but he and the rest of the SFU-squad had taken residence in one of the smaller compartments at the side of the main office, usually reserved for small scale-thieves and drug dealers while they waited to be escorted to their cells. The scarred man pointed with his thumb at the staple of books, not bigger than a postcard and only three centimeters thick. “What do we have here?”

“What does it look like?” Obito replied instantly. If Kakashi didn’t knew better he definitely would say the raven lost his fear for the SFU-commander, measured at the defiant tone and the cocky stance, but there was still a slight tremble in Obito’s voice, telling about the still present respect.

Ibiki raised one of his thin eyebrows. “Like a bunch of notebooks.”

“Sure,” Obito shrugged, “but those aren’t only notebooks. They are  _ logbooks _ .” Not caring about Tenzo, who had problems to keep the tower of thin books in his arms, he took one of them from the pile and raised it for everyone to see.  _ Logbook #3  _ said the label at the front cover, written in Hiko’s partly delicate and partly smudged handwriting.

Kakashi’s heart nearly leaped out of his chest. His eyes wandered further to the stack of books in Tenzo’s arms, hundreds of the brunette’s words only waiting to be read and comprehended. The urge to just grab those  _ logbooks _ and hide himself from the rest of the world to read them like he would do with a new Icha-Icha-book was almighty, but the detective barely held onto the pitiful rests of his pride. He was desperate, yes, but not that desperate.

So, he was accordingly excited when Ibiki only sighed and gestured to Tenzo, then towards his desk, a nearly exasperated expression on his hard features. “Fine. Hatake, read through them if you can find any information about Kobayashi’s whereabouts or possible hideouts she could use. And quickly, we needed this intel yesterday.”

Underneath his flu mask Kakashi’s smile widened until it felt like his mouth would split his face in half. “Yes, sir.”

After one glance of confirmation, Tenzo dropped the staple really in front of him. The silver haired man couldn’t believe his luck. Yesterday, he got to see and talk with Hiko, to cuddle and sleep by her side and now he would be able to read through some of her inner thoughts, written down and captured on paper. Hesitantly, he reached out and traced the backs of the small books. So many of them… So many pages… So many things to discover.

“Morino-san?” The panicked voice of Ebisu broke through the love-induced daze. “Is that really a wise decision? The chief especially cut out Hatake-san from the Kobayashi-case due to his involvement. Is it really a good decision to involve him-?”

Anger flooded Kakashi’s mind. How dare Ebisu tried to interfere! How dare he stand in the middle of the main office, with folders crammed under his arm, one hand raised to push his sunglasses up the bridge of his nose, a bandana covering his brown hair and the official uniform of the KPD covering everything else and tried to tell Ibiki that Kakashi wasn’t fit to read through a couple of notebooks? He didn’t know how much those notebooks meant to Kakashi! He had absolutely no clue, no freaking idea and-!

Angrily, the man bit down on his tongue. The sting brought him back, brought the calmness and much needed clarity back. Ebisu was only asking the right questions. Nagato had removed him from the case, so it was legit to question Ibiki’s decision.

Said commander stared eerily at the chief’s second-in-command until Ebisu was fidgeting and stuttering incoherently. A little bit longer and he fell completely silent, sweating and biting his lower lip, then he turned around like he just remembered something really important and vanished without a trace, already shuffling through his pockets in search for his cellphone. All the while Ibiki shortly covered his eyes in badly hidden exasperation.

“I’m surrounded by…” the older man mumbled, but stopped himself in time, sighed again and only nodded at Tenzo and Kakashi, before leaving the main office too.

Finally. Eagerly the silver haired detective searched through the stack, hoping to find the first book on the first try, but not to avail. Confused Kakashi’s eyebrows drew together. Where the hell…? Again, he paced through the staple and found the  _ Logbook #1  _ directly underneath the  _ Logbook #5,  _ nearly on top.

Suddenly a knock on his desk and Obito plopped down, not even bothering to wait for Kakashi to acknowledge his presence. “That’s some disturbing shit,” he started, his eyes unusually serious, “I mean, what’s in there. What Hiko wrote.”

“I understood that much.” Kakashi answered.

“Would’ve never thought…” The raven shook his head. “I mean, she never… Never said anything. Always smiling and always saying nothing was wrong. She lied… lied the whole time to me dude. The whole fucking time. All those years…” Bottomless dejected eyes met Kakashi’s. “She should’ve told me, you know?”

“How much did you read?”

“Only the first five pages.”

Maybe Kakashi grew more accustomed to being open and friendly, because the pat on Obito’s shoulder didn’t feel as awkward as it would’ve a few days ago. “I’m sure,” he mumbled, his other hand already playing with the edges of  _ Logbook #1,  _ “Hiko only saw the need to keep quiet because she thought it would burden you in some way. You said it yourself. Itachi said so. That’s just how she is.”

“But-!”

“No ‘but’.” Kakashi warily threw a glance over his shoulder. Maybe the morning and the far-too close meeting of Hanare and Hiko made him a bit paranoid, but he felt like he was being watched with hawk eyes. “Remember what Ibiki ordered? Make sure to let this investigation go on. We need to distract the mole in our ranks, don’t forget that. No doubts until we finished what he started.”

Obito chewed a bit on his index finger. Blood trickled over slightly marred skin, until the raven clicked his tongue in defeat. “Got it. I really should get my head out of my ass, huh?”

Kakashi snorted. “You’re actually one of the people who admit that freely. Just stay tuned and remember for who we are doing this. Everything else can be cleared up later.”

Yes, everything could be cleared up later. What mattered was that Hiko was innocent, that she felt better after she left him this morning, that she had been smiling and accepting his touches and hugs, that she had returned them with the same amount of love and care displayed in every move. And that they would talk about her past, where Kabuto belonged, for all his crimes and the guilt he built up over all those years.

Grimly, Kakashi smiled underneath his mask. For Hiko. For his best friend. For the woman who made him open up his heart once more.

When Obito was gone and the silver haired detective relatively alone once more, he tucked, without any real intention, his cell phone out and selected the number from yesterday evening. Still not really thinking about it, he typed a short text and sent it, before sinking again into his chair and knowing there was a chance he would regret those words later, but Kakashi heavily doubted that.

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Proofread by the wonderful and amazing Chisie! What you're doing for me is much appreciated! :3


	75. No security

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A storm called Hanare brews in the main office and Kakashi finds himself in the middle of a public talk he never wanted to begin with.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello folks :D  
> The updates will resume on their usual pace until I'm running out of chapters. But after that, it will be a bumpy ride to write them, so I can only beg for your patience. I'm definitely not abandoning this story, I couldn't. A lot of personal reasons here, first and foremost, it is my little baby and favorite project, without a doubt.   
> But when I'm coming to the point where I have no more leftover chapters, I will say so that all of you who love this story can prepare themselves.   
> Have a nice day, still :)

Hiko was in the middle of ordering the mess of illegal activities of Danzo when her cell phone beeped loudly. Alone in the flat, Suigetsu had a long shift at the coffeeshop and Karin wouldn’t be home until the late evening either. The shorty froze, her eyes blindly staring at the screen of her makeshift PC.

Was is really…? Could it be? Today, on top of that?

Her hands shook visibly as she settled them down on the keyboard. A deep breath in, then Hiko dared to glance full of hesitant excitement at the again beeping device, lying directly beside her crossed thighs. Kakashi’s number jumped into her vision.

It was really him.

Later she would deny that, but in that particular moment Hiko shrieked incredibly high and scrambled away from the cell phone, desperately trying to avoid looking at the screen, even though she had checked the phone with the maniacal precision of a clockwork until only a few seconds ago. But as her hopes and desperate wishes suddenly became reality, the woman couldn’t handle the sudden wave of complicated and clashing emotions rushing through her head.

‘ _ Kakashi texted me, he finally texted me!’ _

__ __ _ ‘ _ Are you sure it’s from him? Maybe you mistook his number for someone else’s…?’

_ ‘It’s his, you stupid cow! There’s no way I would mistake his number! Oh my god, I’m so nervous! What does he want to tell me, I’m asking myself…’ _

‘Nothing good. Surely nothing good. Don’t get too excited, he probably wants you to turn yourself in.’

_ ‘Kakashi would say that to me in person. No, this message has to be…’ _

Hiko shook her head, eyes clenched shut and biting into her lower lip. “That’s so dumb, you know?” she mumbled, staring like a rabbit at the snake down at the cell phone, “It’s just a text message from my boyfriend. Now-again-boyfriend. After I broke up with him for show. My now-again-boyfriend who could maybe want me back after all the shit I did. To him, may I add.” A groan escaped her lips. “Fucking bullshit… I’m not a scaredy-cat, okay!? Do it, you stupid woman!”

Still, the brunette waited a few more minutes before she hesitantly reached out. It was just… so hard to accept; So hard to accept the fact that Kakashi possibly could’ve written something with the intention to send it, not only cold and clinical words, but info about his day, what he was doing…

Like before all this mess. A sense of commonplace. A joke here and there, a teasing remark, a sexual innuendo mixed into it…

Hiko sighed deeply. Well, a sexual innuendo would be really too much to ask for, right? But the other things were in reach, just a second of stretching her muscles and circling her fingers around the cell phone. If she would only be brave enough to finally face Kakashi’s message!

With a little cry of courage (a really weak and pitiful cry, the shorty wouldn’t lie) she surged forward, cradled the cell phone to her chest and pressed her eyes shut. Then, one after the other, she dared to open her eyes, blinking against the artificial light of the PC. While Hiko tried to find even more courage to actually look at the cell phone, the device vibrated  _ again _ , indicating  _ another _ message came through.

Another message. The next message.

There was no way the brunette could wait, could allow her anxiety to hold her back any longer. Carefully and with a last steadying breath in, she glanced at the phone and her heart grew warm as her brain picked up the intention of the texts.

_ Kakashi: Still thinking about this morning. _

__ __ _ Kakashi: I miss you. _

An unbelieving smile tugged at the corners of her mouth. “Oh, my heart…” she whispered into the silence of Suigetsu’s flat, “I miss you too.”

That Kakashi would write something like that… Unbelievable. Her fingers flew over the touchscreen, typing down the hesitant relief her visit brought the woman.

_ Hiko: Me too. Both parts. Thanks for keeping me sane. _

His answer came almost instantly.

_ Kakashi: No thanks needed. _

_ Hiko: Yes. You could’ve kept the door closed. Could’ve cut the call. But you didn’t. And I’m grateful. _

_ Kakashi: You don’t need to be. It’s self-evident. _

_ Hiko: Maybe for you. But certainly not for me. _

_ Kakashi: Please stop. Or Gai will ask me why I’m blushing so hard. _

_ Hiko: Did I embarrass you with the truth? _

_ Kakashi: More like flustered. Btw, Obito found your logbooks. _

At that Hiko’s forehead wrinkled on instinct. Her logbooks? But he didn’t know about the latest one in the TV! Then she remembered the store-unit she rented such a long time ago and the sensitive information she had locked away in it. About the dark days, about her recovery, about the relapses, about the even slower recovery after the relapses, the nightmares, the returning depressive episodes, the growing and subsiding crave to cut herself again and the oh so slowly re-building of her personality.

Her fingers were heavy as she settled them again at the touchscreen. Hiko swallowed a ball of shame and uncertainty before standing up and giving in to the hunger gnawing on her stomach. For now, she would ignore the message. She needed a little bit of food. Maybe a lot more food, considering she ate poorly in the last days.

Yes, food sounded great. Fantastic even. Unluckily as the brunette had stumbled into the kitchen, ignored the flashing pain through her right ankle and ripped the fridge open, her right hand closed around the cell phone, her eyes fell upon nothing much but two leftover eggs, some lonely butter and an open package of ham. Hiko couldn’t decide if she should laugh or sigh in annoyance.

Another vibration set her off.

_ Kakashi: Still there? _

Gnawing on her lower lip, the brunette tried to decide what to do; Because ignoring Kakashi’s text completely was out of the question, not when he already had been disappointed by her so many times. But what could she possibly say? Maybe “Yes, just too shocked to move my fingers?” Or “Finally, was about time the whole KPD gets to know how broken I was and still am?”

Both options had her advantages. But Kakashi deserved the whole, uncovered truth, not dirtied by weak jokes and unnecessary profanities.

_ Hiko: Yes, I am. Did anyone read them? _

_ Kakashi: Obito peeked inside but was repelled by the first two pages. And I’m about to read through them. _

_ Hiko: Can you promise me something? It’s kinda big. _

_ Kakashi: What do you want? _

_ Hiko: Please don’t think lower of me because of what you’re about to read. _

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

__ __ _ Hiko: Please don’t think lower of me because of what you’re about to read. _

“What the…?”

Immediately Gai was looking at Kakashi. His partner was standing at his desk, just a short stop in between some investigations, the obnoxious green winter clothing thrown together in a hideous combination with orange leg-warmers Kakashi didn’t wish to see ever again. He scowled slightly. “Not very youthful, my rival. Remember,” he nodded at the SFU delegation and Hanare, who had sought out Zabuza and tucked him into a dark corner, where they seemed to discuss heatedly, “we have guests, therefore we should set an example and only use the most youthful phrases we can come up with!”

“Sure, sure.” The SFU and his ex-wife weren’t his biggest problem. Absent-mindedly Kakashi waved at his partner, then again threw a glance at the screen of his cell phone. Yes, the sentence was still there, the daring, incredibly sad sentence which made the detective automatically flinch. Sickness coiled in his stomach, making Kakashi nearly gag and doubling over just to relieve some of the nausea, but that would be too showy, especially with a group of special-force-members in close proximity.

Instead of pacing up and down, or instantly making a call to reassure the short woman, Kakashi settled for a short ruffle through his silver hair and a quickly typed text.

_ Kakashi: I could never think lowly of you. _

Though just in the second he managed to hide his cell phone again in the wide pockets of the loose KPD pullover he wore today, a slender hand knocked deliberately at his desk.

Hanare had her head cocked to the side and a gentle smile on her features as she stood there, in the same clothes she wore a few hours ago. “Hello there,” she said as sweet as always, “And? Did you have the chance to rest well after I visited?”

_ ‘Well… Not really. But I was already well rested before you came, just because Hiko was there. Your presence was actually hindering my “rest” more than anything else.’ _

Okay, Kakashi was miffed. Miffed because Hanare stole some minutes of his time with Hiko, because she tried to force a talk upon him he didn’t want to have, because she was so damn persistent and pushy, not even considering his earlier words and again tried to speak about their breaking-up.

His cell phone vibrated. Instinctively, he was reaching towards the device, but just in time he remembered Hanare’s presence and that she wouldn’t appreciate the fact that he would ditch her for a text-message of a highly sought-after hacker and assumed murderer. Not a good move, at all. So Kakashi resisted the urge to rudely shove Hanare aside and instead smiled at his ex-wife. A thin and forced smile, full of his dislike for the woman and the still growing discomfort she caused him currently. “Hanare, I already stated my opinion on that matter. Your persistence will not make me hurry up, no matter how much you smile or how often you ask.”

He spoke silently but the silver haired detective saw how Gai stilled while he was about to adjust one of his hideous orange leg-warmers. Sometimes his partner selected the most inappropriate times to grow the hearing ability of a lynx.

On Hanare’s face grew a once cute little pout, but Kakashi saw the cold calculations in her eyes. “But  _ Kakashi _ ,” she cooed and crossed her arms over her chest, “I’m waiting now for weeks! My investigations will soon come to an end and-!”

“What?”

“Yes.” She lost her pout the moment Kakashi showed only a little bit of interest. “They obviously had no idea Kobayashi hid something from them. Especially Hyuuga-san and Aburame-san. I mean, they barely knew her apart from her work with them. Only Uchiha-san was suspicious, but after I had some thorough talks with him,” she shrugged and started to twirl a single strand around her index finger, “I came to the conclusion he had no idea what Kobayashi was doing. Even though she started when she was a teenager. I have to say, if she wouldn’t be a criminal, I could be impressed with her achievements. But when I heard our old work-system and programs were created by her, I instantly informed Morino-san to switch to other systems. We can’t rely on something a criminal created, not when we have the responsibility to be a role model for the citizens.”

This talk drifted into a totally different direction than Kakashi had anticipated. He just wanted to make clear he wasn’t interested in talking about their break-up, but the longer Hanare rambled about “the lying and traitorous Kobayashi-woman” the more determined the detective was to sit still and hear the end of her monologue. His ex-wife didn’t even notice he wasn’t participating or sharing his insights. She just kept talking, her mouth closer and closer to a sneer, her features wrenching in her obvious disgust for a woman she never met and revealing more of her mindset to him.

Apparently, she had no idea Kakashi had lived in a relationship for the past months with the current suspect of their case. Otherwise he couldn’t explain the casual dislike Hanare spread willingly in front of him, but he realized quickly why she led this conversation so openly and loudly, drawing the attention of all the present officers with only little effort. But then again, it was just like back in the day. Hanare never questioned the power of the authorities. If Kakashi didn’t deserve to be part of the butcher’s investigation, then there had to be a reason only the chief of the KPD knew about. Besides, as an investigator, she probably heard a lot about Hiko and her shenanigans before Kakashi entered the main office; Her jokes, her uncouth behavior, her harpy-fits. Everything bad and brash about the brunette, everything what was only one side of her complex and vibrant personality. 

 

He had never been one for public displays. Neither good or bad. Probably, Hanare counted on that effect and hoped Kakashi would drag her sooner or later into a private compartment to finish this talk in order to make his colleagues forget about this.

Inwardly, the silver haired man sighed deeply. It would be a long fall out of her cloud castle.

Only when she started to complain about the absolute “social incompetence Kobayashi showed” and “how nobody suspected anything when this small dwarf was unable to maintain a peaceful and friendly work environment” Kakashi couldn’t take it anymore. Abruptly he stood up, jamming the logbooks filled with Hiko’s words under his arm and ignoring the shocked woman in front of his desk.

“Where are you going?” A persistent hand tugged at the sleeve of his pullover. Caused by the hasty motion, he nearly lost his grip around the books but Kakashi quickly stabilized and swiftly turned around to face the hateful woman, her outer beauty soiled by her ugly inside.  

“Hiko Kobayashi,” he started, his voice layered with cold steel, “is a diligent, hard-working member of the Konoha Police Department. She is a great friend, cares for the ones around her, tries to help her friends even when she has to bear the biggest weights on her own and loves to sing even though her voice is only suited to spit good-natured insults. Her cooking is fantastic and her video-game skills are too, but her temper while playing those is extremely quickly angered.” Grim satisfaction rose into his chest as he saw how Hanare’s dirty green eyes widened when the utter realization sank in, her usual confidence vanishing and being replaced by hesitant disbelief.

‘Am I that dysfunctional no one believes that I would be able to find a new relationship, not even the woman I was once married to? Alright, scratch that.’

His fingers turned white under the force the detective used to hold onto the only thing which had earned the right to pique his interest, namely the pile of books in his arms, not the female who was disrespectful and cold like no one else he knew.

In the back of his awareness, Kakashi knew about the whole main office listening to their not-so-private face-off. He would even swear he heard Obito weakly cheering him on and the tell-tale crinkles of a package of sweets being opened, but his whole attention was on Hanare and her sweet reactions to his cold words.

“She’s the most friendly, careful and clumsy person I have ever met. In comparison to you, who’s maybe on the outside gentle and nice, but on the inside you and Hiko couldn’t differ more. And you telling me she’s a disgrace or a fraud for the police force, all the while standing in front of me and demanding a talk to clear things between us, is an  _ insult _ . You want a talk?  _ Fine _ . You will get your talk. I’m not interested in knowing any of your reasons. I’m not interested in knowing why you saw the need to fuck Zabuza on my desk, why you didn’t come to me and  _ talked _ about our - broken - marriage. I’m not interested in you anymore, because I found someone who is everything I ever saw in you and more, who’s warm and lively, and smiles widely whenever I make a weak joke. Hiko Kobayashi isn’t a killer, never will be, because she despises unnecessary violence even more than I do. Spare my nerves and your dignity from spreading more of your unnecessary hateful comments and toxic waste. Will you excuse me now? For today, I heard and saw enough of you.”

His father would’ve been proud, Kakashi noted as he looked at the wonderfully pale face of his ex, such a long, public speech in front of his colleagues. It was just a shame he had to include so many ill words. Though Hanare deserved more public suffering and even more non-public humiliation - like this morning.

The silence was thick enough to hear a feather drift to the ground. Not that Kakashi waited to experience said thing. He just shook his head and brushed quickly past Hanare, whose mouth gaped like a fish out of the water. Eyes blown wide, she stared in full disbelief at his retreating back, but the man couldn’t care less about her or the others’ wonder about his open speech.

“Aah, yes…” One last thing. Kakashi halted and peaked over his shoulder. His eyes creased into his most nonchalant grin he could muster in this situation. “Calling her small dwarf isn’t really clever. It’s redundant. Being a dwarf already implies someone is small.”

With those last words he stole from Hiko, the silver-haired cop completed the public humiliation of his ex-wife Hanare, who stood with her jaws hanging open and eyes filled with angered confusion right where he left her and made no attempt in following him. Not that Kakashi wanted another meeting with her.

He just wanted to read those goddamn logbooks - _ diaries, why did Hiko have to be so complicated sometimes?-  _ in peace and maybe text a bit back and forth with the brunette. Something light, something gentle.

A smile crossed his mouth as he dared to glance at his phone.

_ Hiko: Wow, such a depressing topic. Now I’m almost sorry to have brought that up. Maybe I can lighten the mood with this? _

Attached to the message was a picture of a young black cat with ridiculous huge ears and paws, nipping playfully at some toes which belonged to none other than Hiko. There was no way she would allow a person beside Kakashi to see such a thing happening  _ and  _ take a photo of it. Besides, he knew those toes, the little crook in the biggest, the small mole right below the middle one and the shape of the nails.

Not that he had spent an evening with her small and surprisingly sturdy feet on his lap, absent-mindedly tugging at the toes and out of boredness memorizing the exact trail of the blue veins shining through the thin skin on top of the feet, drawing them with his fingers and chuckling to himself whenever Hiko complained that he tickled her, her grumpy words laced with tiny and still cute giggles.

“Good job.”

Kakashi flinched at the sudden raspy voice in his back. Secretly, he slipped his phone into the staple of books and turned to Ibiki, who had appeared out of the shadows; Just like in the good old days in the SFU. “Good job in what? Making a scene?”

“Good job in standing up for yourself.” Ibiki grunted as he stepped closer, his steps just as silent as the soundless walk of a cat. “Was about time someone told her where the bottom line is.”

Taking a shuddering breath in, the silver haired man attempted to smile. Though he wasn’t sure if he managed, too many things were spooking his mind, foremost the conversation and the goddamn really  _ funny _ picture Hiko send. And another vibration of his phone wasn’t helping either, he grew only more distressed with every second Ibiki stood there and stared at him with his small, bottomless, black eyes. “I just…” Kakashi started, coughed to cover up the next vibration and continued, “Just had enough.”

“Was about time. If you hadn’t spoken up, I would have. Couldn’t listen any longer to her rambling about Hiko.”

Ibiki’s scarred features scrunched in a mask of badly concealed disgust. The already low corners of his mouth hung even lower, the different long healed injuries roughed up his already haggard face further and the deep lines of a hard life in the darkness of the law grew more prominent. He obviously cared for Hiko, like a proud uncle would look at his only, diligently working niece who just won the first prize at a science fair.

“Have you ever talked with her? With Kobayashi?” Kakashi asked. It was just a spark of an idea, a silly hope, but Ibiki froze, then shook his head in obvious regret. Kakashi’s heart sunk and with a heavy sigh stuck in his throat, he arranged the pile of books in his arms anew. “You should have,” he said weakly, “because even though there were possibly reasons for you to stay aside… Hiko deserved it. To know there was someone watching over her.”

As he started to walk away, towards the lockers to get his coat and scarf, Kakashi breathed deeply in and released the air only when his chest hurt from the pressure. Today, he had spoken too many words in front of too many people. What he wanted now was to indulge in those books, accompanied by a hot, steaming cup of strong coffee and his phone, where Hiko’s messages would blink every minute over the screen, in the solitude of his own, safe apartment where Hiko’s scent was still strong.

Ibiki’s leather coat ruffling as he moved was the only sign he received. Suddenly, there was a big hand on Kakashi’s shoulder and a gruff, deep voice in his ear, only nearly sounding like he regretted some choices of his life. “I know, Hatake. Don’t believe I never thought about this. But she was better off without me, like she was better off without her parents.”

Kakashi snorted. “Sure. Try to console yourself with a weak excuse.”

“Hatake…”

“For today,” the silver haired man briskly brushed Ibiki’s hand off, “I talked enough. I’m tired and I have work to do.” A short flinch of his arms brought the books into Ibiki’s vision. “If you would excuse me, I’m practically dying to read those. Expect my report tomorrow.”

He was only a tiny bit proud about his fast exit and his self-control, waiting with reading Hiko’s text message until he was safe outside of the KPD, waiting for the bus and a bag with her logbooks in his other hand. Absent-mindedly, Kakashi glanced around and spotted Orochimaru in the distance, how he gestured wildly around while speaking apparently with urgency into his cellphone, then Hiko’s message was more important than the attics of a strange colleague.

_ Hiko: And? Much work to do except reading through the crazy scribblings of a mass-murderer? _

Tiredly, Kakashi smiled as his fingers flew over the screen.

_ Kakashi: Nope. I assigned myself some home office. _

__ __ _ Hiko: :O you rebel! _

_ Kakashi: One advantage of you being on the run. No one questions my decisions any longer. They are all too uncomfortable around me. _

_ Hiko: … Wow. Even now you’re an eremit. _

_ Kakashi: Hey! _

_ Hiko: ;) _

_ Kakashi: :P _

_ Hiko: -.-‘ _

_ Kakashi: ;) _

_ Hiko: at least I don’t have to worry about you any longer. _

_ Kakashi: So, you’re going to stop worrying about me from now on? _

The easy banter was pure balm for his strained nerves. After the confrontation with Hanare, the man couldn’t wish for anything more than some relaxed word-picking, especially when he could pick Hiko’s words and turn them over and over. Still the last statement hit a sour note, therefore the partly joking, partly serious question.

Thankfully, the brunette was more than able to handle his insecurities, if now present or on the other side of town.

_ Hiko: My heart, I will not stop to worry about you. You should know I’m just teasing you when I say this. Let me repeat it: I will never stop worrying about you, because you’re important to me. _

“Because I’m important…” Silently, Kakashi repeated those words, tasting them like other people would taste expensive chocolate. And they were sweet on his tongue; sweet and the best thing he had in a whole while. Except for the kisses this morning. They were in a whole different league.

The bag with her logbooks was basically burning holes into his jacket while he went home. Kakashi was so close to just get the first out in the bus and start reading, but her private words and thoughts were so much more worth than a quick reading in an open bus. Not when the teenagers sitting right behind him and playing hideous music out of their phones could read with him over his shoulder, not when the elderly woman sitting down beside him could read about her bad days and dark past too. Hiko’s thoughts were more precious than that. At least, he had other words from the brunette. While he waited for his stop, the silver haired man chatted with the female, spoke about non-important things, about the sight of the snow passing by, what he was planning to make for dinner and that he probably needed to take a shower tonight, his hair was getting greasy…

Hiko responded with her usual wit and sass, and told about her own day in return. Cracking jokes here and there, weak puns, sending pictures of the same black kitten running around in a messy living room and climbing things. Every little message and every little picture made Kakashi smile a little bit. The warmth of this morning, where he woke up with Hiko in his arms and was able to get some things off his heart, carried over until he dropped off at his station, the bag of books in one hand, the other closed around his cell phone and watching the whole time out for a text message of Hiko.

Only when he entered his apartment and another message appeared on the screen, Kakashi’s smile dropped.

_ Hiko: About the logbooks… Just you know, I’m not comfortable that anybody reads them. And I mean ANYBODY. The only thing which calms me is that you’re the one going through them. _

_ Hiko: Because it’s you, okay? _

_ Hiko: Sry, drank a little bit by now. Makes me emotional af. _

Alcohol? What? Kakashi scowled at his phone while shrugging off his coat and scarf. Hiko drank yet again? Why? Wasn’t she feeling good now? What happened to make her drink?

_ Kakashi: I thought you were fine? Everything alright? What happened? _

_ Hiko: Don’t worry. It wasn’t much, 2 shots. We’re having a drinking game over “Dark Souls” and you should see Swords. He’s wasted by now. _

_ Hiko: Died too much. Poor bby xD _

_ Hiko: and you should know depression doesn’t go really away. Always there, you know? Everything’s in my books and if you find the last one, you will understand what I mean with this. _

__ __ _ Kakashi: I try to understand. Really, I do. _

__ __ _ Hiko: You think you do, my heart. _

__ __ _ Hiko: Read the books. Read them. And find the last one. Then you will maybe understand. _

__ __ _ Hiko: Sry. _

Following an instinct, Kakashi pressed further.

_ Kakashi: is that what you were talking about? Looking inside your TV? Is your last logbook there? _

This time, her answer didn’t come instantly. Half an hour the man waited, hanging his coat and scarf away correctly, setting his shoes aside and starting the first preparations for his dinner, but then he felt the vibration at his hip, telling about a reaction. Not caring about his dirty fingers, smudged with leftover juices of chicken he just cut, Kakashi fiddled the phone out of his pocket.

_ Hiko: Sry, had to stomp Swords into the ground. He’s sobbing in his corner right now :P _

__ __ _ Hiko: and ye. No wonder you were SFU. Much skill. _

__ __ _ Kakashi: I can hear your sarcasm from here. _

__ __ _ Hiko: gooooooood job Kash-kash. Goooooooooooooooooood jooooooooooooooob _

This time, she attached a selfie to her message. Her short brown locks hung into her forehead, an adorable flush was tainting her cheeks and her lips were curled into a teasing smile. Her eyes were half-lidded, looking like she was ready to fall asleep any moment, but there was a certain teasing sparkle inside them that Kakashi just had to connect to the alcohol. Sighing, he typed in his answer.

_ Kakashi: How many shots did you have? _

__ __ _ Hiko: 5, only 5! _

__ __ _ Kakashi: is that the right thing to do when you just had a depressed episode? _

__ __ _ Hiko: I hate when you’re being logical. _

__ __ _ Kakashi: So am I right? Depression and alcohol don’t go well together? _

__ __ _ Hiko: yeeeeeee. Like always, you’re right. _

__ __ _ Kakashi: Then could you please stop? I’m worried. _

__ __ _ Hiko: Ok. Sry for worrying you. ;( _

The next picture was one of her hand, holding a bottle of the intoxicating liquor and emptying it out over the toilet. A little bit drastic, but still Kakashi felt the weight being lifted off his shoulders. At least she was reasonable, despite her tipsy state.

Then, suddenly “X gonna give it to ya” rang throughout his apartment. It was Hiko’s number on the screen, the new number which she also had used yesterday. Kakashi didn’t think at all, just took the call and set the phone on speakers.

_ “Heeey.”  _ Her voice was only the tiniest bit slurred.

“Hey.” Kakashi retorted.

_ “Are you alone?” _

“Yes. Just whipping up my dinner.”

_ “Chicken breast with rice, right? _

Kakashi chuckled lowly while rummaging through the fridge. “You know me. Only the easy stuff.” There were the already prepared chicken breasts from yesterday. With a low hum, he straightened and threw the meat into the heated pan waiting on the stove.

_ “Had time to get my last logbook?” _

He shook his head. Then, he remembered that she couldn’t see him and spoke up, all the while absentmindedly throwing a bag of rice into hot, salted water. “Not yet. After I eat, I’ll probably get it.”

Shuffles on Hiko’s side and her feet weakly slapped on some tiles as she walked around.  _ “Sorry for worrying you. Su-Swords saw I was down a bit and asked me if I wanted to have some fun and when he got out “Dark Souls”, I couldn’t resist.” _

Kakashi’s eyebrows wandered upwards. “Su-Swords? Do I want to know?”

Hiko giggled.  _ “Not really. He’s a cocky bastard, but also loyal. He came earlier back from his shift for me, you know? Tried to cheer me up. It’s not his fault I’m weak.” _

“He should watch out for you better. The other one on your team too.”

_ “They aren’t my babysitters.” _

“Hm.” Probably the rice would be too hard or tasteless, nevertheless Kakashi tugged the bag out of the boiling water and waited until the remaining wetness had dripped into the sink before he ripped it open. On the stove, the chicken breasts coated in a layer of buttermilk and orange sauce sizzled quietly, filling the air with a delicious fresh smell. “And you act like their mom or what?”

Hiko sighed deeply in the speaker.  _ “It certainly feels like it,”  _ she complained,  _ “Swords is constantly fighting with Ginger. You have no idea how many insults I heard over the last weeks and how many fights I had to diffuse. It’s like a kindergarten, except for the amount of swears in the air!” _

“Don’t get me started on kindergartens.” With little effort, he managed to turn the chicken breasts around so that the other side would get heated up too, “Today in the office I had the doubtful honor to explain to my ex-wife that she can fuck herself.”

To his surprise, Hiko giggled.  _ “Really?” _ she asked,  _ “You literally said to her “fuck yourself”?” _

“Not… really.”

_ “What did you do then?” _

“I said something along the lines that in my eyes, you are innocent. And my girlfriend. And that I don’t care about her reasons why she fucked my partner on my desk.” Kakashi inhaled deeply, bracing himself, before adding quietly: “Because I found someone better.”

He could basically  _ hear _ how the brunette blushed at the other side of the connection. First, there was nothing but silence, disturbed slightly by the sizzling of the chicken, but then Hiko started to sputter slurred words, clearly overthrown by such a simple statement and hearing her spluttered nonsense was balm for his strained nerves.  _ “No, really… I-I mean, that’s not… What? I-I-I th-think you-you got the wr-wrong number-!” _

“What?” A little chuckle broke free. “But you were the one to call me.”

_ “Yeah… Y-yeah, I get that. Okay, I called you but…”  _ she mumbled, “ _ But… That isn’t…” _

“It’s true,” Kakashi interjected gently, “Everything I said is true.”

_ “But-!” _

“No ‘but’. I said that everything I said is true. Nothing less.”

Hiko mumbled a little bit more, walked around and seemed to be so confused by his declaration that the brunette wasn’t able to think straight. In the meantime, Kakashi hummed weakly while preparing the last bits of his dinner, something simple and something he made himself out of fresh meat and other fresh ingredients. Still, it looked like crap to him when he was finished arranging the rice and chicken on the boring, white plate.

It felt almost like always. Hiko being flustered by a comment he made, running hectically around and her hands covering her bright-red cheeks, mumbling to herself and under her breath, while he would silently enjoy every little sign of her embarrassment.

‘Good old times. They can be my present, though.’

_ “Damn charmer. You and your silver tongue. Make me always flush from head to toe.”  _ She finally grumbled. He had the feeling though, the brunette was smiling weakly, despite her grumpy words. In the background, he could hear some grumbled moans and the ruffling of clothing, maybe from the “sui-swords” who invited Hiko for a drinking contest.

Therefore, he chuckled and was rewarded with a little and still so damn satisfying screech. “ _ Kakashi! I mean it!” _

“I mean it too.” Absent-mindedly, he tugged his flu mask away and ate the first fork of rice. A little bit dull but not too salty. At least partly a success. “Otherwise I wouldn’t have mentioned it.”

Hiko sighed. The single sound crackled in the connection, echoed loudly in Kakashi’s ears.  _ “Honestly,” _ she said,  _ “one day you’re killing me-!” _

“Never. I’ll protect you, no matter what.”

Their banter had been light and playful, something to hide behind before either one of them could cut into the still present walls between them. However, with that serious statement Kakashi just faced the walls head on, not caring about anything or anyone in his wake. Unusual for him. But today was an exception. Apparently, his calm and composed nature went on a sudden holiday, after all the shit that happened in the last weeks was no miracle. Was bound to happen sooner or later.

Hiko went silent. Unusual for her, but what was “usual” in the last weeks exactly? Surely not their current state of relationship, somehow floating in the air and somehow rooted in the ground, but with his sudden, honest statement, Kakashi stepped up to the plate. 

After minutes of tense silence, Kakashi moved to his table and set the phone which was on speakers to have free hands to eat. Hiko started to speak again. Even through the crackling connection, her voice sounded suspiciously thick to him.  _ “Kakashi… I… I don’t know…”  _ A sigh, heavy and heart-breaking.  _ “I still don’t believe… that we’re going to make this.” _

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Proofread by the awesome Chisie :3


	76. What are we doing?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kakashi and Hiko make a long and enlightening phone call, which soon turns into much, much more.

For the second time in two days, Hiko found herself locked up in the bathroom. With closed eyes, she sat in the bath tub, leaning backwards and the back of her head hitting the wall. Her hollow words still seemed to echo between the white tiles, taunting the brunette with their emptiness.

_ “What did you say?”  _ Hiko could easily picture Kakashi’s expression. Hurt, disbelieving and broken.  _ “Hiko, what do you mean?” _

“I’m just…” Frustrated, she raked through her short locks. “Maybe I phrased that wrong.”

_ “I hope so.” _

“It’s just… We both established we’re loving each other. But… sometimes love isn’t enough. I’m a criminal. Even when Kabuto is captured. Let’s be logical, my actions as Truth will lead to a punishment, most likely a prison penalty. At least two years, minimum. And if they never manage to find any proof against Kabuto, the penalty will only grow into absurd proportions.”

_ “Hiko-!” _

She raised her hand, eyes still closed. “No. It’s true, don’t try to deny it. We’re standing at different sides here.”

_ “Is you being a hacker really that big of an issue?”  _ he asked and Hiko had to swallow her tears when the raw despair hit her.

She had to pinch herself into the back of her hand before even thinking about an answer, too occupied with banning the picture of a lonely silver-haired man out of her brain. “That’s the issue,” she whispered, “tRuthseekEr is not an issue for me. He’s a part of my life since I was eighteen. Over ten years. He was sometimes my reason to keep on living, because he and his skills were my only hope to find one day my peace. It’s… It’s not that easy.”

_ “But you said you were ready to give him up.” _

“I also said I would find Kabuto and punish him for what he did. For what he still does.” Hiko breathed in when finally, her wildly circling thoughts fell into place, one by one like a deliberate puzzle. “I need Truth to find Kabuto. I will commit more crimes, stealing, hacking, searching through private information. And you know I will not stop, Kakashi. Not when he’s here, in Konoha. My  _ town _ , my goddamn home. What if he decides to go after my family next time to lure me out, what if he hunts you down to bait me?”

At the other side, the clanking of porcelain could be heard, just as the screeching of wood over PVC.  _ “Let’s just wrap this up,” _ Kakashi said,  _ “you claim to need your hacker alter ego, even though you wanted to give him up for me, for catching your psycho-ex who could, but not necessarily will attack me or your family and my friends, by the way,”  _ Hiko closed her eyes,  _ “to hurt you, and suddenly you don’t want to give hacking up because nothing good will come out even when Kabuto is captured because we belong to two different worlds?” _ A moment of tense silence.  _ “Hiko… Are you fucking kidding me?” _

Oh no. He would say something logical and completely overthrow her reasoning. In the moment the brunette tried to say something, Kakashi was already talking, the words raining down like a warm waterfall, washing the woman away.  _ “You’re only scared. I get that Hiko. I fucking get that. I’m also scared. Scared you will be hurt along the one, scared shitless Kabuto or whoever is responsible for that gets his hands on you and does whatever…”  _ He stopped, taking a deep breath in. The air crackled in the connection.  _ “I have nightmares. Lots of them. Even when we slept together in one bed. When you went rogue, it grew worse than before. Yesterday was the first night in a long time I slept through. No dreams, no nightmares, just peaceful unawareness. Because it’s you by my side I can go back to sleep easily.” _

“Kakashi…”

Why did he make it so hard for her? Hiko was dimly aware of the fact her boyfriend had nightmares on a regular base. Sometimes he twitched, moaned and sighed loudly in his sleep, sometimes Kakashi only jerked awake, his limbs twitching around her body. It was hard to ignore when the arms safely holding her were spasming like the man attached to them was being electrocuted.

_ “Now I’m talking,” _ Kakashi said,  _ “I listened to your arguments, now you’re listening to mine. That’s how relationships work, right? And we have a relationship, since the very beginning. We were colleagues, then friends, then you were my best friend and I don’t know if I was that for you too-!” _

“You were. You still are.”

_ “Good.”  _ Kakashi sounded oddly proud.  _ “And then we became lovers. We were always together and we accepted each other with our faults and mistakes, just the way we are. I don’t want to give this relationship up like nothing ever happened between us. Just because you’re scared of losing me. That’s what it is about. You’re scared of losing me, of losing the life you lived until now. No matter what you do to drive me away, I will not give up on you, my little Firefly.” _

Only when the first tears meet her lips, Hiko noticed she was crying heavily. No sound left the woman while she did so, the tears just fell and fell, running freely down and meeting the hems of her pullover. Unaware of her upset state, Kakashi continued to speak, in his special, hoarse, caring voice Hiko loved to listen to.  _ “I will not give up, not when you just came back to me. Not when I just made up my mind. I love you too much for that and I learned my lesson the last time I didn’t fight for something which was important to me. I don’t want this to end, not like how my marriage ended. If Kabuto comes for me, I will and can protect myself. If the police manages to catch you and stuffs you into prison, I will come visit you. And if we clear this misunderstanding up, if the homicides and everything else is somehow done, I will hug you close, that you can’t vanish anymore into thin air.” _

She wanted to answer, she truly did. But instead of the appreciating and grateful words, a weak sob fell from her lips. Hiko hated herself for being so weak and emotional, to be easily swayed by some pretty words from someone she loved, though Kakashi seemed to understand.

_ “I know, my Firefly,” _ he said. His voice clearly displayed how emotionally roughed up the cop was.  _ “I know.” _

For the second time in a few days, the brunette cried silently into the hems of her sleeves, listening to Kakashi’s soft cooings and sweet praises. She didn’t know a time where her eyes and nose didn’t burn anymore or her skin didn’t stretch uncomfortably over the bones of her face. The times where she felt okay-ish enough to not to cry anytime felt so far away. And then, somehow…

A chuckle mixed into her wet sobs, quiet and almost drowned in between her despair. Though Kakashi noticed, like always.  _ “What’s up?” _

“The sky?” she asked back and earned a little snort, “The ceiling? Anyone else, towering over a hobbit like me?”

_ “How much I would like to tower over you…” _

“Oh, you fuckin’ wanker!” Hopefully for the last time, Hiko wiped with her sleeves over her eyes, a little grin flashing over her face. “Can you stop flirting with me for one goddamn second?”

_ “I mean, I could  _ try _ to control myself.” _

“Yes. Yes, you could.”

_ “Problem is: I don’t wanna.” _

“Who would’ve thought…”

Kakashi laughed his special, warm laughter, rolling through the connection and straight into her heart.  _ “You, for certain. You know me better than anyone.”  _

The little admission painted a real smile on her face. One last snivel and another cough, then Hiko shook her head. Yes, she knew Kakashi certainly better than a lot of people, better at least, than Hanare. Alone, the thought of the beauty trying to approach him  _ again _ , this time with the whole KPD-office as a backup and safety net to not get rejected  _ again _ by him made Hiko’s teeth grind together until she thought she heard them slightly protest. And therefore, she would also notice by the slight sway of his voice when half of his mind was somewhere else, and currently, the man clearly was somewhere else with his thoughts.

Relaxed, but not eased, Hiko leaned backwards and closed her swollen eyes. “What are you doing?”

His hasty answer let her smile grew further.  _ “Me? Oh, nothing special.” _

“Come on, spit it out. As you said,” her head rolled from the right to the left, “I know when you’re up to something.”

_ “Maa… Vicious as always.”  _ Kakashi paused and Hiko thought for a second to hear the sound of pages being flipped.  _ “Alright. Uhm… While you were… out, I went into your flat and got the last logbook.”  _

Her heart didn’t drop. It instead jumped in her chest and subconsciously, Hiko pressed her palm to the spot where the organ hit the ribcage. “Really?” she murmured and rubbed her chest absentmindedly, “You… You have it? Right now?” Out of instinct, she started to climb out of the bathtub and opened the door to the entrance area, where she reached out for the heavy boots she called her own. Her still slightly swollen ankle protested at her harsh movements but Hiko couldn’t care less. Her last logbook? In Kakashi’s hands?

_ “Hm.” _

“Oh.”

_ “Yes.” _

“Well… Where are you at?”

_ “Just the start. Just… that.” _

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

His fingers trembled faintly as he held the page in between them. The thin paper crinkled, his index and middle finger pressing gently against his thumb while his eyes followed the chicken’s scratches swirled over half of the page. The other half of the passage was covered by a dark cloud, angry scratches of the pencil over the once white paper, covering the writings effectively, but Kakashi had a faint idea what Hiko could’ve written there, measured at the passage which was readable.

_ I DON’T WANT THIS I DON’T WANT THIS WHEN DOES IT STOP WILL IT STOP I WANT TO DIE- _

A sermon of horror, written by a shaky hand, just awoken by a nightmare. Kakashi could easily picture a shaken Hiko, how she jerked upright and gasped for a little bit of fresh air, only to jump out of the bed and wander around, checking all the locks and windows. Then, when the brunette really was sure no one was inside her home turf and no one was able to get inside either, she would sit down and write this, her brown locks still ruffled by the constant dragging of her fingers through her bed hair. Later, she added the wild picture of rough splotches all over the page, ashamed of her earlier thoughts and doubts.

Her dry chuckle ringing in his ear didn’t make things one bit better, like it usually did.  _ “And? Which part of my horrible memories did you just discover?” _

“As I said,” he quickly brushed through the pages and caught a glimpse of the raw despair waiting for him, “only the start.”

_ “Do you want to… cut the line? Read it alone?” _

“No. Under all circumstances, no.”

_ “Okay.”  _ Maybe it was only his imagination to hear the faint clanking of a door and steps resounding through a stairway.

Silence settled over their call like a blanket. Silence which filled him up, filled his head and brain with dead murmuring, filled the space between them with distance and closeness altogether. Eternities could’ve gone by and Kakashi wouldn’t have noticed. He was too focused on the pages, on the scribbled words, on the crude drawings and sketches of abstract symbols and depictions of what Hiko had seen. Her vision, captured in the very moment she had written in the logbooks; A hand steadying her head, the other swirling the pencil around, ice-blue eyes dead set on the window and staring at the clouds floating by.

The vision was standing before his inner eye like it happened, right here, right now.

Kakashi released a breath he had held without knowing. Parting with Hiko tore his heart apart, yet cutting the call now, with no way to see and meet her… His fingers crinkled another page, wrinkles appearing around his thumb and index finger. Quickly, the man went to the next page, the storm in his heart not quite raging, though also not entirely calmed. Losing Hiko… Losing Hiko _once_ _more_ , losing her completely, letting her slip away with only a “sorry” or even worse, without a word, just nothingness where she occupied space in his life… It would be hell.

It would be the same for the family and friends of someone who vanished, by the hands of a kidnapper or a human trafficking ring. No sign, no trace, just… nothing of where the human was before. And that was even more terrifying than seeing a corpse, a body, a little sign she was once on this earth... than nothing. Kakashi needed to close his eyes and breathed deeply in, feeling how the air rushed in and out of his throat, but that wasn’t enough.

“Tell me something,” he rasped and before she could say anything, possibly  _ decline _ , he added: “Please, Hiko. Just talk to me, I want to hear your voice.”

_ “Why? What’s wrong, my heart?” _

The new pet name was soothing balm over the wounds of his mind. The silver haired man curled deeper into the cushions of the couch, breathing again consciously in and out. “Everything is wrong and everything is right,” he said, “I… I just realized what can happen, what could’ve happened, what will eventually happen. To you, to me, to us. You… vanishing… I can’t…”

_ “Sssh. It’s alright.” _

Kakashi breathed again in and out. “No, no it’s not. Not at all.”

_ “What is happening? What are you thinking?” _

Abruptly, Kakashi bolted upright, gripping tightly the cellphone to his ear. “I don’t want to lose you! And with every day you’re gone, I fear more and more for your safety!” The scream echoed in the room, through the connection they had and reached the brunette, who gasped lowly. But Kakashi continued, eyes darting around, his voice laced with uncertain hastiness. “Since the start, I have this… this  _ feeling _ that I’m never going to see you again. Since you’ve been gone, just leaving me behind. Maybe one day, I told myself, I would see you on a cold metal table, pale and lifeless and that would be the end. But if I think now about it, after knowing… After knowing…”

“ _ Kakashi.” _

“And then the mayor ball came and I realized I can’t go on like this, thinking of you as a killer and someone who constantly lies, because that isn’t you. Not at all, sure, you’re one to say some mean things, but it’s not  _ mean _ , not harmful. To say it in your own words, because you suffered from abuse means you wouldn’t do things like that to other people because you know how harmful and destroying such things can be.”

_ “Kakashi. My love, my heart, listen-!” _

“And after yesterday, after today, I crave even more for your presence and I don’t know how I will go on from here, because I  _ need _ you, not only want you by my side, but  _ need  _ you and I’m scared of this intensity and that you’re in danger-!”

_ “Kakashi Hatake, can you shut up for a little second and open the door down here!? It’s fucking cold!” _

First, the man merely blinked. What? What was Hiko telling him? Open the door? But… But she only left this morning, there was no way-!

Scrunching of snow and the tatter of teeth.  _ “Goddammit Hatake,” _ she cursed with a smile in her voice, “ _ if you don’t open up soon, I will just turn around and walk back, ya know?” _

“What are you doing-?” he asked, already speeding to the entrance and pushing the door opener for the main door. Again, like an echo of yesterday, Kakashi listened over the phone how the door buzzed and opened, how Hiko stomped a few times to get rid over the leftover snow clinging to her boots, how she made her way up, her breath ragging over the line.

_ “What am I doing?”  _ she wheezed finally and paused shortly.  _ “I, a sought-after criminal, walk through storm and hail, and probably to an early demise to ease the mind of the one I love. So, tell me…” _

A knock at his door. Outside stood Hiko, her brown pixie-cut hidden underneath a dark-blue wool hat, her cheeks beautifully flushed from the cold and again clothed into a thick jacket, a green scarf peeking out from under the material. “Tell me,” she repeated and slowly lowered the cellphone, while a grin spread across her face, “am I crazy for wanting to be with you when you’re obviously hurting and beating yourself up?”

Nobody was on the hallway. Konan went out for work hours ago, Genma was still at the fire station due to the snow-chaos reigning outside. Still, Kakashi looked up and down the hall before letting Hiko completely in, one hand already tugging the obscuring hat down to reveal her brown locks to his eager fingers.

“Yes,” he told her while helping the woman out of her winter clothing, “you’re absolutely crazy and the best person I know. The best  _ fucking _ person I know.” Before he knew it, Hiko jumped into his arms, slinging her own short ones around his neck and pressing her cold face into his neck.

“Hey,” she mumbled and her breath tousled the short hair at the back of his neck, “I’m home, my heart.”

“Welcome back.” Kakashi whispered just as tenderly back. The hug strengthened, his hands gripping into her waist and flushing their bodies together, while one of her hands started to caress the back of his head like he was an overgrown cat.

Hiko shouldn’t be here. It was in the middle of the day, she left only hours ago, why was she again here? Would she stay longer than today?

_ ‘Please, stay longer. Stay with me.’ _

“I couldn’t take it,” her words rang in his ears, “To think about you, here, alone and facing those books… I couldn’t take it.”

They were drawn to each other like two parts of a whole. The absence had taken a toll on them both, Kakashi dimly thought while he carried Hiko into his living room and settled on the couch, their limbs entangled and unwilling to let go. Cut off from their usual amount of body contact, of their casual intimacy they both craved for all their life. When the window for an opportunity came up, surely Hiko would seize the chance to come over, despite the danger and despite the reality of her being hunted down by all parties in this game. The police, Kabuto, the public. Everyone was turned against her. Against  _ them _ .

Suddenly, Hiko poked his cheek, wrinkles lightly engraved into her forehead. “Why are you smiling?” she asked.

“You’re here.” Gently, he wiped a stray strand of her wildly curling hair out of her face, “you’re here, with me. No questions asked, not thinking about yourself. You could’ve be captured, seen by someone.”

Hiko rubbed her nose against the underside of his jaw. “Sure,” she hoarsely whispered, “But you’re worth the risk.”

His chest felt like exploding, too small to confine his breath. How could he ever have any doubt in this woman? She was loyal to the point of being stupid, had high standards like no one else Kakashi knew and was always down to help her friends and family. How could he ever doubt her dedication to him, him specifically?

At a loss for words, Kakashi was only able to press the softest of possible kisses to her lips. His heart bloomed when he felt Hiko melting against him, her hands resting at his shoulders, returning the sensual contact just as tenderly. His thighs were straddled by the woman, flushing their upper bodies together. Hiko’s cold fingers warmed up at the skin contact and when they slipped underneath the pullover he wore, slowly caressing his stomach, Kakashi groaned into Hiko’s mouth.

“Stop,” he hastily mumbled, “We… Kami… We have to stop.”

For a short moment, he thought Hiko would continue to drive him crazy with her movements, though with a last, low sigh, she lowered herself to his lap, the ease and relief radiating from her.

“Alright.” Quickly, she dismounted him and before Kakashi could complain, the small brunette was again snuggled to his side, her head leaned against his shoulder and her short legs thrown over his lap. “Whatever you want.”

That Hiko complied so easily was suspicious. But when Kakashi checked her whole body up and down, searching for a sign she was hiding something, there was nothing but openness and honesty. The same open attitude she spotted now for the last days, whenever he saw, talked or wrote with the female.

Hiko noticed almost immediately. But instead of being hurt by his distrust, the pained smile on her face only widened a fraction, before she pressed another kiss to their intermingling hands. “Yesterday, you were there for me when I panicked,” she said, “And today I’m here for you. I’m here for you, Kakashi. My heart, my love. I’m yours.”

_ His _ . The word resonated deep inside his chest. Hiko claimed she was  _ his _ , his and his alone. Probably the last time the brunette felt remotely the same was with Kabuto. His plaything, his toy, his perfectly submissive pawn to move around, to clothe and style the shorty to his tastes. Hearing her saying those fateful words was more than Kakashi ever had dreamed of.

There was a small tear sparkling in her wide, beautiful ice blue eye. Before it could fall, Kakashi cupped her face, his thumbs quickly wiping over her cheekbones and smearing the faintest trickle of tears over her skin.

She could feel the importance of her own words too. They vibrated in her bones, resounded in her heart and alone her bravery to actually utter them out loud let Kakashi smile at his little firefly.

“And I’m yours,” he admitted just as silent and yet, just as confident as Hiko, “I’m yours. Look at me. I was always yours, since the moment you confessed your love to me. Since you were brave enough to say you love me.”

Her muffled gasp was music to his ears. Hiko expected everything, from a total rejection of her words to a neutral acceptance, but surely not an admission and even a repetition of her own words. Kakashi would never understand how the brunette could think so little of herself, but that wasn’t the point here. The point was to make her understand and accept she wasn’t alone in this one, not any longer. Not anymore.

Kakashi had no idea for how long they stayed on the couch, cuddled up and looking into each other’s eyes, smiling sometimes and their hands moving along the lines of their bodies, lovingly and admiring at the same time. Only sometime, the night started to fall over Konoha and into the living room, Hiko sighed and loosened one of her hands from his body, reaching somewhere around him where his eyes couldn’t follow.

“And again. I stayed far too long.”

“Not long enough,” he instantly answered. Her upper body was flush against his, her neck on display for him, her tantalizing scent of vanilla and raspberries floating through the air. Instinctively, Kakashi leaned forward and kissed his way down the single sharp line of the visible muscle. Hiko flinched, what forced a small chuckle out of his mouth. “What’s wrong? Ticklish?”

With an adorable squeal, Hiko tried to wiggle out of his arms but lost the fight without much regret. “Kakashi! You evil-!”

It wasn’t his fault. Totally not. The thing was, Hiko’s lips had always such a huge effect on him. And seeing them in such a cute pout, the red color highlighted by the telltale sparkle in her eyes and the overall satisfaction radiating from the small woman was the biggest turn-on the cop could imagine. Quicker than he could think, Kakashi leaned in, capturing her slightly open mouth in a longing kiss and reveling in the feeling of Hiko answering his advances just as urgent. Before, it had been time for softness. Now there was only place for their shared lust, the desperate and aching reunion, the roaring flame between them, sparking up when they connected.

A guttural moan vibrated in her throat. Kakashi answered, his hands tugging Hiko closer and wandering underneath her thick shirt. Bare skin, round curves, familiar warmth. Kakashi basked in those little moans and Hiko’s lips moving against his, basked in the heightened familiarity of those gentle, yet urgent ministrations. Another nip at her bottom lip, then his tongue flicked over the same spot, soothing the small flash of before. And forward, asking for permission, what the brunette granted with little restraint. Kakashi was distantly aware of the triumphant growl hollering through his chest when she opened her mouth more, allowing his tongue to delve inside.

Tasting Hiko after all this time, feeling how she arched desperately against him in her search for more contact… Kakashi’s head spun like he was drunk, intoxicated by the eagerness and acceptance of the small brunette. Their tongues entwined, caressed, while their hands continued to stroke over exposed and covered skin, fingernails dragging over hindering seams of clothing. Dangerously low to their lower bodies.

Kakashi’s fingers touched her clothed sex at the same time when her fingers closed around his wrists. Only a slither of damp wetness, soaking slightly through her jeans, then Hiko stopped all of her movements along Kakashi’s.

He searched her eyes, his nose still filled with innocent vanilla and heated raspberries. “You don’t want?” Teasingly, he dug his fingers harder into the seam leading between her legs and watched how Hiko had to close her eyes alone to concentrate.

The hardening dick in his pants screamed at him to just lure her in, but Kakashi wasn’t someone who forced his will on someone, especially not on Hiko, so he waited until her ice blue eyes fluttered open, her irises unfocused and dazed.

Her voice was thick with desire and regret. “It’s not a question of wanting,” Hiko slowly tugged at his wrists until Kakashi retreated from her inviting heat, “but what is right and what is wrong. And sleeping with you, as tempting as it is, wouldn’t feel right currently.”

“Alright.” Even though every other part of his body screamed out enraged, Kakashi allowed the brunette to retreat and arrange his arms to her liking. Thankfully, Hiko didn’t fully escape. Before he knew what was going on, she was again back in his arms, the crown of her head tucked away under his chin and his arms lying around her waist. Only his still growing erection was a tiny bit uncomfortable in this position, nearly squashed between their bodies, but Hiko didn’t care about the bulge pressing against her lower stomach and so didn’t Kakashi.

When he brought his hand up to rest on top of her head, the shorty pressed slightly into his palm. When Kakashi entangled his fingers more with her short brown locks, Hiko snuggled into his chest, humming lowly while they did so. And when the man started to slowly stroke over the back of her head, enjoying the feeling of the hair against his skin, a sigh was breathed against his chest, light and satisfied.

The next question was just as easy as breathing for him. “Will you stay?”

This morning, both had been insecure. This morning, the answer only could be a resolute “no”, with nothing to rely on and nothing to safe both of them. But this evening, hours later and reassured through Hiko’s reappearance at his doorstep, through their talk and their careful touches, Kakashi couldn’t help but to feel like it was the right thing to ask. He needed Hiko in his life, needed her close, not only to satisfy some old manly instinct, but to make sure she wouldn’t feel  _ that _ down like yesterday. As a friend and her boyfriend, it was his privilege and his duty to do so, one he would fulfil more than willingly.

If Hiko let him.

For some minutes, no one said anything. Patiently, the silver haired cop waited for Hiko to come to an answer, one hopefully unaffected by his needs and wishes. No, she needed to find one for herself. If she wasn’t absolutely on board with staying with him, he wouldn’t be able to hold her. Hiko would slip right through his fingers and that was another reason for him to hope his little Firefly would think all possible routes and chances through. Better a planned-out rejection than a hasty agreement.

Like that, they laid on the couch, Kakashi listening to the faint mumbles of Hiko while continuing to caress gingerly the back of her head, his other arm slung around her middle. It was wonderful to feel her breathing, the slow and deliberate rise and fall of her chest and the low hum running through her form and in the end, also through his.

Then, a tiny nod. Her chin burrowed shortly into his sternum, the crown of her head pressed for a split second into his chin. Kakashi closed his eyes, the relief crashing into him.

“Really?” he asked again. At least he could admit his voice was hoarse; hoarse enough to betray his unemotional façade for what it was. A useless attempt of hiding his raging feelings from her and about her decision.

Hiko nodded again, more determined this time. “Yes,” she whispered and her hands clawed into his pullover, “I will stay. As long as you want me here.”

‘Forever.’

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, proofread by the awesome Chisie! Thank you for everything you have done for me :3


	77. A night's rest is the best

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Even though they cleared the biggest misunderstandings between them up, the break-up and runnign away left scars. Hiko and Kakashi start to mend them, slowly and carefully.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chisie, thank you very much for proofreading <3 All the Kudos to you.

Just like yesterday, neither Kakashi or Hiko spoke much when they entered his bed shortly after her decision, but this time, the mood wasn’t tainted by possible rejections, insecurity or questions. Today, there was nothing but relief and contentment in the air when Hiko undressed herself. When she turned around, she found Kakashi smiling at her, his upper body bare of any clothing and right in the motion of lowering his pants.

Hiko cocked her head to the side, feeling how at the corner of her mouth tugging at just a little smile. “What is going on inside your strange head?”

Swiftly, Kakashi stepped out of his jeans. A pair of green boxers adorned his lower body and the small, darker spots at the front told about his earlier… predicament. “First,” he said and bent down to pick up his pants, “that would be you. I want to be honest, even though you declined any sexual intercourse,” his eyebrows wiggled, “doesn’t mean I can’t think about it, right?”

“You’re incorrigible.”

Kakashi shrugged. “Only for you, my little Firefly.”

Without any shame, Hiko copied him, shimming her thick jeans down her legs. With growing pride, she watched how his beautiful, black eyes followed every careful sway of her hips and the path the rough fabric took as it slid down. “Only for me? How… interesting.”

Every other man would’ve been at least slightly angered at her earlier decline of anything remotely sexual and now seeing the same teasing vixen as always. Not Kakashi. Instead of sliding into a little hissy fit, his smile widened and the dimples she loved dearly appeared on his cheeks.

“Yes. Now come here, I want to cuddle the living daylights out of you as long as I can.” Opening his arms, Kakashi wiggled his eyebrows. Hiko let her eyes slide over his almost naked figure and had to admit it was a good invitation. Obviously Kakashi trained while she was…  _ gone _ , for the lack of a better word. Sure, before the cop already had been fit, muscles twitching as soon as Hiko would touch them with love and care, but now his entire body looked fitter than ever. His arms, invitingly opened, looked stronger, the legs standing steadfast on the ground were a tiny bit thicker and his abs… The night before, Hiko already got to know his six-pack improved, but when her eyes settled on his ripped stomach, she had to gasp out. Impressive abs, rippling slightly like they felt the appreciation directed at them and a set of sharp waist bones, surely able to cut through paper.

A lot of women and also a lot of men would love to be in Hiko’s footsteps, because this was a sight to remember.

“Looking at something you like?” Kakashi grinned widely, while Hiko felt how hot blood creeped into her cheeks and neck. “You can touch me however you want. You know,” his teasing tone changed, became softer and warmer, “I’m yours.”

Quickly, Hiko discarded her shirt, letting it unceremoniously drop to the ground. The sports bra wasn’t overly revealing nor accentuating, still Kakashi’s eyes widened like she put on an expensive negligee or another kind of fancy underwear.

“That’s really good to know,” she said, “And tells a lot about your dedication.”

“Hikoooo…” Kakashi whined out. “Please. Come here.”

They cuddled already for a good portion of their time together, though the brunette was never repelled by more intimacy. Smiling, the shorty almost threw herself into her lover’s arms, enjoying the drag of naked skin over naked skin, the warmth now easily shared between them and the created intimacy.

Suddenly, Kakashi turned sideward and before Hiko had a chance to protest, he threw himself on his bed, which groaned in protest. All the while he securely held her, one hand in her neck, the other slung around her waist. He hummed deeply and buried his sensitive nose in her greasy hair.

“Stubborn donkey,” Hiko mumbled and smiled to herself, “Didn’t you have enough of me already?”

His knee nudged into her calf. “Never.” Another nudge. “Never ever.”

“Very adult-like,” she commented. Though she nudged back, what Kakashi countered with another deep hum in his chest and a sweet nuzzle of her crown. Instinctively, Hiko relaxed even more, melted into his embrace and slung in return, her own arms around his waist and like a coincidence, her other hand landed somehow in Kakashi’s spiky mane, twirling single strands around her fingers and massaging his scalp.

“You’re thin.” Kakashi mumbled suddenly. His fingers trailed the set of ribs on her side, then his palm pressed to her ribcage, the fingers spreading like the legs of a spider over her skin. “I need to cook lots of meals.”

Her heart pounded against his palm, riding on the familiar wave Hiko always felt when she was so close to Kakashi. Love. Desire. Affection. Respect. Deep loyalty. “Then do so,” she mumbled, “I certainly won’t stop you.”

“Good. What do you think about pancakes for breakfast?”

“How unusual. Something sweet. I thought you didn’t like pancakes much.”

Kakashi hummed. “Not with other sweet things. No one says you have to shovel a whole kilo of sugar into your stomach. They can be savory, you know? Besides, you like pancakes.”

“Right.” Hiko already felt how sleep creeped up on her. Yawning widely, she kissed his chest before closing her eyes. Sleep sounded actually good for once. Just enjoying the warmth and the embrace, the love wrapping her up and the way how his hands tenderly wandered over her back, caressing her spine in sleazy circles.

“Rest,” she heard Kakashi say before a curtain fell over her mind, “Rest well, my little Firefly. You need every little bit of sleep you can get, alright? I love you.”

‘I love you too, Kakashi. I love you so much. And thank you.’

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

She looked so peaceful. Kakashi was amazed how fast Hiko was out. Her whole, small body was entirely relaxed and flushed against his, her breath fanning over his naked chest and her sports bra rising and falling almost in sync with his rhythm. He tried to ignore the resurfacing arousal from before, the lava in his lower stomach and the lightning in his veins at her cautious touches. He was still determined to follow her wishes. Consent was the magical word and the silver haired cop would be damned before he would use Hiko for his desires. Or somehow make her comply to his selfish wishes by arousing and entice her with his sexual… prowess.

Absentmindedly, Kakashi continued to draw circles over Hiko’s spine, all the while her breathing became slower and deeper. His eyes were trained on her face, her skin almost shining in the darkness of his shadow and the night.

Hiko would stay with him. Alone at the memory of her hesitant nod only minutes ago, Kakashi’s heart bloomed with all his suppressed feelings. It was ridiculous. One lone woman turned him into such a mushy ball of sappy emotions, protectiveness and care for someone who wore sometimes a coat of steel and needles to protect herself. And his price was her absolute loyalty, nothing less.

Quickly, Kakashi bent over and kissed her forehead. Hiko was still deeply asleep as he carefully removed her arms around his waist and replaced himself with a wrinkle of their shared blanket. She was still asleep when the man looked over his shoulder, already standing on the doorstep leading to the entrance area and she was still asleep when he quickly sneaked into his own living room and grabbed the last logbook. On tiptoes Kakashi slipped back into the cushions and only breathed his relief out when he was propped against the headboard of his bed, Hiko lying across his lower stomach and clinging with all her desperate sweetness to him.

That was it, the last, mysterious notebook. Kakashi examined it, traced the worn-out edges with his fingers, turned it around and around, held it to his sensitive nose and inhaled the scent of dust and ink. The notebook didn’t differ much from the others. Boringly normal, perfect to hide in between the daily rubbish Hiko carried always in her backpack. A rubber band held the book closed. Gingerly, Kakashi removed it, then flipped quickly and without peeking through the pages.

Less furious scribblings, more words. Kakashi wanted to see it as a good sign, he really tried. Still, words meant more self-loathing, more self-hatred, more potential for Hiko to drag herself down. But there was also the possibility of seeing herself in a better light, of recounting her good sides and remembering what the small shorty managed to achieve over the years.

One last inhale, then Kakashi dared to flip the book open. The paper crinkled slightly as he carefully wrinkled the first page out and lifted the book closer to his face to read Hiko’s jammed handwriting even in the darkness. Almost instantly he was captured by the aged words, the small doodles at the side, the up and downs of her mood and the obviously improving mental health of the brunette.

_ Today something happened. I was at Itachi’s, cooking in the kitchen, stirring in the chili I prepared extra spicy for Kisame and Obito came in. I asked him what was wrong when he just stood there, jaw slack and eyes wide. I wasn’t prepared for him to suddenly hug me. _

_ He said I was humming. He said I was happily humming while I was cooking, something I haven’t done in years, while he sobbed pathetically into my shoulder. Needless to say, all my brothers took it as an invitation to engulf me in a group hug. Sappy idiots, altogether. _

_ I still think about what happened. Not as regularly as before, however, occasionally I think about him. Where is he, after all those years? Is his obsession still going on? Or has he moved on, gave his sick fantasies a new playground? I don’t want to think like this but I pray he did that instead of thinking about me. It still means he tortures another girl like me. It means he breaks another spirit like he broke mine and maybe that girl doesn’t have the help that I had. _

_ I want to punish him for what he did. What he does. What he did to  _ me _. _

_ Brought some razorblades. Stared at them while I write that, they sit right in front of me on the table. I glance at them and they blink back, silver and shiny and tempting me to relief some of the pain. While I write this, I draw lines on my wrists to stop myself from craving to cut myself. _

_ Itachi’s and Kisame’s fourth anniversary. They are so cute together. And still… I’m a bit jealous when seeing them. They have something great and beautiful, while I had… something twisted, degenerated. And now I’m scared. Scared of what can happen. Mostly I’m fine with being unable to have a relationship. But seeing them together, so obviously happy and in love… _

_ It hurts. _

_ Another asshole gone off the streets. Truth strikes again and this time he was an asshole who beat his wife and children. Not on my watch fucker. Not on my fucking watch. And the two supermarkets abusing their workers? Reported, closed, shut down. Get out of business, idiots. You’re not welcome to abuse people who depend on you. _

_ Status update: I just looked up Namikaze’s actions on his little traitors. They were quietly escorted out of the town hall, with a slip of paper in their hands to take some “long vacation”. LOL. Everyone knows what that means and that it isn’t the invitation for a week on Hawaii. _

_ I made a new friend. Surprising, right? I was surprised too. But Hatake is a cool guy, maybe a little bit strange with his mask-thing going on but mostly… He’s totally cool. And he feels good, like Itachi and Kisame and Obito feel good to me. He’s… I don’t know, he already feels like family. _

Seeing his own name scrawled over the pages let Kakashi’s heart leap into his throat. Hiko wrote about him, thought about him, considered him as something good and worthy in her life. And not only once. The following entries were all somehow connected to him, his name was sometimes even more seen than the ones of her other friends.  _ “Kakashi said this, Kakashi said that _ …”, “ _ Today Kakashi and I hung out…”, “And the book Kakashi reads is sooo good, let me tell you-!” _

No entries about nightmares. No sadness, no scrabbles about the doings of tRuthseekEr. Just friendship and soft feelings, growing with every page and every passing day. Then, Kakashi went over to quickly skim over Hiko’s writing, only stopping when he saw his name, reached the end. Not really the end, it was the last entry, a lengthy one on top of that. The rest of the pages were empty, ready to hold more of the brunette’s words and thoughts. Kakashi glanced down at the woman in his lap, who mumbled something inaudible in her sleep, before he started to stroke absentmindedly through her hair, the other hand holding her logbook in front of his eyes. The two last entries were months apart, like Hiko forgot about the notebook only to remember it when her emotions became too much again.

_ Hey. It’s been a while. _

_ Life has been good to me lately. Too good, some might say. Itachi and Kisame plan to marry next spring and they announced me as their bridesmaid and somehow also as the ring buddy? I don’t know. Obito met someone, a nurse named Rin and they are sickly in love with each other. They are like fluffy, teeth-rotting, sugar icing on top of a red velvet cupcake. And they are so good for each other. _

_ Before I would’ve been envious of them. Before I would’ve scolded myself for being so stupid to not be happy for them. They deserve every single bit of love they can get, each and every one of my brothers. _

_ But I’m not envious. How could I? _

_ Kakashi is the reason I cannot be envious. That’s right. He and I are a thing now. I would’ve never thought one day I could be like this again, happily in love and being loved. But I am and Kakashi seems just as happy as I am. He’s everything I could ever want in a guy. Gentle, understanding, careful, never pressuring me into anything. His dry humor always makes me laugh and his cooking -when he is in a productive mood- is to die for. And he treats me well. Others take that small thing as ordinary, as a given fact. I can’t, because… I experienced the other side. _

_ But there’s a problem and this problem could destroy everything I built over the last months. Everything Kakashi built with me over the last months. I am still tRuthseekEr, still a hacker, still a criminal. And right now, the police including Kakashi search for my alter ego. Search for me and I have no idea why. _

_ And suddenly, the only thing I can think about is how Kakashi would react when he finds out what I did. What I still do. How disappointed he will be, how utterly destroyed and betrayed. I swore myself after hearing what his ex did to never lie to him, to never betray him. And now I am in a situation with no easy way out. Not because of the circumstances, even though they aren’t good. No, because of my own guilty consciousness. I don’t want to live like this anymore, always hiding behind my alter ego. Truth was an aid, a walking stick to learn walking again, to live without fear and without… him. Now I have Kakashi, who’s everything and more I could’ve ever asked for in a man. _

_ I can’t lie to him. Not any longer. When the investigation is done, I’m telling him who I am and what I did. And I will erase every little data and every little folder of information I have on companies, right in front of his eyes to prove what he means to me. _

_ What he did for me. Because he deserves the truth. _

“Because I deserve the truth.” Kakashi shook his head. “Are you even aware of your own pun here, Hiko?”

Thankfully, the brunette didn’t answer. Her breath was deep and calm, brushing in warm waves over his stomach. Gently, he cupped her relaxed face, his thumb softly stroking over her cheekbone. Her skin was warm and soft, a noticeable dark compared to his pale fingers. Fascinated by the contrast, Kakashi let his thumb again wander over the pronounced bone, before closing the logbook with a tired sigh.

That… was heavy. Heavy and light at the same time. To know now what Hiko wanted to tell him desperately. A glance at the small date she scribbled at the start of the paragraph and his breath hitched when he recounted the days. From this day on, the shorty told him various times she loved him and that he should never forget that. Had that been her kind of preparation? Some kind of sick, twisted preservation for her feelings? Proclaiming over and over her love for him and at the same time pleading Kakashi never to forget, especially when Hiko would reveal her criminal doings to him?

What a weight. A far too heavy weight to bear alone. But Hiko didn’t talk with anyone about her secret identity, only planned to do so with him…

Kakashi sighed out. “Silly… Silly woman, you.”

She wanted to reveal herself fully, for the first time in her life. Vulnerable, open, all of that. Kakashi silently dropped the logbook to the side, before slipping further under the blankets. Even though he was careful and endeavored not to disturb Hiko’s fragile sleep, the brunette sleepily opened her eyes and blinked slowly.

“What’ve you done…?” she asked, more mumbling than anything else. When he didn’t answer, a small grump floated through the air. “Doesn’t matter. Now come here, back.” Her arms opened wide, the hems of the blanket creating more warm shadows to seek sleep in, her head falling back on the pillow.

Kakashi could only stare at Hiko. His tongue was glued to the roof of his mouth and unable to speak, he only shook his head before scooting closer, not daring to touch her.

A pout grew on her face, still intermingled with the sleepiness of someone just woken up. “Come here.  _ Warmth _ ,” she insisted and opened her arms wider, “’s good for you.”

Good for him. And what was good for her? He could only lay there, staring helplessly at the woman and turning the doubtful thoughts up and down. Until Hiko had enough. Grumbling something about stubborn males under her breath, the shorty cut the last bits of free space between them. Then, like he was a child again, Hiko reached out and let her fingers run through his mane, soothing him with her natural scent and the cautious touch.

“There, there,” Hiko said lowly, “who’s a good boyfriend? Who’s a good and caring boyfriend?”

Despite the strange melancholy coiling in his guts, a little amused snort escaped Kakashi. Hiko talked to him like other people talked to their dogs, in a loving and adoring way. And somehow, that helped more than merciful silence.

If he was good enough in Hiko’s eyes, then the shorty must be right. If she thought he was good for her, that he didn’t treat her wrong, then it was like that. No need to ponder, no need to fret and freeze any longer.

“In your opinion,” Kakashi cuddled to Hiko and enjoyed the casual skin-to-skin contact, “it must be me. But if you have another boyfriend I don’t know anything about…”

“As if,” she mumbled into his chest, “as if. ‘Cause I love only you, ‘kashi. Don’t forget that.”

‘You’re killing me. Your words are killing me, my little Firefly, in the best way possible.’

Those words. Unconsciously, Kakashi grinned slightly into Hiko’s mussed up hair, while he dragged the shorty as close as possible. “Never.”

This time, he meant it.

(…)

He was dimly aware of Hiko when she moved in his arms, wiggled out of his embrace. Kakashi’s ears caught the weak padding of her naked feet on the ground and how different doors leading to different parts of his flat were opened and closed. But his mind wasn’t awake enough to register anything beyond that nor make any kind of logical or reasonable connection. Rolling around was fine and when he buried his face in the other pillow which smelled heavenly familiar and like home, Kakashi grinned sleepily into the cushions. He felt good, nice, relaxed. For once sleep followed its purpose and the best thing were the missing nightmares. No worry, no fear, no panic. Just a good, old night’s rest.

Kakashi’s grin widened. A good, old night’s rest with Hiko by his side. Warm, compliant, a living heater, except for her small, cold feet, sneakily pressing themselves into the tiny space between his two calves.

Everything was like before, before the homicides, before the discoveries. And Kakashi loved it. Loved to hear Hiko rustling through his kitchen, loved to hear her mumbles to herself while she tried to remember the ingredients for the dish she made from scratch, loved to hear her feet slapping weekly on the white tiles and the homey sound of the coffee machine running.

And all of this meant now…  _ more _ . More because he knew how it felt like to lose Hiko. More because he knew about her alter ego, about her reasoning behind her vanishing, about her dark past and about her true feelings for him. He had taken Hiko for granted after a while of domestic near-living together but not any longer. Every day with the brunette was a precious gift and he was the lucky bastard she selected to be worthy of her proximity.

‘ _ You evolved into a sappy, degenerately smiling, mushy idiot. Goddamn, the next thing you’ll do is write her poems and flowers will grow out of your ass!’ _

“Shut up.” Kakashi grumped into his pillow. And yawned widely, hiding his bad morning-breath in the cushions. If his gut-feeling was right, Hiko would come in just a minute, joining him again in bed and softly encouraging the man to stand up, breakfast was ready…

It was their usual Sunday-morning routine. Except, it wasn’t Sunday, this wasn’t a usual situation and they were far from building up a routine.

So, he waited. The patience in person, arms slung around the pillow and his lower body covered by the blankets, waiting and at the same time hoping for Hiko to quickly join him. Kakashi listened to the quiet sizzling of food in a pan, sniffed the delicious smell of Hiko’s scrambled eggs, toast and coffee, waited and waited with bated breath.

Much later than anticipated, Kakashi heard the brunette’s footsteps  _ finally  _ returning to the bedroom. He kept his eyes shut, but every muscle in his body seemed to wander into the direction of the door when he heard how Hiko entered, her cautious steps nearly unnoticeable on the thin carpet.

The attraction to her was still there. Stronger and mightier than Kakashi would’ve ever believed.

“Hey.” Hiko’s soft voice trailed over. At the same time, the mattress dipped a little bit lower, caused by her added weight. “Wakey-wakey sleepy head.”

Even though he was wide awake, Kakashi continued to act like he slept deeply. If he was lucky and Hiko in the mood…

Fingers trailed over his free shoulder, rimmed his collarbone with care and slipped higher. Her fingertips caressed the visible jawline, peeking out of the nest of blanket and pillow he created. Kakashi felt how the mattress dipped further as Hiko added one more knee to the mattress. First, there was nothing, only the soft presence hovering above him. Finally, her lips touched deliberately light the same spot she touched before. A kiss pressed to the junction of his shoulder. Unconsciously, a muscle twitched under the touch and when her lips edged higher, nibbling on the rough skin and slowly growing close to the side of his face, Kakashi couldn’t keep his façade any longer up.

Right in the moment Hiko was about to nuzzle her nose into his cheek, the silver haired man turned his head and captured her lips with his. “Good morning,” he rasped when they backed away, “Do I smell your famous scrambled eggs?”

Hiko’s broke into a giggle, one hand flying upwards to cover her open mouth. “Your nose is as good as always. Yes, scrambled eggs it is.”

“With cheese?”

“Yes, also with cheese.”

Acting overly relieved, Kakashi slumped back into the mattress, the back of his hand dramatically raised to press against his forehead. “Oh, thank god. I would’ve never eaten it if there had been no grated cheese in the eggs.”

At his attics, Hiko giggled again and this time, her hand wasn’t in the way of her blinding grin. “Stupid. Why should I do the eggs without the cheese when you know I like them just as much as you?”

“I have no idea. Your mind is an enigma for me, milady.”

“Good.” Like a cat, she crawled away from him and like he was a magnet, Kakashi followed, drawn to the female and her enticing smile. “Can’t become too predictable, especially to you. Otherwise I will accidently reveal my Christmas present.”

“Christmas…?”

For the first time since she entered his flat, Hiko looked slightly guilty. “Oops. Even that I have a present for you should’ve been a secret.”

In Kakashi’s head, a calendar recounted what month was, hell, which day would’ve been nice! Over the duration of the investigation, he completely fell out of time. Day and night had mixed into each other, the work draining him from every will to come to work and the cloud of melancholy and betrayed anger about Hiko leaving him had overshadowed everything else.

It was the last day of November, he finally remembered, the very last day and therefore the start of the dreaded Christmas season. At least this year they hadn’t had to worry about the chance of a white Christmas or not. If the weather wouldn’t suddenly showcase a bright August sun, then the snow from the blizzard wouldn’t vanish until the 24 th .

Another, more urgent thought pressed into the foreground.

“You already have a gift?”

There was no way Hiko stopped somewhere while she hid from the police to wander into a small, crammed shop and buy a present for him. The investigation was running now for a month and a half, Hiko had been gone for three weeks, that meant…

The faint flush gracing her features made Hiko only more adorable. “Yeah? Well… I had the idea for the present for a long time now. It isn’t something big, don’t worry. And it doesn’t really matter, really. Now come on.” Abruptly, she jumped out of the bed and therefore, out of Kakashi’s reach, “The eggs are going to be mushy and cold! Get up, you lazy donkey.”

Flabbergasted beyond measures, the silver haired man could only blink and stare at the retreating woman, who just now shook once more his whole world upside down.  _ A present _ . Purchased months ago. And considering Hiko’s personality and how she just now reacted, it was indeed something  _ big _ , with a big, fat “B”.

“Not worrying?” Kakashi grumbled while he propped himself with some difficulties up, “Now I worry even more.”

As slow as possible, Kakashi threw his morning coat over his shoulders and adjusted the long hems over his wrists. Only when every crease and every wrinkle was like he wanted it, he made his way over into the living room, feet bare and the coat deliberately left open.

Hiko mentioned she was easily distracted by his chest, after all.

The scent of scrambled eggs and coffee grew stronger when Kakashi entered the main room of his flat. For a second, he had no idea where the brunette was but then he caught sight the curly mop of chocolate-brown hair in the kitchen. Even more than that. His breath hitched and Kakashi had to swallow the sudden lust erupting in his veins when his eyes fell on the skimpy clothing.

Scratch that. No skimpy clothing would show so much of Hiko and gave her such a homey and belonging aura. Just a long shirt of his, the edges barely reaching over her butt, the dark grey color a contrast to her skin and a pair of far too big socks on her feet and Kakashi was already close to throw away his dignity and promise to his girlfriend. It should be forbidden for Hiko to wear his clothes.

Or she should wear them  _ only _ . Yes, that was a great option.

Kakashi nodded to himself at his great idea, all the while his eyes were still busy raking over Hiko’s back and further down when she stretched to scramble with the tips of her fingers for some mugs. Another great idea of him to put them almost out of her reach.

‘ _ Kakashi. You’re a genius. A perverted, mischievous genius but still a genius.’ _

__ __ ‘Thank you. Your efforts are also appreciated.’

For once his consciousness and subconsciousness were on the same terms, shaking hands over their sight.

Over his imaginations how he would pry the shorty out of her underwear and slowly make love to her on the kitchen counter, Kakashi felt the blood in his veins boil. Only barely, he managed to hide the half-hard erection he spotted as Hiko turned around, a cute and strangely seductive pout on her face.

“I don’t understand,” she mumbled and crossed her arms under her chest, “why these mugs always seem to be in my reach but in reality, they aren’t. Am I that blind?”

“Of course not,” Kakashi hastily stepped around her, “It’s just your imagination.” And mostly his doings. Whenever Hiko tugged the porcelain further out and into her reach, the cop wasn’t above pushing them carefully a few, stealthy inches backwards, just enough to let her think they were still in her reach.

Mhm. Definitely one of his best ideas.

Kakashi grabbed two mugs, one of them with the official KPD logo, the other with a Wonder-Woman-symbol on the side. He wasn’t the only one who left some of his things in Hiko’s flat. “Here.”

“Thanks.” Their fingers brushed together as the man handed the mugs over. Any other day, it was a familiar gesture, too usual to be exciting and special. Today, Kakashi felt like lightning erupted from the spots where Hiko’s fingers touched warily his, zipping right around underneath his skin.

“No problem.” Hiko felt it too. There was no other explanation for the sudden pause in their motions, frozen in the middle of the small kitchen, the sizzle of their breakfast and the grumbling of the coffee machine fading into the background. Her almost whispered words spoke of that knowledge just as much as her nearly invisible smile. Like a coincidence, her index finger stroked over the edge of his thumb. Casual, small, intimate. Shudders ran up and down Kakashi’s back faster than he could think. His eyes were fixated on the brunette, who leaned the tiniest bit forward. Only an inch, her neck exposed and the brown curls falling around her ears.

He understood.

“You know,” Kakashi took one step closer to her inviting warmth, angling his head the tiniest bit to the right, “I wanted to do breakfast today.”

Hiko inched also closer until the mugs were squashed between their bodies. “You slept a very long time.” she said.

“Sorry,” inch for inch Kakashi lowered his head, always checking for permission and every time, it was granted, “I was…”

“Ssh.” Her eyes creased in her smile. “I know.”

Kakashi only had a moment of insecurity before he overcame the last inches of distance between them. Their kiss was short, silent moans swallowed by the other and oath at once. Heat crawled through his body, starting from his lower stomach and wandering into his chest, where his heart accelerated into new heights. Unconsciously, his toes curled into the tiles, driven by the maddening slow pace and the overall forgiveness.

Hiko forgave him. He forgave her. They would do everything to live their shared life again, without the fear of discovery or the unknown evil hanging over their heads. Everything would be alright again.

Hiko broke the kiss. Her blue eyes were dazed, the pupils slightly widened and a rosy blush had spread all over her cheeks. Unable to control himself, Kakashi kissed her once more, his hands cupping her face and handling her features with delicacy. Just as careful, just as smoldering slow and just as unbelievable satisfying to hear their mixing breaths.

“Thank you,” he whispered as he retreated, “thank you, my little Firefly.”

Automatically, the shorty nuzzled her face into his naked chest. Her nose touched his sternum, nudging him the tiniest bit. “No problem.” Her words tingled on his skin. “No problem at all.”

 


	78. One at a time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While they exchange the information they collected, Kakashi and Hiko get used to the presence of the respective other quicker than both of them would have thought.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks yet again to Chisie, the almighty teacher of english and the mysterious ways of english punctation rules. ^^'' (Not that her teachings ever will be memorized)

“Mhm.”

“What?”

“I didn’t think you would turn your living room into an exhibition room for rape.”

Kakashi shrugged and watched how Hiko walked through her own case, apparently unfazed and unscathed. “It was… a spontaneous decision.”

With a low grunt, she kneeled down and inspected a couple of photos closer, all of them close-ups of the small cut at her hip. Her fingers hovered over the pictures, only centimeters between them, though abruptly, Hiko shook her head and straightened again. “Quite spontaneous. And detailed notes.”

Kakashi sipped at his coffee and felt how more heat crawled into his neck and ears. “Hmh,” he hummed nonchalantly.

“You did this alone?”

“No. My father came and helped to get me on the right track. Obito too.”

“Ah.” Like she had completely forgotten about her revealing clothing, the brunette bent down to eye another set of pictures. Kakashi had to bite his lips to not groan loudly in wounded arousal at the sight of her butt, only covered by a pair of black cotton panties. He swallowed and in the next moment, regretted everything. The coffee was still too hot to use it as a distraction.

“And? What did you find out or concluded?”

‘Time to forget my arousal. Come on, work waits for no one.’

Especially this job. The hand tightly closed around the handle of his mug. Kakashi stood up from the couch and stuffed his other hand in the big side pocket of his morning coat. “I tried to find you,” he said and was rewarded with a shy grin, “but I also had… some kind of enlightening.”

“That would be?”

“Well, maybe Kabuto started the whole thing as a task. But he didn’t end it as one.”

Hiko’s grin fell to make place for uncertainty. Then, after a little eternity, the woman nodded slowly. “Yes. I think… Yes, you’re right.”

His eyebrows wandered higher. “You believe me like that? Alright, where is the real Hiko and what have you done to her?”

“She heard something she wasn’t supposed to hear.”

His joke drowned in the seriousness of her statement. With a shake of her head, the brunette clicked her tongue and started to flip quickly through another pile of papers, too fast to read anything. “I always thought it couldn’t be true. Fever and thirst made it hard to think clearly. I slipped in and out of sleep or hallucinated sometimes. But one day, I heard Kabuto talking to someone on the telephone. They… fought.”

Even though the curiosity gnawed at him, Kakashi kept silent. She was strong enough to put it into words, whatever that ominous “it” was.

After a while, the brunette had stared blindly at her own bruised and battered face. She shook her head sharply and chased away the strange daze which fell over her. “Whoever was on the other side apparently promised Kabuto that he could keep me after… Whatever he was trying to prove. But something was in the way and the other party wanted to cancel the deal. Kabuto was angry. He screamed, usually he isn’t someone to scream around. Apparently, they came to a common ground, but from there on they were too silent for me to follow their conversation further. It… fits.”

“And it explains the other things Kabuto has done.” Kakashi said. Hiko’s eyes flew to him, away from the past and with a small motion of his wrist he gestured the female over. “I called him, I believe.”

“What!?”

“Yeah. The day you vanished. It was the last number on your caller’s list and as angry as I was, I called it.”

Suddenly, she stood right in front of him. Eyes wide, panic clearly written all over her face, Hiko clawed desperately into the hems of his morning coat. “You talked with him? What the fuck, Kakashi!”

He shrugged. “No big deal.”

“It is! Did you record it?”

“No, I’m sorry.”

Quickly, she dismissed his apology. “That’s not even that important. I’m sure Kabuto didn’t say anything which would help us. No, the point is we have to get the caller’s list on my cellphone.”

“Aah.” Kakashi nodded. “To prove he called you before.”

“Exactly!” Excitedly, Hiko jumped away, her small fists pumping up into the air. “A start! We have a start!”

Her obvious joy radiated from her like light radiated from the sun. With a low sigh, Kakashi lowered himself to his couch and watched the brunette; how she wandered around the room, whispering to herself, all the while wearing a triumphant, little smile on her face. “He called me, called Kakashi… Why?... Maybe… Obsessed…” She stopped at an image of her broken arm, crouched down and let her fingers touch the smooth paper with the gentlest of all touches. Then, she abruptly shot upwards and pointed at Kakashi, who just took a sip of his lukewarm coffee. “Did he say anything to you? Do you remember anything which would indicate something, something strange?”

“Not really,” he admitted and shrugged, “I was… a little bit… distracted at the moment, if you can imagine.”

“Try to remember. Please.”

At her pleading tone, something in the man melted. “Alright,” Kakashi raised his hands in defeat, “I think he was… There was some kind of… He was pretty confident.”

Hiko snorted. “Pretty confident I would crawl come back to him, you mean.”

With a sigh, he leaned back into the cushions, the back of his head hitting the head rest. “Yeah. Pretty much. He said something about you making a choice but it would be for him in the end, then something about…” Wrinkles formed at Kakashi’s forehead as he tried to remember the wicked words. “He said you weren’t just a simple toy. Kabuto talked about you like he could do anything with you but said you weren’t just a toy for him. You are more.”

Not only that. The tone and confidence speaking out of his exclamations were also remarkable in its own right. “His voice… is like-!”

“Like silk.”

Kakashi nodded slowly. “Crawls directly into your ears.”

“Exactly,” Hiko sighed deeply, “Now try to imagine that voice whispering twisted sweet-nothings into your ears.”

It was strange to talk with her so relaxed and calm about her rapist-ex. Cold shudders wandered over his back at the mere imagination of the shadowy man hovering above the small woman, eliciting the most desperate cries from her while pounding into her small form, more or less willingly offered. Unconsciously, his fingers tightened around the porcelain until his knuckles went white.

“Can we not talk about him like that?” he asked weakly and the relief was nearly almighty as Hiko nodded hastily.

“No worries,” she slung her arms around herself and looked out of the windows, staring blindly at the white masses of snow outside, “I’m also done with that. But sometimes…” She shrugged. “Sometimes the memories just come and go. Like the tide, they come and… go.”

She acted again like it was nothing to worry about, tried to downplay whatever affected her. Kakashi was close to gritting his teeth, the frustration boiling inside of him, but kept the lid on the strong emotions. Silently, he lowered the halfway emptied mug to the couch table and stood up, the fabric of his morning coat shuffling weakly. Hiko’s bright blue eyes darted to him, insecurity sparking up as she noticed the tension in his shoulders.

Kakashi tried to think of something sensitive to do, something surely heartfelt and careful. His feet carried him automatically into the middle of the mess he made in his living room, the pictures of a battered and bruised shorty surrounding him and the real version breathing, and waiting in front of the man.

“Come here.” he said, beckoning the shorty over with a deliberate small lowering of his chin.

Hiko cocked her head. “Why?”

“Because you’re again keeping something from me.”

“I’m-!” The brunette stopped abruptly. For a second, terrified understanding flashed over her features. Her eyes widened only to fall closed, before she wildly shook her head that her short, brown locks whipped around. “Yes, you’re right. Sorry.”

Kakashi buried his hands in the pockets of his coat, slightly enjoying his little victory over her stubborn nature. “No worries,” he answered lighthearted, “if you come over and hug me for a while?”

“As soon as I do something stupid, you’re going to snuggle me to death, or what?”

“No. I’m going to remind you as long as I want of your stubbornness to accept help and will use your embarrassment to my advantage.”

Her indifferently raised eyebrow was answer enough. But she didn’t protest while stepping closer and didn’t say anything either when Hiko slung her arms around his middle, and buried her face into his naked chest.

For a while, they just stood there in total silence. Hiko breathed calmly, mumbled from time to time, her brain never standing still and never pausing. Personally, Kakashi thought it was one of her most endearing features, so he kept quiet, waited and stroked softly over her back. After a little while, the shorty sighed lowly. Her warm breath crashed into his chest, a warm, light caress promising far more than the man could describe.

“It’s still disturbing to know he has that much power over me.” Hiko admitted weakly. Her brown locks clashed with his pale skin, pale skin against silky, freshly washed hair. “To think he can still make me do things just because he calls me, that he can still lead me around on a leash just because he’s in Konoha. I try to be detached, I try to not let Kabuto’s games get to me. But the last days were especially hard.”

“Why?” Kakashi asked hoarsely. He knew in which direction this talk was going and he didn’t like it one bit, but kept being calm and compliant for the brunette, who needed to get the many, far too many weights off her small chest.

Another inhale. “I was… insecure. I kept thinking: Wouldn’t it be easier for me to give in? To give Kabuto what he wants? Because then the killings would stop, he would leave you alone, he would leave Itachi, Kisame and Obito and Rin alone, would go far, far away and leave Konoha. I tried to remind myself that he would suppress any kind of personality I have, that he would force me to wear clothes I don’t like and give me other glasses. But sometimes, I was weak. Sometimes, I told myself that going back and surrendering wouldn’t be too  _ bad _ . That…”

Kakashi tightened his embrace. Hiko wasn’t crying, even though he felt how her body tensed against his, how her nose scrunched up and her fingers clawed into his back.

She wasn’t crying  _ yet _ .

“Sssh.” He hoped it sounded at least remotely assuring and calming, even when the cop didn’t feel the slightest bit calm. “Tell me, Hiko. Do you want to go back to him?”

“No.”

“Do you want to live with him again?”

“Kakashi, of course not.”

“Do you want to have sex-!”

With a harsh twist, Hiko wiggled out of his arms. Anger sparkled in her ice blue eyes as she glared up at him. “Don’t even finish,” she hissed, her teeth clamping down, “Don’t you dare to finish that question if you want to keep your balls attached to your body!”

Kakashi acted like he wasn’t fazed by Hiko’s uttered threat, but inwardly, the man started to sweat heavily and out of a deeply rooted instinct, his lower body tried to twist sneakily out of the way of any kind of harm the brunette could do to him. “My point is, that you’re not weak for thinking like that. You lived through harder times than most people, lived with it, tried to cope with your feelings in a way which would allow you to live your life to the fullest without feeling less than before. Not everyone can do that. No matter how many weak moments you have, it’s more important to get over them, to grow stronger and learn to stand your ground against the most vicious opponent every human has to face. Themselves.” 

The anger in her eyes faded while Kakashi spoke. Hiko’s jaw loosened until her lips slightly parted, revealing some bite marks and a bit of her tongue. Her features slackened and when the first tears glistened in her eyes, she wiped them furiously away, not caring about her glasses or hurting herself.

“Still got your silver tongue,” she mumbled afterwards, “and still able to bewitch me with that.”

“I exist to please you.” Kakashi simply said and watched with growing relief how the smile on her face widened and went realer with every second. Some would say his little speech was unnecessary, even a little bit overboard in the face of such a widespread crime case. But Hiko needed to hear this, needed to be… Needed to be secure to work properly, to deliver what she would deliver in any other case. And this time, the brunette had to be better than that, because their lives depended on the successful investigation,  _ their shared life _ depended on it.

She noticed, like she always did. Her eyes closed and creased, small but noticeable wrinkles appeared around them, making the infamous harpy into a softer and more approachable woman. “Thank you, my heart.”

The cop lowered his head. “No problem. So…” He gestured warily around, the hems of his morning coat slipping nearly from his shoulders. “Did you notice anything?”

“A lot of things, actually,” Hiko said and started to point at different pictures in the room, “first, as I said, it is quite obvious Kabuto developed an obsession with me. But one thing is still illogical. The order. Who gave it? I know your ex-boss said it has to be this Danzo-creeper and it was because of my parents, but why tell Kabuto in the end that he can’t reap what he sowed, in particular, me and my broken mind?”

While she spoke, she crouched down and pointed at the report about Kagero’s capture. “Second, I can only agree to the conclusions you drew. Her capture was different from Yamanaka’s and that’s suspicious on its own, but why be so brash? I assume the labs are still working at the blood screening of all three corpses?”

He followed her onto the ground, shuffling through the papers. “Orochimaru used his persuasive powers to speed the process up, but the last thing I heard was that the blizzard cut off their electricity. That slowed all of the ongoing investigations down.”

“I guess he wasn’t amused.”

“That is an understatement.”

Their weak chuckles entwined, echoed, overlapped. Kakashi couldn’t think of a better sound than that and the homey satisfaction spread in his guts like the rays of the sun spreading every day over the Earth.

“Third,” Hiko started again and ripped the man out of his homey thoughts, “I’m flattered you worked to find some clues for my innocence, but after your ex-boss came and apparently has some pretty convincing ones up his sleeve, we can toss that part without a second thought aside.” Her hands already did so, collecting the papers and little testimonies of her innocence only to unceremoniously dump them at the side.

“It wasn’t only me,” the silver haired man said and glanced at her, before helping to collect more of the now useless papers, “Also my dad helped and Obito too.”

The sound of the shuffling reports stopped abruptly. One glance at Hiko and Kakashi had to chuckle again. Her surprised face was just too good to pass it up.

“Y-your dad  _ helped _ ?” she squeaked, expression horrified and radiant at the same time, having not caught it the first time it was mentioned. “Like,  _ really,  _ really helped? Not only with arranging everything?”

“Is that such an unbelievable fact?” he retorted instantly. “He likes you. And he likes the fact you are in a relationship with me. My dad would favor me being in a relationship with a rehabilitated hacker that loves me than alone.” 

 

To his frustration, Hiko left the question unanswered. Only the slight blush crossing her cheeks told him about a deeper meaning behind her sentence but for now, he left the topic just as unattended as he let grow his hair out. In that regard, he was just as careless as his girlfriend.

‘Reminder to myself: Next time, I should tickle the answer out of her. Now the moment is gone.’

Another broken whisper disturbed the silence. “If I just had…” And the suddenly guilty glance Hiko threw at him, only to drop her gaze again at the chaos around them told Kakashi exactly what she wanted to have at the moment.

“Your PC or laptop?” he asked.

He really tried to not sound disappointed or betrayed. Not like he unconsciously thought that she was drawn to her alter ego because it was safer than his embrace or his words, safer than the reality.

Maybe she saw right through him. At least Hiko’s tone was accordingly ashamed, realizing what she tried to bring up in their situation. But, Kakashi assumed, sooner or later they had to bring up Hiko’s hacker persona, especially when it was so tightly entangled in the investigation.

“Both.” She admitted weakly and nibbled nervously at her lower lip.

“Did you find anything in the data you extracted from the town hall’s pond?”

“Something strange, actually.”

A pause, long and for the first time in months, it was an uncomfortable one. There hadn’t been any kind of awkward silence between them, never under all circumstances. But tRuthseekEr stood like a pesky ex-lover in the room and even when Kakashi rationally forgave Hiko for hiding that part of her, his heart hadn’t quite gotten the memo yet. But he had to get over it, as quickly as possible. There was nothing the brunette could do about her past decisions like he could do nothing about his past mistakes.

There was only one way and that way led forward.

“Something strange? What kind of strange?” the silver-haired cop asked.

Her uncertainty was nearly visible in the air, uncertainty about Kakashi’s words and the hidden meaning behind them. It was painfully obvious Hiko was  _ wary _ and almost  _ dependent _ on his opinion on the matter, on a part of herself she kept hidden out of a freaking  _ reason _ . Immediately, regret curled in Kakashi’s stomach.

“It would be easier to show you.” Hiko said after a little pause. Restlessly, her hands fiddled with the hems of her shirt which was once Kakashi’s, wrenching the fabric between her fingers, betraying how nervous she was. “In the information I ostracized that day, there were a few which were already halfway illegal. Nothing too serious, a little bit of corruption, a little bit of blackmailing, but nothing big. Danzo only left his small crimes in the database of the town hall, where he immediately had access if he needed it. Apparently, something like a cloud-account was too difficult for him to handle.”

Kakashi would never admit it but hearing Hiko talk so casually about blackmailing and corruption in the mayor’s hall disturbed him greatly. It went against all of his instincts to accept those crimes just like that, though he forced himself not to immediately demand all of the files and data in order to only add to the pile of proof against Shimura. There was a more pressing matter at hand, something heavier than  _ a little bit _ of corruption.

The brunette breathed slowly in and out before she continued. “There was a file with a strange list. Kinda. Different orphanages were listed, together with strange numbers. It’s really easIer to show than to describe it, okay?” she said when she noticed his suspicious look.

“Do you have any idea what the numbers could mean?” he asked instead.

A harsh tug around her lips, Hiko shook her head. “I was a little bit confused while working on these. I know he visited a lot of orphanages over the years, sometimes in a time span of mere days, long before we both were born. Sometimes he did nothing, there were only zero’s but then there are the high numbers again and the lower ones…” She rubbed wildly over her face. “It’s so damn frustrating that I want to bite my own ass.”

“I can help…”

“You damn pervert.” Though Hiko smiled when she said that. A tired, timid smile, but she did. “No, I have to get my laptop or at least the USB-stick for a quick review.”

She tried to stand up, only in the too long t-shirt and her panties. Before he knew it, Kakashi reached out, unnamed fear in his guts. When she would leave the room, when she would leave him-!

“Yes?” Hiko cocked her head to the side, short brown strands dangling around her face.

He couldn’t say it. He couldn’t name or voice the unknown panic in his guts, a cold snake coiling in his stomach and spreading its poison with every breath he took. Stubbornly, Kakashi tried to force his tongue into submission, to let her hear what he felt and after a minute or two where the brunette only waited patiently for him while the cop tried to find the right words, he finally said: “Don’t go. Please.”

The warm and soft light in her blue eyes lit up, warming Kakashi like a comfortable fireplace. 

“Silly,” Hiko said, “I only want to get my cellphone. Left it in my jacket. I’ll come back from my short trip.”

Still, her warm fingers brushed over his fingertips. A short contact, not much more than a little assurance and still, it meant the world to Kakashi. That the shorty was always able to cheer him up, to understand his wordless inability to voice his feelings,  _ that _ was the true reason they were still together, the man was sure. Any other woman without the instinctive knowledge about him and his state would’ve given up halfway through the first months.

Now, it was Kakashi’s time to show how serious he was, his time to be understanding and caring, and patient.

His time to prove he could be the same what Hiko was for him. A true partner.

Her trip to the hallway took only 23 seconds. Unconsciously, Kakashi had counted the time she was gone, his ears following the sounds the woman produced on her way through his flat. Her feet slapping on the ground, her hands ruffling through the heavy fabrics of the coats, a zipper getting dragged down and the shuffles through the deep pockets. Then, silence.

Stretching out. Alarmed, Kakashi stared at the door, his hands starting to fiddle with the hems of his morning coat. The only thing which helped the man to calm his mind was the missing sound of the entrance door opening and closing. Otherwise, he would’ve barged like an elephant into the other room, searching for Hiko and his heart racing.

But he didn’t hear the entrance door, so Kakashi kept on counting, his fingers clawing more and more into the soft fabric of Hiko’s present. Only a few more seconds, he told himself, his eyes glued to the door, only a few more seconds, Hiko would come back, not leave him alone again…

“Are you fucking…!”

To say Hiko was furious as she entered the room again, would’ve been an understatement of galactical measurements. Rage let her eyes sparkle in an unholy light, her cheeks flushed to an almost unnatural tone of red and her fingers trembled heavily while she typed on the cellphone, her mouth tugged into a wordless snarl.

Kakashi watched with growing worry how the woman paced up and down, her fingers never staying still and flying over the screen of the foreign phone. “Hiko? What’s wrong?” he asked when another hissed curse escaped her.

Her barked laugh was hoarse. “I told you my little pawns acted like they were still in the kindergarten, right? Well…” She gestured wildly with her cellphone. “Urgh, just read it yourself! I’m done with those brats!”

And with that, the shorty threw the cellphone towards him. Effortlessly, Kakashi caught the small device in his hand, while his eyes followed Hiko’s enraged movements. She didn’t leave the room, only walked back into the kitchen, rummaging through the cupboards a tiny bit louder than necessary.

What had her hacker-friends done? The question gnawed at his insides before he looked at the brightly lit screen, where several messages popped up.

_ strikingSWORDS: where are you????? _

_ Text me if u can read this _

_ Wait are u again with ur loverboy? _

_ LOL nvm _

_ Use condoms _

_ Don’t do smth I wouldn’t do!!!! _

_ GinGerGeneral: Big T??? _

_ Are you there _

_ Hey where are you _

_ I’m worrying and swords goes on my nerves _

_ Heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeey _

_ Bitch wtf?!?!?! _

_ The ass says your with your boyfriend again? _

_ TRUTH _

_ TEXT ME _

_ NOW _

“It looks fine to me,” Kakashi chuckled and looked up from the cellphone, “They seem to worry a lot about you.”

Another angry clank of porcelain again porcelain. “That’s not the point! They are nosy little brats who don’t know where the borders are!”

“But they worry. About you.” Kakashi had to suppress the shit-eating grin growing on his face at the antics of Hiko, who grumped loudly and continued to shuffle uselessly through the cupboards. “A lot, if I consider those messages.”

“Have you read them?”

“Yes. And, do you have condoms?”

“Kakashi!” Enraged, but with an unwilling smile on her face, the brunette jammed another, bigger porcelain mug into the coffee machine and pressed with more force than needed the button for black coffee. A sign how furious she was. Usually, she would go for a Mocha rather than the blackest setting Kakashi preferred. “That’s not the issue here! It’s…  _ It’s _ -!”

“They do the exact same thing your brothers would do,” he said calmly, “stick their noses into your business. The exact same thing-!”

“I would do,  _ yes!” _

Something wasn’t quite right here. “Then what’s your problem?”

Hiko didn’t answer. Instead, she just took a sip from her freshly brewed coffee and grimaced at the bitter taste coating her tongue.

“Hiko?” Kakashi stood up, his hands again buried in his pockets. “Don’t make me come over and cuddle you again until you tell me what troubles you.”

Another sip, her mouth strained into a little pout. Then, she rolled her eyes. “I’m happy that they care. But at the same time… It has been so long ago I let someone else in, you know? Except for you.” she added before he could say anything.

“Scared?”

“In your dreams, Hatake.”

“Bullshit.”

Her shrug made the loose shirt which pooled around her figure showed that the brunette didn’t lose every single ounce of her curves. Instantly, Kakashi’s eyes zeroed into the distinct swell of her breasts underneath the fabric, rising and falling as she sighed loudly. “Yeah,” quickly the man looked into her face, a little bit of guilt tainting his thoughts, “I guess it is. It’s…” Another deep inhale and Kakashi’s traitorous eyes again sneaked a peek at the deliciously covered breasts. “It’s still hard for me to accept that. Just let me rant for a little bit and it will be fine. I hope.”

“Don’t forget you wanted to ask them to get your laptop and the USB.” He raised the cellphone back into her sight. To his surprise, Hiko waved vaguely at him while drinking from her pot of coffee.

“You can do it.”

What? He should talk with her hacker-friends? His thoughts raced. No way this was a feint to calm him down. There was simply no way Hiko would do that to him. But if not that, what was her reason for possibly exposing herself like that? So was this… Possibly…

“Are you sure?” he asked weakly, his throat too dry to muster any real strength.

Her eyeroll was visible from a few meters away, the kitchen counter between them and her glasses sitting on the tip of her nose. “Yes,” she said slowly like she talked to a little child, “I am sure. Just do it. Text them: “I need my laptop”. Easy.”

No trick. No feint. Just trust, in a small and almost insignificant gesture, but Kakashi’s heart grew warm at the realization. So, he did as he was told, the happy grin never leaving his face and fingers slowly searching for the right letters on the screen.

_ Big-T: I need my laptop _

_ strikingSWORDS: finally done with being laid? Lol _

_ GinGerGeneral: no greeting? Srsly, youre a hell of a bitch to work with _

_ Big-T: Hello. And please, I need my laptop. And the USB _

_ GinGerGeneral: where do you want me to place it? _

“Where do you want to pick it up?” Kakashi asked, eyes transfixed on the three dots with indicated that one of Hiko’s friends typed something. Something long and probably nosy.

Hiko’s answer sent a bolt of shock into his stomach. “Oh, the police station.”

“The WHAT?”

“The police station.” Hiko repeated. “No one will suspect anything.”

Shocked beyond any measurable level, Kakashi stared blindly at her. “Are you crazy?” he asked and it was only partly a joke. “The police station? Do you mean that?”

It should really be forbidden for the small brunette to wear this little and indecent clothing. Kakashi just couldn’t concentrate when the hems of his shirt revealed so much and so little at the same time. Hiko must be aware of the effect she had on him, otherwise the man had no idea why there was a big, fat smile plastered on her lips as she stepped around the kitchen counter, her hips swaying and hands cradling the porcelain mug.

‘Evil witch.’

He shook quickly his head to get rid of his naughty fantasies. “Hiko. Explain it to me because it’s the stupidest idea I heard in a whole while.”

“The stupidest?” Another sip from her coffee. “My, that’s impressive.”

“ _ Hiko…” _ Only a slight hiss tainted her name as he pressed it through his gritted teeth. “Explain. Now.”

Thankfully, she didn’t test his patience any further. “I was quite surprised myself, you know,” Hiko said, “to find out one of my little helpers are just like me. A member-!”

Understanding roared through his brain. “A member of the KPD?”

“Basically.”

Great. Another hacker in the same department. How small could the world be? Faking despair, Kakashi put his face into his palms and groaned loudly like a wounded animal. Hiko’s cue to step around and elbow him into his flank, her eyes twinkling in badly hidden mischief. “Don’t worry,” she mused, “you will get used to it.”

“They are everywhere,” he answered only and shook his head, still hiding behind his hands, “Hackers are goddamn everywhere.”

“It’s the digital age. What do you expect?”

“Some good old murder,” Kakashi grumped and scrubbed once over his face before dropping his hands, “some theft, something not quite that hard to investigate.”

“You sound so old.” Hiko teased. Two more steps and she had closed the distance between them. Without a worry in the world, the small brunette leaned into Kakashi’s chest, her back pressing into his stomach and the back of her head touching his sternum as she looked up, her neck craned to almost impossible levels. “An old man who has no idea how all the teens communicate nowadays.”

“Mhm.” But he took her good-willed tease with an eyeroll and a gracious nuzzle into her hair, before sighing lowly. “We have to go back to the material, you know?”

Hiko stuck her tongue out. “I know. But it’s easier to pretend the world outside doesn’t exist than to face it.”

Kakashi sighed into Hiko’s hair, the faint scent of raspberries and vanilla teasing his nose. “Yeah. I know.”

Her phone buzzed at his hip but the silver haired man wasn’t ready to awake from this little moment yet. This morning belonged to him and Hiko, to the softness between them, to the acceptance and forward movement. Not to her nosy, little helpers who insisted to know how the non-existent sex between them went. Instead of reading the incoming messages instantly, Kakashi slung his arms around her shoulder and enjoyed the warmth emitted from Hiko. At the same time, he snuggled his head deeper into her wild locks, his lips nibbling deliberately mocking at the edges of her left ear.

His reward was a little arch and the cutest of all breathless moans Hiko ever let out.

Apparently, he wasn’t the only one who felt their attraction sparking up again.

Her growl was a warning and a turn-on at once. “Kakashi, I swear to god. Don’t do this to me.”

“I’m not doing anything,” he said. His hands betrayed him. They stroked in a languish speed up and down the curves of Hiko’s slimmed hips, enjoying the feel of taut flesh and the involuntary shiver which wrecked her small figure against his front.

The coffee in her hands nearly spilled over the rims of the cup as another shudder made Hiko mewl out, just when Kakashi cupped gently her ass and squeezed both cheeks with all the tenderness he had.

“Now I did something,” he admitted when a glare was thrown his way, “and I apologize for that.”

Hiko snorted. “You’re not even remotely sorry.”

She was right. But she didn’t need to know that. Kakashi loosened his gentle embrace and stepped back, immediately missing her body flushed to his own. Even his hands felt strangely empty, missing the feeling of the delicious curve of Hiko’s ass in his palms.

He shrugged and realized at the same time every mask of nonchalance he tried to put up was seen through by the woman who knew him inside and out. “As sorry as I can be.”

Hiko scowled softly. “Yeah, sure. Go on, act like you aren’t the fluffiest, tooth-rotting sweet man I’ve ever met. And the most perverted.” she added after a second thought.

His blood rushed faster into his face as Kakashi could feel his jaw drop. What a bold exclamation! Was he really…?

‘Admit it. Since you’ve met Hiko, you’re really a wool ball of sugar-coated fluffiness. A little bit more and you change into a big, fat, bunny or something.’

Flabbergasted, the cop allowed the smaller woman to steal the cellphone out of his morning coat. He could only dimly stare at Hiko, how she danced away from him, the rims of his shirt promising sinful things and the edges of her panties breaking those promises in the same breath.

It would be really hard to stay true to his oath of abstinence.   
  



End file.
